Coulson's Secret

by McIntyre, Anna J

  Shelly set her cup on the side table and then folded the newspaper neatly and laid it on her lap, before looking at her father-in-law.

  “We need to talk, Harrison,” Shelly said in a calm voice. Silently, a maid entered the room and placed a tray on the table adjacent to where Harrison had parked his wheelchair. A cup of coffee, glass of tomato juice, bowl of oatmeal, and a small pitcher of milk along with a cloth napkin and silverware were set neatly on the tray. A moment later, Harrison and Shelly were again alone in the room.

  “I’m listening,” Harrison told her as he picked up his juice from the tray and took a sip.

  “I’ve cancelled the movers,” Shelly announced.

  “Don’t you think we should have discussed that first?”

  “Harrison, I know you and I have had our disagreements, but are you still planning to leave this house to Garret, considering his stepson is the one responsible for your son’s murder?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Shelly. That boy didn’t kill Harrison. He was an idiot to sign that loan agreement, but he is no killer.”

  “He has been arrested,” Shelly reminded him. “And they have the murder weapon.”

  “If you are right and Adam did kill Harrison, you think I need to change my will and leave the house to Russell?”

  “Russell is just as responsible as Garret for bringing that woman and her son into this family. After all, his wife is Adam’s aunt, and from what I understand, Russell and Kate helped bring Garret and Alexandra together. If they hadn’t done that, your son would still be alive.”

  “Oh…” Harrison chuckled and set his glass on the tray. “I have a feeling Garret was responsible for bringing Alexandra into this family, not some matchmakers.”

  “You don’t even care Harrison was murdered!” Shelly hissed angrily.

  Harrison’s humor evaporated. He glared at his daughter-in-law. “Do not presume to tell me how I feel over my son’s death. But I will not participate in a lynching, especially when I don’t believe for a moment that Adam was responsible for the murder. Need I remind you that the gun was registered to Harrison, and considering it’s community property, the murder weapon technically belongs to you. Adam’s prints were nowhere on the gun. And if you believe for a moment I’d leave this house to you, you are as delusional as your late husband.”

  “Are you insinuating I killed Harrison? Just tell me, how did the weapon get into his fiancée’s hands?”

  “Well, Angela was here on Thanksgiving. Perhaps, the girl was poking around in your room and came across it. She always was a bit of a snoop.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Shelly spat out and then added stubbornly, “I’m not moving.”

  “Yes, you are, Shelly. You can pack up your belongings or instruct the movers. If you choose to cling to this delusion, then I will make the arrangements and place your belongings in storage, while I have you escorted from the property. You have until Friday to get out.” Harrison abandoned his breakfast tray and wheeled himself from the room.

  Shelly fumed inwardly as she watched her father-in-law leave. What she found especially galling was the fact Alexandra didn’t even want the house. The idea that such a magnificent property might go to the ditzy Kate Coulson was absurd. The Senator’s House had been her home for over twenty years. She was the senator’s wife, and it was her home. It was the place where she entertained. Determined to maintain the social position she’d cultivated over the years, she didn’t think it fair she should have to give all that up simply because of Harrison’s death.

  “Your death was supposed to make things easier for me,” Shelly said aloud as she looked at the open doorway where her father-in-law had recently exited.

  Fifteen minutes later, across town, Garret Coulson placed the phone receiver back on its cradle as Alexandra walked into his study.

  “That was my father,” Garret explained. “Apparently, Shelly cancelled the movers.”

  “Why doesn’t that surprised me?” Alexandra asked, as she sat down on the chair facing him. “What does he say about all this?”

  “He doesn’t believe Adam is guilty. But he does wonder how Angela came across the murder weapon.”

  “I think we’re all wondering that. But she’s holding to her story, and that is not good for Adam.”

  “Dad has been trying to contact her father to see what the hell is going on, but he won’t take Dad’s calls.”

  “You’re kidding?” Alexandra couldn’t recall a time Joe Carter didn’t jump for Harrison Coulson. She believed Joe had encouraged his daughter to pursue Adam, seeing it as his way into the Coulson family. It was not a thought she chose to share with her husband.

  “Maybe Joe isn’t avoiding Dad, per se; perhaps he’s trying to figure out this mess.”

  “This doesn’t look good for Adam.” While Alexandra felt her son was not involved, the evidence was damning.

  “No, it doesn’t. But I’m not sure Shelly really believes Adam is guilty, either. She’s looking at it as an opportunity to convince my father to change his will.”

  “Shelly had more of a reason to kill Harrison than Adam, especially if she seriously thought your father changed his will,” Alexandra said angrily.

  “That would still not be sufficient motivation. If she was bent on murder for financial gain, she would have gone after my father first, not her husband.”

  “You’re right. I’m just frustrated. Any word from the attorney?”

  “I should hear something by this afternoon. He told me the judge is rethinking his decision to deny bail. By the way, I did find a few interesting things in Harrison’s papers.” Garret began shuffling through the papers on his desk until he found the right one. He handed it to Alexandra.

  “What does this mean?” Alexandra asked after skimming over the document.

  “Harrison was the financial backer for Emily Mitchell’s real estate office.”

  “The same Emily that worked as your personal assistant?” Alex asked, still holding the paper.

  “Yes. The very one Kate got Russell to fire.” Garret leaned back in his desk chair and watched his wife.

  “Why in the world would Harrison do that?” Alex asked with a frown.

  “It certainly wasn’t for financial gain.”

  “I don’t understand.” Alex placed the paper on the desktop and looked up at her husband.

  “Basically, my brother gave her the money to start her real estate company. She was never required to pay it back. He even covered the tax liability for her. According to the papers, it was less than a year after Russell fired her.”

  “I remember she went into real estate after that entire fiasco, but I didn’t know the company was hers.”

  “I never gave Emily much thought after Russy fired her. To open a real estate office, she needed to hire a designated broker. In this state, a real estate agent can’t even pursue a broker’s license until being in the business for three years. According to these papers, my brother not only covered the broker’s salary and business startup costs but he also purchased the commercial property for the brokerage. It doesn’t appear she ever rented space from him. The property belongs to her, and how I’m reading these papers, she didn’t pay back a dime.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense unless… Was Harrison having an affair with her? Good lord, he was a senator back then and married to Shelly,” Alex said.

  “An affair is one possibility, but they barely knew each other, from what I remember. Harrison never had anything to do with Coulson Enterprises back then. I suppose I could ask my father. Maybe he knows what this is all about.”

  “Is it possible she had a don’t pay back clause in the contract like Adam?”

  “You mean, was Emily off the hook if Harrison died?” Garret asked.

  Alex nodded.

  “No. Unless I’ve misread these documents, he turned the property over to her years ago. I don’t think she had anything financially to gain by his death, at least not according to these docume
nts.”

  “Well, if they didn’t have an affair and she didn’t have to pay back the money, then this rather paints Harrison as some Santa Claus.”

  “I may not have been close to my older brother,” Garret said dryly, “but one thing I do know: he didn’t do anything unless he got something out of the deal.”

  It was the first morning since arriving in Coulson that Kim managed to sleep in. When she finally woke up and glanced at the clock on the nightstand, she was surprised to see it was almost 11:00 a.m. She couldn’t recall sleeping that late since she was a teenager.

  Sitting up in the bed, she considered the events of the previous day. She still did not believe Adam had killed her mother and wondered if Alexandra and Garret had managed to bail him out. She also wondered how Angela was tied to the murder. Somehow, Angela had managed to get the murder weapon into her custody, and if she didn’t kill Harrison and Carol, she knew who did.

  Kim’s thoughts shifted briefly from Adam to Nick. Having sex with two different men within a week was not her typical behavior. Since moving from Coulson, she’d dated a number of men and engaged in several long-term affairs. Yet, she could honestly say she loved none of the men.

  Kim knew a part of her would always love Adam. He was her first love. She trusted him, which is why she knew in her heart he was not a murderer. Yet, as she sat alone on her bed and considered Adam, she reluctantly admitted to herself that she could not trust Adam in all things. Since they were teenagers, he had treated her heart carelessly, never for a moment considering how she might have felt relinquishing her innocence to him and receiving very little in return.

  When they’d had intercourse in her kitchen, it was not an act of love; it was pure sex. Adam had always enjoyed Kimmy’s body, even if Kim was too young and inexperienced to find pleasure. The biggest difference between the sex act in the kitchen and those encounters of her youth—she actually enjoyed the sex in the kitchen. That she found interesting, considering she was no longer in love with Adam.

  She had also enjoyed the sex with Nick, even more than what she had experienced with Adam. Her only regret was that he’d had to go home and didn’t spend the night. Kim then remembered the boxes Nick had pulled from the hidden space in the attic. Getting from bed, she headed for the shower. After breakfast, she would tackle the boxes.

  Before stepping in the shower, Kim noticed the bar of soap was no more than a sliver. She opened the medicine cabinet and then the drawers, yet couldn’t find any extra bars. Kneeling down, she opened the cabinet under her mother’s bathroom sink. Instead of finding soap, she came across a small little metal box shoved to the back of the cupboard. Pulling out the box, she opened its lid. To her surprise, it contained several small keys. She wondered… could these be the keys to the boxes from the attic?

  Emily Mitchell sat silently at her desk and reviewed the papers she’d received from the title company. They didn’t paint a complete picture, but she was smart enough to fill in the blanks. Picking up the telephone on her desk, she dialed the number.

  “Hello,” came the voice on the other end of the line.

  “Hello, this is Emily… Emily Mitchell. I’m not sure you will remember me…”

  “I know who you are. What do you want?”

  “I heard on the news about Adam Keller being arrested.” Emily sounded as if she found the event amusing.

  “Why are you calling me?”

  “I’ve never been big on coincidences. I mean, what is the chance poor Carol Myers would just wander into Harrison Coulson’s office and get herself shot? I kept asking myself, what was the connection between Myers and Coulson?”

  “This has nothing to do with me. I’m going now.”

  “No, it has everything to do with you. You are the connection. I admit I can’t prove it. Considering all the players, you are the logical suspect. What happened? Did she and Harrison decide it was time to come clean and let the world know the truth? Was that too much for you to handle? After all, you have your precious reputation. And will the Coulson family still adore you after all this comes out?”

  “I did not murder anyone!” the voice insisted. For a moment, Emily wondered if she was wrong. Perhaps the person was innocent. “What do you want?”

  Emily considered the question for a moment before answering. “I’m not a fan of Alexandra Keller or the Coulson family. I’ll admit I’ve done some things in the past I’m not proud of. But I will not stand by and watch an innocent man be charged for murders he didn’t commit.”

  “How do you know he’s innocent? You don’t know all the details. He had a motive for killing Harrison.”

  “Did he have a motive for killing Carol Myers, too? I only know one person with a motive to kill both people. You.”

  “Stay out of this or you will be sorry.”

  “Are you going to kill me, too?” Emily asked angrily.

  “I mean it. Stay the fuck out of this.”

  The line went dead. Emily sat there a moment and questioned her wisdom of making the call.

  “You’ve opened your big mouth again, Emily,” she said aloud to herself, still staring at the phone. “Damn, I guess there’s only one thing I can do now.”

  Thirty minutes later, Emily stood on the doorstep of the home belonging to Garret and Alexandra Coulson. Taking a deep breath, she rang the doorbell. When Alexandra opened the door, it took her a few moments to recognize Emily. They hadn’t seen each other in years.

  “Emily?” Alexandra muttered the woman’s name as she held open the door.

  “I need to speak to you and your husband. It’s about your son,” Emily explained, silently cursing herself for impulsively making that foolish phone call. Had she not made the call, she would not have to beg an audience with Garret Coulson.

  “What do you have to do with Adam?” Alex asked suspiciously. It was Emily who, in an inebriated state, had inadvertently told a teenage Adam about his mother’s affair.

  “I don’t think you want me to turn around and leave. I might know who killed Harrison Coulson.”

  Garret was surprised when Alex opened the door to his study and led Emily in, especially considering the former employee had been the topic of conversation between himself and Alexandra earlier that day.

  “Emily?”

  “Hello, Garret.” Emily realized it was the first time she’d ever addressed her former boss by his first name. He had always been Mr. Coulson.

  “Emily tells me she has information regarding Adam,” Alexandra explained, warily looking from her husband to Emily.

  “That is interesting, because I have some questions for her,” Garret told Alex before settling his gaze on Emily.

  “You can wipe that arrogant expression off your face, Garret Coulson,” Emily hissed. “I’m doing you and your wife a favor coming here.”

  “I’ve never known you to be generous,” Garret snapped.

  “Garret, please!” Alex wanted to hear what Emily had to say and was afraid the woman might leave before telling them what she knew.

  “Why did my brother give you money to start your real estate business?” Garret asked, ignoring his wife’s plea. Instead of bolting from the room at the inquiry, which was Alex’s fear, Emily simply smiled and sat down in a chair, facing Garret.

  “So, you know about the money?” Emily asked with a smile. “What did he tell you it was for?”

  “He didn’t tell me anything. I just found out today.”

  “I don’t understand.” Emily looked a bit confused.

  “I’ve been going through Harrison’s papers.”

  “Oh, I imagine you will find all sorts of interesting information by the time you finish,” Emily told him.

  “Were you lovers?” Garret asked. Emily’s expression instantly changed. Obviously, the question did not please her.

  “Harrison Coulson was never my lover.”

  “Why would he give you that much money? Were you blackmailing him?” Garret asked.

  Instead of being i
nsulted, Emily cocked her head to the side and pondered the question. “Blackmail? You know, I suppose some people might actually twist this to make it seem like blackmail. But no, I never asked for a dime. Let’s say, it was something he wanted to do.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” Garret responded.

  Alexandra paced nervously, growing annoyed with her husband for not focusing on Adam. Finally, she blurted out, “Emily, please, what do you know about my son?”

  Emily turned briefly and looked at Alex. “Actually, it all has to do with Adam.” She then turned back in the chair and faced Garret. “Garret, how well did you really know your brother?”

  “What kind of a question is that?” he asked.

  “I worked for both you and Russell. While I felt the two of you were not that much alike, Harrison…well, he was cut entirely from a different piece of cloth. That is probably the nicest compliment I can give you or Russell.”

  “Emily, please get to your point,” Garret snapped.

  “Well, I would, but you keep asking me all these needless questions rather than simply listening to what I have to say.”

  “We’re listening,” Garret told her.

  Emily took a deep breath and then looked at Alex and suggested, “I think perhaps you should sit down.”

  Alexandra nodded and sat down, facing Emily.

  “About six months after I left Coulson Enterprises,” Emily began, “I was just finishing up my real estate courses. I ran into Harrison downtown, and he recognized me. He approached me and said he was sorry to hear I’d left Coulson Enterprises. I was a little surprised that he didn’t seem to know the details of my termination.”

  “Harrison was never involved in the business,” Garret explained.

  Emily nodded and continued. “Yes, I already knew that. I just figured he would know why Russell fired me. Anyway, he asked what I was doing, and I told him I was getting my real estate license. He suggested I stop by his office and talk to him, that he could help me. I figured with his connections as a senator, I’d be foolish to pass up the opportunity.”