by Taylor Lee
Charlotte broke in, her voice shrill, disbelieving. “The two of you are our contacts?” She shook her head in disgust. “If you’re in charge of the investigation, that probably means you’re going to be busy—or at least I hope it does. Which means that she will be our contact.”
Glaring at Skylar, Charlotte’s face flushed a deeper shade of scarlet. Her voice rose further. “And who the hell is she? We don’t even know her.” She added dismissively, “Just that she’s one of Jared’s projects.” She huffed. “But then, Jared always was bringing home strays. God, she looks like she’s twelve years old and you’re telling us she’s going to be our contact?”
Before Jude could answer, Alicia added her voice, as sharp as her sister’s. “Charlotte is right. What about Jake? Jared? Why aren’t they involved? Jake’s the police commander. I would think that he would be in charge, not you. You’ve been gone for years and just got back from L.A. How can you know what’s going on here?” She glanced at Blake, who was regarding his sisters with a frown.
Before he could speak, Alicia continued, “And where is Jared? Why isn’t he at least working the case with you? Jared and Blake were best friends. Why isn’t he—”
Jude held up his hand, stopping Alicia’s tirade mid-sentence. He looked from one to the other of the four siblings, holding each of their gazes for a moment. When he spoke, as before, his voice was calm, firm. “As I indicated, Ms. Hughes and I will be your contacts. If you have questions you may call either one of us.”
When Charlotte started to protest, Jude narrowed his gaze and frowned slightly.
The angry woman hesitated, then stopped and glared at him, anger radiating from her body.
Jude let the silence stand for a long moment then said quietly, “In answer to your questions, Blake, we have little concrete information at this time.” He raised his hand again when Charlotte started to speak. She hesitated, then sunk back against the sofa cushion, her eyes flashing with anger.
“What we do know is that your parents died approximately an hour before you came home, Alicia. While these are estimates at best, your father died first—approximately thirty minutes before your mother. Doctor Evans believes that both of your parents died of asphyxiation caused by the cords around their necks. Because they were tortured with a number of different weapons, the loss of blood and trauma contributed to their deaths.”
Blake’s sob cut through Jude’s graphic recitation. Making a visible effort to control his emotions, Blake groaned, then pleaded, “Please, Jude, please, man, tell me that they…they died quickly, that they weren’t conscious when…when…those horrible things were done to them.”
Jude pressed his lips together, then shook his head. “I wish I could tell you that, but I can’t, Blake. Both your parents suffered for at least three, more likely four, hours before they mercifully died.”
Blake’s anguished wail filled the room.
Skylar rose and walked to the door. She murmured to Jude as she passed, “I’ll be right back. I’m going to have Gregory bring in some water.”
When she returned, she heard Jude beginning to describe their preliminary theories about the perpetrators. He stopped when she entered, Gregory and Marguerite following behind her. Gregory put a tray holding a water pitcher and glasses on the coffee table and then placed Marguerite’s tray with a teapot and four cups next to the water.
“Thank you, Marguerite, Gregory.” Jude glanced around the circle. “Would you like a glass of water, Blake? Anyone? Or perhaps you’d prefer tea?”
When Blake nodded, Jude poured him a glass of water, then turned to the sisters, all of who stonily refused the refreshments. He waited until the two long-time servants left the room, then nodded to Sky. “I was just about to tell the Parkers our preliminary theories about the perpetrators, Skylar.”
Turning back to the four siblings, he said, “Understand, these are preliminary theories at best. The laboratory technicians are combing through mountains of evidence. It will be several more days before we have final results. What we do know or surmise at this point is the following: We know that at least two, more likely three or more, perpetrators were present. There was evidence of cocaine and possibly heroin in the room, indicating they were likely high on drugs, which helps somewhat to explain the savagery of the attacks. While we haven’t ruled out a burglary gone bad, because the attacks were so vicious, and the fact that nothing of value is missing, we think it is unlikely that this was an anonymous crime.”
Marion interrupted him. “What does that mean, Jude? That it wasn’t an anonymous crime? Are you saying that the people who did this knew our mother and father?”
When Jude nodded, Charlotte challenged him, “But…but that means…you’re saying that whoever did all those horrible things did them on purpose? I…I don’t understand.”
Jude was sympathetic. “None of us can understand how human beings could do what they did to your parents. As I said, we believe that they were high on cocaine, which may help to explain the viciousness of the attacks. That said, our working theory is that the perpetrators knew your parents. There was no sign of a forced entry. Moreover, the doors were unlocked and the alarm didn’t go off, indicating that your parents let them in, more confirmation that your parents knew their attackers.”
Blake was clearly shaken. “Damn, Jude, that…that doesn’t make sense. Who…who could possibly have hated Mom and Dad that much?”
Jude looked from one to the other of the now clearly shaken siblings and said quietly, “That’s what we are trying to find out, Blake.”
Chapter 8
Jude let the hard silence stand for several moments as each of the sisters decided that, like their brother, they would have a glass of water. When everyone had settled back on the sofas, he continued. “At this point this is the most that we can tell you. As more facts become clear, either Ms. Hughes or I will convey them to you. But now, I need some information from you. For the record, I need to confirm where each of you were on Monday night and when you last saw your parents.”
He turned to Alicia. “You and I talked briefly Monday night, Alicia, after you found your parents’ bodies. Understandably, you were in shock. But we need some basic facts from you and each of your siblings. Let’s start with the questions I’ll be asking your sisters and brother. If you would please tell us where you were, with whom, and what time you got home on Monday evening.”
Alicia hesitated and glanced at her sisters, then with a deep sigh, turned back to Jude.
“As I told you, Jude, I was home Monday night. I had been at the boutique all day and I was tired. My sisters and I own the Second Chance Boutique consignment store. We sell only original designer clothing that has been lightly worn.” She glanced over at Skylar, who was wearing what Jude now knew was her standard uniform: ill-fitting cargo pants and a t-shirt, also ill fitting. Sharing a dismissive raised eyebrow with Charlotte, she added, “We make it possible for any woman who has a smidgen of interest in looking decent to do so at half the cost of the upscale boutiques.”
Jude turned the conversation back to the investigation. “On Monday evening, you were alone in the Carriage House?”
“Yes, I live there.”
Jude nodded. “I understand you’ve been living there for what—a year?”
Alicia’s voice dripped with scorn. “Yes, when I decided to divorce that fucking asshole Charlie Berkley, I told him he could keep our shabby house for himself and his skaggy girlfriends.” She gave a dismissive shrug. “Why not? I had an iron-clad prenuptial agreement that ensured he wouldn’t get a thing unless I chose to give it to him. When I told him to keep the house, Mother and Father suggested I move back here until I found a place I wanted to buy.”
“What time did you go over to your parent’s house?”
“It was after 10:30, close to 11:00. I needed some documents for my divorce. I saw that the light was on in the library and knew that my mother and father were probably up. They never went to bed before 11:00 p.m.,
and Father usually stayed up until after midnight. I often went over there later at night to share a nightcap. My parents liked to finish the day with a glass of Scotch, and so do I.”
When she slammed her eyes closed and stopped speaking, Jude gently prodded. “I assume you have a key to your parent’s house?”
“Yes, and I know the code. But the door wasn’t locked and the alarm wasn’t on. That wasn’t unusual. Father usually locked up before he went to bed. My…my parents were social. They had a lot of friends.”
“Friends who visited them in the evening?”
Alicia nodded. “Yes, when I would stop over, they usually had company. Now that the nights are warm, they often sat in the garden. When I heard voices over the wall, I would occasionally join them.”
“But you didn’t hear voices on Monday night?”
“No, and…and unless I hadn’t needed those documents…I wouldn’t have gone there.”
She put her hands over her eyes and leaned against Charlotte’s shoulder.
Jude was surprised when Skylar spoke.
“Did your father help you with your divorce?”
Alicia looked up startled. Brushing at the tears on her cheeks, she said curtly. “Yes, both my mother and father were determined that my cheating husband would never get a cent of Parker money.”
Jude asked, “Any other questions, Skylar?”
When she shook her head, Jude thanked Alicia, and turned to Charlotte.
“Now, if you would please, Charlotte, tell us about your evening, where you were and with whom? And again, for the record, when you last saw either of your parents.”
Charlotte’s cheeks flushed angrily. “So we’re all on the hot seat, Jude? Isn’t that a mite crass, given the pain that we are in? Admit it. You don’t have a fucking clue who did this to our parents, so instead of looking for the criminals, you’re questioning us like we’re the criminals?” Before Jude could answer, Charlotte pointed an angry finger at Skylar. “And what about you? Are you just going to sit there staring at us through those ridiculous glasses as though we’re freaks in a zoo?” She whirled back to Jude. “For God’s sake, Jude, your little assistant isn’t even taking notes. What kind of a secretary is she?”
Jude’s lip curved up slightly and a sliver of amusement colored his response.
“My colleague has an eidetic memory. Unlike the rest of us mere mortals, she doesn’t need so much as a pen and paper to capture her insights.” Pinning Charlotte with a hard stare, he continued, “Now, if you would please, Charlotte, tell us about your Monday evening.”
Charlotte glared at him, not hiding her hostility. “That’s easy, Jude. And we can make your work even simpler. Which is a good thing, given where you are in the investigation. Which from what I can tell, is nowhere!”
Blake frowned and shook his head. “Charlotte, I know you are upset, but there’s no need to take it out on Jude or Ms. Hughes. You know that they are working on this full-time as is the rest of the DPD. It…it’s just so unbelievable, incomprehensible…” Blake put up his hands in defeat and closed his eyes, not bothering to swipe at the moisture on his cheeks.
At her brother’s plea for civility Charlotte appeared to reconsider. She made an obvious effort to speak less sharply. “As I said, Jude, and as you no doubt know, Marion and I were together. We’d stayed late at the Second Chance Boutique. We had dinner at Philippe’s, then went back to the shop. We had received a shipment from New York, and Marion and I agreed to stay late. Alicia had been there all day so we convinced her to go home.”
Charlotte was quiet for a moment staring at her hands in her lap. Marion reached over and put a comforting hand on her sister’s knee. When Charlotte looked up at Jude, visible tears swam in her eyes. She swallowed hard and then said in a pained voice, “We were at the shop until you called, Jude, telling us what had happened and that you were sending a car for us.”
Jude let the silence stand and then turned to Blake. “Okay, Blake, that leaves you. Where were you Monday night?”
“Dammit, Jude, I…I was out drinking with my buddies. Christ Almighty, man, do you understand how hard it is for me to tell you that when my parents were being tortured to death, I was getting drunk at the Shipwreck?”
“Yes, Blake, I understood from my squad that they found you at the pub. And no, I cannot begin to imagine how hard this is for any of you. But for the record, can you be more specific about your timing and who you were with?”
Blake nodded and said, “I…I worked until late…in my office. No one was there, but that isn’t unusual. I have a busy law practice and usually work late. I was wired and decided to stop at the Shipwreck on my way home. I got to the pub around ten o’clock and stayed there until you called and…told me you were sending a car for me.”
Blake closed his eyes and rested his head back against the sofa. Alicia reached for his hand and held it tightly in hers.
As before, Jude let the silence stand allowing the Parker siblings to gain their composure. He was surprised and pleased when Skylar took over the questioning.
“Who among you is most familiar with the financial aspects of your family’s fortune?”
All of the Parkers seemed surprised at her question. They exchanged a questioning glance then Marion shrugged. “I am the only one of us who presently sits on the Parker Industries Board of Directors. But that is a rotating position. Each of us assumes the family representative position for one fiscal year and then it passes to the next sibling. While only one of us at a time is a voting member, we all attend the quarterly board meetings and are well-versed in the financial aspects of the corporation. Father thought it was important that all of us understand the family business.”
She frowned at Sky then said dismissively, “You are new here, so it is unlikely that you know, but our family is wealthy. To be more specific, even though we are a privately held corporation, if we were publically traded, we would be among the top five hundred corporations on the NASDAQ.”
Jude smothered a grin, knowing that Skylar knew to the penny the magnitude of the Parker family fortune and likely more than the Parkers or their raft of highly-paid lawyers and accountants knew. He watched in admiration as Sky asked one question after another, soliciting information in a non-threatening manner, never acknowledging their rude dismissal of her. After an hour of polite questions, even the Parker siblings seemed impressed by the studious woman questioning them. At least Jude hoped they were. He sure as hell was, and was looking forward to getting her alone so that he could pick her brain. Which he acknowledged would likely take a while.
Ready to bring the discussion to a close, Jude decided to up the ante, challenge them at their core. Gazing at the four siblings, he said quietly, “Blake asked the right question earlier. If you recall he asked who could have hated your parents so much that they would do the terrible things that they did. I want to underscore Blake’s question. Your parents were brutally tortured. The wounds they suffered were personal, specific. I have a task for each of you. A challenging task. We are convinced that the perpetrators knew your parents. Not only that but we believe they were acting out of rage, and frankly, revenge.”
He paused before making his request. “We need your help. I would like each one of you to come up with a short list of people who you know your parents wronged.”
At their startled murmurs and surprised glances, he added, “Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that your parents in any way deserved the hideous deaths they suffered. But someone—or some people—believed that they did. This is what I want you do to. Without consulting one another, I want you to give Ms. Hughes the names of three people who believed they were harmed by your parents, or someone close to them. People who were wronged personally and in such a way that a deranged mind could believe they deserved to be tortured to death in the most horrific way possible.”
Nodding to Skylar, he said, “I want you to give the names to Ms. Hughes. She is new in this community and doesn’t bring all of our
shared biases and history. In addition, she is renowned for her analytical abilities. She will keep the names you give her in strictest confidence. Only when she has investigated them and thinks they warrant further examination will she turn the names over to me. Please know that this is not a finger pointing exercise. Someone and their partners hated your parents enough not just to kill them, but to torture them to death. You can help us discover who those people might be.”
As they were leaving, Jude and Skylar stopped to say good-bye to the Judge.
“How did it go, Jude?”
Jude snorted. “Well let’s just say that the Parker siblings, at least the sisters, were unimpressed with the interrogation team. They mistakenly pegged Skylar as my secretary and then made it clear that rather than me, Jake, as the Commander of the DPD, should be leading the investigation.”
“Hmm, they weren’t impressed with your two-year stint heading up the homicide division in the second-largest police department in the country?”
Jude laughed, “Apparently not. But we got some useful information.”
As they drove back to the precinct, neither one speaking, Jude broke their thoughtful silence. “You did a great job in there, Squirt. I hope those prima donna women didn’t get to you. That’s the problem with women who think they are superior to anyone who doesn’t have the inherited income that they have—which is ninety-nine point nine percent of the population of this country.”
Sky waved a dismissive hand and said flatly, “I got what I needed.” Her phone buzzed and Jude saw a slight smile light her face. Seeing his questioning frown, she explained. “While you were updating Sgt. Solberg, I asked the Judge if he would approach the Larson, McClellan accounting firm for me. That was a text from your grandfather indicating that the Parker Industries Inc. accounting firm will be pleased to meet with me at my convenience.”
“Jesus, Squirt, that’s sensational. I thought I’d have to throw my weight around, to get that supercilious money changer Lars Larson to let you in the door.”
