Chapter 13 - THE OLD ACCIDENT
The dead man's name was Samuel Reed.
He had been Carter Industrial's controller twenty-two years earlier.
Officially, Samuel died in a single-car accident after leaving the company's Christmas party.
Unofficially, Leonard Price claimed Samuel had discovered Evelyn stealing from a charitable employee fund.
I met Leonard the next morning in an interview room at the county station.
He was sixty-eight, thin, exhausted, and nothing like the dangerous mastermind I had imagined.
"Why did you help her?" I asked.
His eyes were wet. "Because I loved her. Then because I hated Walter. Eventually I couldn't tell the difference."
"Did she kill Samuel?"
"She didn't push his car off a cliff, if that's what you mean."
"Then what happened?"
Leonard looked toward the one-way glass.
"Samuel confronted her at the party. She slipped something into his drink before he drove home. Enough to make him look drunk if he crashed."
My stomach turned.
"You saw her?"
"I helped her hide it."
"Why tell anyone now?"
He gave a broken smile. "Because Victor found the old accounting files. He's been squeezing her for money for two years. She decided stealing Walter's company was easier than paying him forever."
"And framing me?"
"That was her idea. She heard you outside the sunroom."
So she had known.
The attack wasn't panic.
It was premeditated.
Leonard leaned closer. "There's one thing you need to understand. Victor recorded her too. Not just the conversation you heard. Months of calls."
"Where are they?"
"He kept backups."
"Where?"
Leonard looked at the detective.
"Safe-deposit box. First National. Box 417."
Hayes immediately stood.
Before he reached the door, another detective opened it.
"We have a problem."
"What?"
"Victor Sloane made bail twenty minutes ago."
"How?"
"High-priced lawyer and no kidnapping charge yet."
I stood.
The detective continued.
"And First National just reported someone accessed Box 417 ten minutes ago."
My phone buzzed.
A photo appeared.
Daniel, walking alone toward his car.
May you like
The message beneath it said:
TELL YOUR HUSBAND TO BRING ME HIS SHARES.
