Chapter 22: Chapter Twenty-Two

Ben rubbed slow circles on Annie’s back. “You okay?”

She nodded, her eyes watering. “Yes. Just caught me off guard. What do you mean you know who?”

Mira’s expression flipped like a switch. Sad one second and harsh the next. “I mean there’s only one person who wanted my father gone.”

Oh, sweetie. That’s not true. Annie felt guilt for thinking it, but that just wasn’t realistic. People hated Gill. He was nasty. An unhappy man who took pleasure in spreading his anger. Every person she’d spoken to about him—even Ginger, who supposedly loved him—said the same about her neighbor.

Ben shot Annie a glance, then turned toward Mira. “Who?”

“Conway Leese. He wanted my father out of the picture. They argued several times, and once, he even threatened my dad. I knew he was going to snap, but I never expected this.”

“Have you told the police this?” Annie wrapped her fingers around the cup to warm them up.

“Yes. But they said he has an alibi. Except I know he’s lying.” Mira stiffened her shoulders.

“How?” Annie met her hard glare.

“Because he’s a liar.”

Not exactly foolproof. “I’m sure the police will follow any viable leads.” Annie sure as heck hoped so because at the moment, as far as she knew, they were only traveling down the roads that led to her.

Mira’s shoulders seemed to sag. “I should go. I need to face going into his house before I lose my nerve.”

“We could come with you,” Ben said.

Mira smiled, but it was so sad, Annie’s heart tweaked. “Thank you, but I think it’s better if I do it alone.”

“Would you like to see the kittens sometime soon?” Annie asked as she stood.

“Yes. I would. Thank you for the tea and for being so gracious.”

“It’s literally the least I could do. I’m so sorry for your loss, Mira.”

Her lips twisted. She stood up and ducked her gaze. “Most would say it’s not much of a loss.”

Moving around Ben, Annie put a hand on her arm. “He was your father. Of course it’s a loss.”

Mira looked up, and Annie could see the gratitude in her eyes. “Thank you.” They walked to the door before the woman spoke again. “I can’t do anything to repair my relationship with my dad. I want to do this. I want to see his killer brought to justice. I can’t do it alone.”

The words weighed Annie down like cement blocks. She let loose a deep sigh. “You’re not alone.” Unless she’s the killer.

Mira nodded, then opened the door.

Turned out the evening wasn’t over and definitely wasn’t getting any better. Detectives Black and Rickers stood on her doorstep. The upside was they held her laptop in a large, sealed plastic bag.

They seemed surprised to see Mira and Ben at Annie’s side. Rickers recovered first. He arched his brows, looking at Mira. “Ms. Downs. Seems like an odd place to be hanging out.”

Mira stepped back. “Why is that?”

Detective Black sneered just a little. “Most grieving daughters wouldn’t want to spend time with their father’s suspected killer.”

Annie let out an unnatural squawking sound. “Hey. You can’t just say that. I didn’t do it, and you can’t prove anything.” She was glad she had a meeting with the lawyer. She’d need to ask him how to respond to the detectives’ unfair statements.

“Is that so, Ms. Abbott?”

“It looks like you’re returning the laptop. Which means you didn’t find what you needed. Do you have a warrant to arrest her?” Ben asked, his tone taking on a hardness that surprised Annie.

Detective Rickers looked him up and down. “Here again, Mr. McIntyre?”

Ben stiffened.

Annie was still stuck on the fact that they didn’t answer the question. Was she going to jail? She should grab a sweater. It seemed like it’d be a cold place. Or maybe they wouldn’t even let her have a sweater. Would she have to wear a jumpsuit?

“No warrant, but we do have some questions.”

“Are you heading to your father’s house?” Detective Black asked Mira.

She nodded, then looked at Annie, eyes wide.

“Let me walk you there.” She took Mira’s arm, leaving no room for argument.

“Were you leaving?” Detective Rickers asked Ben, stepping forward.

Annie took a step to block his way. “I didn’t invite you into my house, and without a warrant, you have no right to bully your way in.”

He smiled. He actually smiled. Annie had never been in trouble with the police, but she desperately wanted to slap this man. It might be worth the charge.

Rickers stepped back. He didn’t make any moves to hand the laptop back. Annie wanted to snatch it from him. “I can question you out here just as easily.”

Ben stepped closer to her as if he could share his strength or warmth. She was grateful he didn’t just leave. Annie saw Mira stealing glances back at them as Black walked her to her dad’s.

“What’s this about?” Ben asked.

You might want to pay attention to this part, Annie. She looked at the detective who was looking back and forth between them, clearly trying to figure out what they were to each other.

“I’d like to ask you about some substantial deposits into your bank account, Ms. Abbott.”

She thought about that for a second. She’d received the final portion of one advance for finishing up another smaller scale magazine spread. Her mother had deposited money for household expenses for the year, so that was substantial. She received an advance for a new job the other day. What else?

“What about them?”

“I had no idea graphic design was so lucrative,” Rickers said.

Warmth flooded Annie’s cheeks. “I do well enough.”

“You have a wide range of clients?” He took his little notepad out.

“Yes.”

“Care to tell me about a sizable deposit from JTT Enterprises?”

That was Josie’s private investigation company, Just the Truth. She’d revamped Josie’s social media, website, and done a series of ads for her. It was a great job, and she’d actually received several referral clients as a result. But what did it have to do with anything?

“It seems to me that you’re the detective, you should be able to figure that out on your own.” Annie crossed her arms over her chest. It showed their lack of effort and detail that they couldn’t find the answer to their question.

“Did someone pay you to kill Mr. Downs?”

A groan of frustration left Ben’s throat. “Are you serious?”

Annie shook her head. “You think I moved into town to kill a stranger for money?”

“You were paid by a private investigation company.” Rickers dropped the words like a mic. He stared at Annie, no doubt waiting for her to freak out.

“For a graphic design job. I helped her revamp her image. After you two finish blaming the wrong person and messing up this case, your department can use my services to do the same thing.”

His lips clenched into a hard line, his nostrils flaring. Then, as though she hadn’t bothered him at all, he tilted his head to the side. “We haven’t been able to reach your parents. All activity on their credit cards and social media has stopped.”

Black joined them, hitting the Pause button on Annie’s temper.

“You did say they’d reach out, didn’t you?” Black wasted no time getting in on the conversation.

“They’re sailing around the world. I’m guessing the Wi-Fi is spotty.” Annie couldn’t temper her glare.

“For a woman looking at being arrested for murder, you’re awfully flippant.”

“For detectives who are supposed to understand procedure, you’re awfully far over the line, edging into harassment,” Margie said, joining them as if she’d just magicked herself beside them. She was pumping her arms, marching in place as she glared at the detectives.

“Ms. Tripalo,” Detective Black said with a wary tone.

“Annie, perhaps you should get yourself a lawyer. I do believe these two are grasping so desperately at straws they might pick up a stick and say that’ll do.”

Both of the detectives’ jaws dropped open, and Annie bit her cheek hard so she didn’t laugh.

“I have a Zoom meeting with Ben’s friend tomorrow. He’s a lawyer, and he’s advised me that I have rights. Something you should know,” Annie said. Ben smiled at her.

“We’re trying to find justice for the victim and his family, Ms. Tripalo, and it would be in your best interests not to interfere.” Detective Rickers towered over the woman, but she didn’t even bat her perfectly curled eyelashes.

“It would be in everyone’s best interest if you took this investigation seriously and looked for the killer. I’ve watched enough Law and Order to know that a person has to have motive. Why on earth with Annie kill Gill? Now, had she known him as long as the rest of us had, she might have been tempted, but for all she knew, he was just having a couple bad days.”

Whoa. Margie was going to bat for her. Which meant the attention could shift, and she wouldn’t do that if she’d offed Gill, would she? Didn’t seem smart. And Margie Tripalo was all kinds of smart.

“To answer your question, no, I wasn’t hired to kill Gill. I didn’t kill him. I didn’t know him. Have you talked to Conway Leese? His business partner?” The picture. She needed to show them the picture. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket.

Detective Black’s lips curled back. “We know how to do our jobs.”

Annie, Ben, and Margie stared at the detectives. Not from where I’m standing, you don’t.

Ben and Margie’s gazes whipped to Annie. Shoot. She’d said that out loud.

“This is ridiculous.” Annie threw up her hands, her irritation stomping out most of her rational thought. “Mira Downs is convinced that Conway killed her father. If you have nothing else to ask me, I’d like to end this meeting. Can I please have my laptop?”

“We may have some more questions for you. You’ll be around?” Detective Black said. He handed over the device.

“I’m living here now, so yes.”

Detective Rickers put his notebook away, patted his pants pocket, and pulled out his phone. “One more thing, Ms. Abbott?”

“What?” She spoke through clenched teeth.

He turned the phone toward her so she could see the screen. “Any idea who this might be?”

Sun on the beach. As swear words went, it was weak, but so was her pulse. The screen showed the photo Tate had shared with her. Her heart hammered off beat but nearly stopped when she saw how ghostly white Margie went. Ben leaned forward to get a better look.

Annie did her best to keep her face expressionless and gave them the truth. “I have absolutely no idea.”