11

Jude

Jude stayed in the conference room while Kit Savage's team broke down their sound gear, and Fitzgibbon ordered pizza. Savage, himself, had left the room shortly after Vic Rothschild. When all of the Ghost After Dark crew members were gone, Ronan helped to put the conference room back to rights.

"Are you okay?" Jude asked Cope for what had to be the tenth time in the last hour.

"Yeah, I'm great. I'm not happy with being blindsided by Vic Rothschild showing up, but there was nothing I could do about that."

"It was a setup from the get-go, in my opinion," Fitzgibbon said as he walked into the conference room carrying three pizza boxes. Ten and the others followed behind with paper plates and napkins from the break room.

"They were hoping to rattle Cope and put him off his game," Ronan agreed.

"What did you get from the asshole?" Carson asked.

"Which asshole?" Cope asked with a grin, taking a plate filled with sausage slices from Jude. "There were two."

Carson snorted a quick laugh. "Either. Both."

"I could feel that Savage was hiding something. His energy was expectant, like before you shout ‘surprise' at a birthday party. I didn't know what was coming with Rothschild. Savage managed to keep that hidden. We won't know what that thing was since he bounced out of here like a spoiled child."

"I was getting the same thing from him," Tennyson said. "Reading Savage felt like looking through a peephole, catching a glimpse of something but then losing it before it crystalized in my mind."

"Same for us," Carson said, motioning between himself and Cole. "He's been taught how to block psychic gifts."

"Why do you say that?" Ronan asked.

"None of us could get anything from him," Cope said. "Right now, you're thinking about grabbing two more slices of pepperoni, but you know you'll need new pants if you keep eating like this."

"He's also thinking about wanting to get some later and not wanting me to think he's unattractive." Ten waggled his eyebrows. "As if I could ever feel that way about you, snookums."

"The Mustang is almost out of gas," Carson said.

"And you're worried that the Webster case isn't going to be as straightforward as you thought it would be." Cole took a slice of pepper and onion and walked back to his seat.

"See?" Cope said. "We all read different things from you because you broadcast mostly wide open. The only person more open is Fitz. Which, no offense, I could use a little less of, especially where leather riding crops are involved."

Fitzgibbon blushed hard and fast. He opened his mouth to presumably defend himself but sat back in his seat with a shit-eating grin on his face. "I'll shoot you the website if you're interested."

"Jesus Christ," Ronan muttered. "Can we get back to the subject at hand?"

"What the hell is the subject?" Cope asked. "What can we do except get ready to do damage control when that podcast episode airs?"

Fitz sat up straight in his seat. He had his game face on. "When the idea of you doing the podcast came up, Ronan ran Savage's criminal record, which was how we found out about his arrest for fraud. We can do a deeper dive on him. Ronan?"

"On it," Ronan mumbled through a mouthful of pizza.

"Jude, I want you to take a closer look at Vic Rothschild. Get the police report, autopsy, and any other information you can find about Rothschild. See if financials were pulled at the time of Domenica's death. Was there any life insurance on Domenica? Was it paid out?"

"You got it," Jude agreed. "What about the Webster case? I've got an interview lined up on Monday with one of the school board members."

"We're putting that case on hold for the moment. I'm going to look into Domenica. See if I can get her medical records and possibly treatment notes. We need to find out as much about her as we can." Fitzgibbon grabbed his slice, folded it in half, and took a bite. "Cope, keep trying to get in touch with Domenica. Were you able to read anything from her? She sounded off to me, like maybe she was drunk or something."

"I felt something like that too. If she'd been hospitalized in a psych ward for bipolar disorder, she would have been on some heavy-duty meds. Lithium, for a start, and possibly other mood stabilizers, not to mention antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds, like Xanax, which are highly addictive. With Rothschild's money and influence, I'm guessing it would have been easy to get docs to keep prescribing high doses even after Domenica's discharge."

"The meds plus addiction would have kept her compliant."

"Until she wasn't," Ronan said. "What did you guys get from Rothschild? I didn't like his air of invincibility. I've seen that attitude more times than I can count with husbands who've killed their wives."

"I'm gonna call Cisco Jackson tomorrow and see if there are any retired cops I can speak with who might have been on duty that day or were involved in the death investigation." Fitzgibbon grabbed another piece of pizza.

"See if you can run a check of 9 calls originating from Rothschild Manor. Or that mention his or Domenica's name. It's so much easier now that all those calls have been digitized," Jude said quietly.

"Good suggestion." Fitzgibbon grabbed his phone and started tapping out notes.

"What can we do?" Carson asked, looking eager to help.

"Did your mother keep records of her customers?"

Cole exchanged a questioning look with his brother. "Mom's notebooks."

"Right." Carson nodded his head. "What did we do with those boxes when you and Cassie moved out last year?"

"I think I took them because we've got more storage than you do at the townhouse. Why do you ask, Ronan?"

"I'm wondering if Domenica or any of the Rothschilds were customers of the shop," Ronan said, getting up to throw his empty plate in the trash. "There are over a hundred psychics working in dozens of shops in and around Salem at the moment, but the only one mentioned by Kit Savage was West Side Magick, and the only psychics named work here. I've been doing this job for far too long to believe in coincidences."

Cole grinned. "Detective Craig at your service." He snapped off a salute.

"I'll dig in to help," Carson added. "I remember telling Mom to get a computer to keep the shop organized and to help order supplies that were getting low, but she just laughed at me and said she was managing just fine with her old melon. Then she knocked on the side of her head. Wouldn't it just be easier to ask Mom who she remembers?"

"If we find out Domenica or the Rothschilds were customers, then we'll talk to her and see what she remembers," Fitzgibbon said.

"Good point," Carson agreed.

"Let's make this investigation as quick as possible. Things are heating up in the Webster case, and I don't want to leave it dangling for too long," Fitz said.

"I already sent a request to records for Domenica's case file and the evidence collected that night to be sent over. Usually, those requests come through within twenty-four hours." Ronan paused. "I imagine this might take longer since the crime is forty years old."

"Files from that long ago are stored off-site."

"Do you think it's possible to get DNA after all this time?" Jude asked.

"We're gonna find out real quick." Fitzgibbon grinned brightly. "I'll also reach out to Cisco Jackson to give him the heads-up about what's going on."

"Already done," Ronan said. "The last thing I want to deal with tomorrow is a tongue-lashing from the chief."

"You and me both," Fitzgibbon agreed.

"Do you guys think I should make a statement about the podcast interview and the reading?" Cope asked.

"Let's stay away from that until we see the fallout from this." Fitzgibbon's eyes were on Jude as he spoke.

"I'll draft a statement on behalf of West Side Magick standing behind Cope and letting people know we were watching the reading as it went on." Carson grabbed a clean napkin and began jotting notes.

Jude felt better now that they had a battle plan. He found himself being thankful Cope had gone against his advice and did the interview. It just might be possible to solve this forty-year-old murder with some good old-fashioned police work and a little help from Domenica Fibonacci.