Chapter Four Her

Chapter Four Her

Present Day

Detective Dominick Sessions’s stomping footsteps signaled his entry before he appeared in the doorway of the wood-paneled

library. With a long stride and his chin up, he stalked into the room and stopped next to the intricately carved floor-to-ceiling

fireplace.

The stale stench of trying too hard wound around him in an invisible cloud. He wore gray dress pants and a blazer in a slightly different shade of gray. The

outfit said a lot about the wealth he tried to portray versus the wealth he actually possessed. A forty-something hometown

boy who gave off a whiff of not in my town as he looked around the room.

Outmaneuvering him shouldn’t be a problem. Dodging Elias’s haunting “bat” reference might not be so easy.

As Elias suggested, I sat on the cream-colored couch positioned in the center of the room. Letting Elias play fetch and welcome

the detective into the house gave me a few minutes to think, and now that reprieve had ended.

The detective nodded in my general direction. “Mrs. Dougherty.”

Still hated that name. “Did you need something, Detective?”

Elias didn’t sit. Didn’t shuffle or fidget. He stood, holding a pen. He somehow commanded the room even though the taller, bulkier detective outweighed Elias’s runner’s frame by at least forty pounds.

Elias jumped right in. “You said you have news.”

The detective frowned. “I’m confused about why you’re here.”

Now the unannounced appearance made sense. The detective had treated Elias to a good-ole-boy head’s-up, not realizing Elias

would be present as my attorney. Understandable. Elias being here confused me, too, but I crossed my legs and settled in for

the show.

“I’m acting as Mrs. Dougherty’s attorney,” Elias continued.

Acting . The word seemed problematic. Probably just lawyer-speak, but who knew.

This time the detective’s eyes narrowed. “Isn’t that a conflict of interest?”

Looked like I wasn’t the only one with that question.

“No,” Elias said.

If I trusted Elias, I might enjoy the abruptness of his answer. But I didn’t so... “Is there a problem, Detective?”

“Your interests and your late husband’s might not, uh... completely, uh...” The detective winced instead of finishing

his sentence.

“Align?” Elias asked, filling in the blank. “That’s not a problem. Mr. and Mrs. Dougherty were completely in sync. They shared

a loving marriage and a life view as well as their assets. I represent both the estate and Mrs. Dougherty.”

Fascinating how he could just say wild shit and pull it off.

“That might not always be the case.” The detective shot Elias one of those man-to-man looks. “Certain issues could arise.”

Okay, enough of the coded doublespeak. “Just say whatever you’re trying to dance around, hoping Elias will decipher it. Why are you here?”

“Mrs. Dougherty has been through a lot of unexpected turmoil over the last few weeks.” Elias took a step closer to the couch.

“It might be better if you outlined your concerns, Nick.”

Nick?

The detective nodded. “There’s a question about Richmond’s manner of death. It would be helpful if Mrs. Dougherty came with

me to answer some questions.”

A perp walk. Not happening.

“I’m not—” I stopped because Elias held up his hand. At some point he’d need a lecture about that gesture being annoying and

to never do it again, but the middle of this conversation didn’t seem like the right time.

“I see.” Elias nodded.

“Right.” The detective took a slight step back, as if clearing the way for me to walk out of the house with him. “If you would

just—”

“No,” Elias said again.

The detective frowned. “Excuse me?”

“She’s in mourning, Nick.”

The detective shot a quick glance in my direction. “Clearly.”

“I’m concerned you’re digging for something without having any basis to do so. Investigating is your job, of course, but she

isn’t going to undergo hours of useless questioning in the hope that you can discover a crumb of information that’s not there.”

Elias pocketed the pen he’d been holding. “You can run requests through me. If it becomes necessary to speak with her, then,

of course, we will comply. But until that time, no.”

I heard the unspoken fuck you in Elias’s response. He treated police questioning like an invitation to a Fourth of July family barbecue with that one wacky

uncle who could talk for hours about the government putting listening devices in food.

Who knew declining was an option?

The detective sighed. “There’s no need to make this combative.”

Elias nodded. “I agree.”

Testosterone battles weren’t my thing. Nothing about a fight filled with metaphorical chest pumping and dick measuring impressed

me, but Elias holding his ground without trouble turned out to be the unexpected highlight of my day.

Still didn’t trust him as far as I could drop-kick him.

“Look, we both know you’re getting a lot of pressure from above to find a problem. To put my client on the defensive,” Elias

said. “Someone is whispering in your ear about Addison.”

That whispering someone being Kathryn. She should be careful because I could do some whispering about her.

Elias continued as if he knew I wanted to say the comment out loud. “Richmond fell down the stairs. A tragic situation but

end of story.”

“The fall that led to his death was his third supposed accident in a span of two months. Those accidents all coming once he

moved into the same house with your client.” The detective shot me a questioning look. “Have anything to say about that?”

Nope.

“She’s grieving. Richmond’s accidents, so soon after their marriage, were a concern for her, as well.” Elias shot me a look

that said stay quiet before focusing on the detective again. “I can show you out.”

Elias gestured toward the hallway behind the detective, giving the man no choice but to leave, but not before the detective offered a final parting shot. “The medical examiner changed the preliminary cause of death from ‘accident’ to ‘undetermined.’ Once she has the toxicology results we’ll know more and we will have a conversation, Mrs. Dougherty.”

Lucky me. “I’ll look forward to that.”

Elias escorted the detective out and returned in record time to meet me back in the kitchen. “Maybe ratchet down the sarcasm

when dealing with Detective Sessions or anyone from his office. Local law enforcement wade through a lot of social nonsense

and don’t have a great deal of experience with murder cases, so let’s not actively antagonize them.”

“You’re asking a lot.” Then there was this part. “And you’re hired, at least until I figure out what game you’re playing.

If it’s follow-the-biggest-paycheck, then fine. I can appreciate wanting to get paid. But if you’re messing with me to benefit

Kathryn or—”

“I’d get disbarred.”

“Right. Because all attorneys are so honorable.”

He picked up his empty coffee cup and placed it in the sink. “The police, with Kathryn’s pushing, are going to be all over

this.”

“She’s the angry former spouse. They should question her.” Seemed logical to me.

“My point is that I expect the police will get a search warrant for the house and for Richmond’s office.”

Not the best news but the way Elias kept standing there suggested something worse was coming. “What are you not saying?”

“I’m not saying anything because I can’t.” Elias took out his cell and glanced at the screen for the first time since he’d arrived. “If, hypothetically, you had a bat and I took it and hid it for you, I’d get in serious trouble. Similarly, I can’t tell you to hide a bat that may or may not be in the house because that, too, would be problematic.”

So many hypotheticals. “I didn’t kill Richmond.”

“I didn’t ask.”

It sounded like someone hoped to set me up for Richmond’s death. That meant my new focus was figuring out who wiped out the

scumbag and why they thought coming for me was a good idea. But I did have one nagging question. “You don’t care? I thought

Richmond was your friend.”

“He wasn’t but I didn’t kill him.”

“I didn’t ask.” But now I wondered.

Elias just became a lot more interesting.