Page 50 of Little Last Words

She leaned back and waited.

A minute went by, during which time I assumed Foley was talking with Whitlock about whether they should consider her request.

The light on the camera went off, and a slight smile crossed her lips. She glanced at me and said, “Go see if they’re watching us. I trust you’ll tell me the truth.”

I nodded and stepped out. One look at Foley’s tense jaw and stiff, folded arms gave me a good idea of his overall mood.

“She doesn’t get to waltz in here and call the shots,” he said. “I won’t have it.”

“Look at it this way,” I said. “Whatever she tells me, I’ll tell you. You won’t miss a thing.”

“I still don’t like it.”

“Here’s an idea. Why don’t you leave the room? I’ll tell her you did, and then you can, ahh … you know, come back in a minute. The most important thing here is that she wants to talk—withouther lawyer being present. You might not see it as a win, but it is one.”

He scratched the side of his head, sighed, and said, “What do you think she wants to talk to you about?”

“I’m not sure.”

“You have an idea, though, right?”

I did.

“The first day we met, I tried getting her to open up, and she wouldn’t,” I said. “She was so fixated on the idea that Dean was responsible for her daughter’s murder, she had no interest in entertaining any other possibilities. Now that he has an alibi, maybe there are other suspects swirling around in her head, suspects she hadn’t considered until now.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. She’s a divisive woman, that one.”

“I agree. Give me a little time with her. What harm can it do?”

“Plenty, but all right. Ten minutes, starting now.”

I nodded and rejoined Angelica, taking a seat across from her.

“Chief Foley has given me ten minutes with you,” I said. “We should make the most of it.”

“Let’s get right down to it. I’d like to hire you. While it’s still hard for me to believe Dean isn’t responsible for my daughter’s death, here we are. If he isn’t the responsible party, someone else is to blame. I want to know who, and I want to know sooner than later.”

“I thought you were confident the police could handle it.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have said it, but I couldn’t help myself.

“I am. I just question how long it will take for them to close the case. I’m not interested in waiting. I’m interested in results, and from what I’ve been told, you deliver results. Besides, the more eyes on my daughter’s case, the better. Will you take the case, or won’t you?”

“I will.”

“Excellent, I’d like you to get started right away. I’ll have some money for you later this evening.”

I leaned back in the chair, crossing one leg over the other. “Tomorrow morning is fine. Have someone stop by the office and leave it with Hunter.”

“Whatever else you may be working on right now, I expect you’ll drop it. If it means I need to pay you extra, I will. I want the sole focus of you and your team to revolve around solving her murder. Understand?”

Penelope was already my sole focus, and it would remain that way until the case was closed. Adding money on top was the cherry in my bowl of dark-chocolate ice cream. I was sure Hunter and Simone would agree.

“I have no problem making Penelope’s case my number one priority,” I said.

“It’s settled, then. I expect to be kept abreast of everything you’re doing.” She went quiet for a moment, and then said, “Where will you begin?”

“Since I’m here, I’ll begin with you.”