Page 34 of Whispers of Sin

“With the exception of this morning, you’ve been nothing but professional.” Brook had driven into town with Officer Lawson, and she spotted him just inside the door of the station. She motioned for him to join them. “Detective Hartley, you know the residents of this town. You have insight that is very valuable to me, and I refuse to allow politics to drive this investigation. And just for the record, I don’t care who gets credit. All I want is justice for Bella Kadel and Piper Zimmer. I’ll see you this evening, Detective Hartley.”

Chapter Sixteen

Theo Neville

December 2023

Thursday — 1:47pm

Theopushedopenthedoor to the small coffee shop. The soft chiming of the bell overhead announced his arrival. A few stares were directed at him, but he wasn’t sure if that was due to a stranger entering their hometown domain or if it was due to his black eyepatch. Either way, it took a few seconds before the patrons went back to their previous conversations.

The male subject who Theo had returned to the coffee shop to speak to was standing behind the counter. Discovering that Emily had handed in her resignation had been somewhat of a surprise. Fortunately, one of the baristas had mentioned Rudy Papadakis. The young man happened to be Emily’s friend.

Rudy was slender with brown hair that was parted to the side, allowing some of the strands to fall over his forehead in true 1950s style. The barista had described him as tall, boyish, and sporting a dimple in his right cheek.

Theo joined the short line behind two women and an older gentleman.

He’d spent the better part of the morning attempting to locate Emily Park. After the barista on shift had explained that Emily had submitted her resignation, the logical place was to drive over to the young woman’s apartment. Only she hadn’t been home, her car hadn’t been parked in the lot, and none of her neighbors had any clue as to where she might have gone. It wasn’t until he received a call from Brook that he’d gotten an answer—Martin Kingston had offered Emily something that she hadn’t been able to turn down.

“Coffee, please,” Theo ordered after the older gentleman had moved to the side. Theo reached for his wallet and took out his corporate credit card. With one swipe, he slipped the plastic card back into its designated slot. “You’re Rudy, right?”

“I am,” Rudy replied as he turned around to take one of the cups off the stack next to the large carafe of coffee. The barista behind him was making some type of latte. “Do I know you?”

“No, but I was hoping that you could take a five-minute break.” Theo held up his credentials, which managed to draw quite a bit of attention. “My name is Theo Neville, and my firm has been hired to look into Bella Kadel’s murder.”

Rudy stared back in interest as he secured the white lid onto the cup. He slid it over before nodding toward an empty table in the back.

“Let me clear this line, and then I’ll take a break.”

“I appreciate it.”

Theo snagged a sleeve for his cup before proceeding toward the empty table. He took a seat in the chair facing the door, which also allowed him to monitor the other patrons. A few of them made no effort to conceal their interest in him, while some didn’t seem interested at all. It wasn’t long before Rudy was walking out from behind the counter, wiping his hands on a small towel.

“I’m not sure that I can help you,” Rudy said as he took a seat. He’d tossed the hand towel over his shoulder and leaned both forearms against the table. “Bella was a few years older than me, and we didn’t run in the same circles. She had that fancy job at the art gallery, and I’m still working here to make enough to cover my rent. I got a late start to college, and I can only afford a few classes at a time.”

“What’s your major?”

“Accounting.” Rudy flashed a smile, deepening his dimple. “I plan to start my own firm, but that’s not for a few more years.”

“I’m going to be honest with you, Rudy.” Theo had taken a sip of his coffee, but it was still too hot for his liking. Brook could drink the rich beverage at unbelievably hot temperatures, but Theo had never been a fan of burning his taste buds. “I’m actually here about Emily Park.”

“Emily? Why? What does she have to do with Bella?”

“I think you already know the answer to that question.”

For the first time since Rudy had sat down at the table, he dropped his gaze to his hands. Theo respected that the young man had made an attempt to protect his friend.

“Emily spoke with a colleague of mine, and I think that Emily confided in you regarding that conversation.” Theo made sure that his voice didn’t carry over to the next table. “Emily overheard a conversation between Bella and her older sister. The discussion wasn’t even formal, so why is it that I can’t locate Emily? Is there something more going on that we should be aware of, Rudy?”

“Look, Emily’s grandfather is Martin Kingston. It was only a matter of time before he got his way,” Rudy said with a disappointed shrug. His brown strands of hair moved with the motion. “Emily told me how he reacted to her announcement about not working for the family business. Emily’s mother must have mentioned something to Kingston about investigators stopping into the café. Next thing I know, Emily sent me a text that said she couldn’t hold out anymore. I wouldn’t worry about it, though. Emily was raised in that family, and she knew how to play the game.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?” Theo asked, trying to find some solid ground. Rudy spoke as if Theo should be able to follow along in the conversation, but it was obvious that he was missing something vital. “Are you saying that Emily manipulated the situation?”

“I wouldn’t put it like that,” Rudy said with unease. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “All Emily wanted to do was paint, and her family thought it was just a passing phase. It wasn’t. She’s good. Amazing. It’s one of the reasons that she gained such a following on social media. She knows fashion, the trends, and basically even knows what is going to be popular before it happens. There’s nothing wrong with making a career out of something you love.”

“Emily paints? As in oil paintings? Canvas?”

“Yeah, not that she really shares that with a lot of people. Her viewers want videos and pictures of clothes, shoes, and anything trendy,” Rudy explained as he took a moment to glance over his shoulder. The barista behind the counter was doing her best to keep up with the flow of customers, but Theo’s time to collect more information had narrowed. “Emily’s paintings are more abstract. Her family doesn’t seem to recognize her talent, but I do. She’s been trying to figure out a way to get her foot in at the art gallery, but Maxwell Vanderbilt is friends with her family. Emily has been secretly driving to Annapolis once a month and trying to sell some of her art to the galleries there.”