Страница 65 из 71
Co
I fought the urge to shake her. “Yes, ma’am. What happened here? Where is Rachel Roth now?”
Co
I was begi
“Oh, God. She was shrieking about him killing his son, then said that he’d collapsed, so I ran to the house and saw that he was on the floor. I … I guess he had a heart attack during the argument. I called 911. Poor Rachel was so hysterical. Full-blown panic attack. I didn’t have any of my Xanax with me, and I couldn’t find any in her bathroom here.” The woman looked utterly appalled and baffled that anyone wouldn’t have a ready supply of Xanax in their house. “So I called 911 again and told them that they needed to send another ambulance. They left a few minutes ago with her.”
I turned and hurried to the living room. Ryan stood beyond the kitchen, arms folded across his chest and a dark expression on his face. “It’s Rachel?”
“Has to be. Hang on a sec.” I moved over to where Harris lay on the floor. The paramedics had ceased their efforts to revive him, so I didn’t feel too bad about pushing in and crouching by the body. I ignored the startled looks as I quickly rummaged through the dead man’s pockets.
My hand closed on what I was looking for. “I’m with the PD. I’m just borrowing this,” I explained to the staring paramedics, then I sprang to my feet and returned to Ryan. I jerked my head toward the front door, and together we ran back to his car. “Harris didn’t kill his own son. She killed Brian, cleaning up her husband’s mess after he screwed up and accidentally killed his girlfriend.”
Ryan made a face. “He really was fucking his son’s wife?”
I snorted. “From what I hear, he was fucking anything in a skirt.” Another realization hit me. “Crap, including Laurent’s secretary, I betcha.”
Ryan gave me a questioning look as we climbed into his car.
“I know Laurent wouldn’t have called and warned Roth. He hates him. Thought he was dirty and a lecherous slimeball.”
“Sounds like a good judge of character.”
“No kidding! And I know that my sergeant wouldn’t have called him, so the only other person who knew was Laurent’s secretary. Who happens to be young, pretty, and ambitious.”
Ryan glanced at the cell phone I’d retrieved from Harris’s pocket. “Taking up thieving, are we?”
I shrugged and started scrolling through the call history. “A return on a subpoena for cell-phone records could take weeks. We don’t have that much time.”
“Then I heartily approve of your larceny. I take it we’re heading to the hospital now?” he asked as he pulled out onto the road.
I nodded. “Yeah. But if Rachel Roth really had a panic attack, I’ll eat my badge.”
“It made an easy escape for her.”
I tapped my fingers against my leg. “I wonder if she thinks she’s in the clear now?” I looked over at Ryan. “We don’t have a damn thing on her.”
Ryan grimaced. “The DNA is going to show that Harris slept with Carol and, yes, he probably did accidentally kill her during rough sex.” He shook his head. “It must have taken balls to call his wife and tell her what he’d done.”
“Maybe it wasn’t the first time she had to clean up after him.” I fell silent as I continued to scroll through the swiped cell phone. We neared the front gate, and the sweeping staircase of Davis Sharp’s house came into view just as I reached the records for the pertinent date. “He didn’t!” I exclaimed, feeling a huge piece of the puzzle snap into place.
Ryan frowned at me. “What?”
I laughed. “Harris didn’t have the balls to call his wife. My first theory was right—partly. He called Davis Sharp.” I held up the phone in triumph. “But Davis must not have been alone.”
Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “Keep going.”
“The Cardio Barbie was right. Elena and Harris were having an affair, and Davis found out and kicked her ass out.” I took a breath to get my thoughts organized. Now everything was begi
Ryan gave a snort of amusement. “Ah, the good old revenge fuck.”
I gri
“—and Rachel overhears and knows she needs to clean this mess up.”
“Right,” I said. “Rachel’s smart and tough. She had no intention of divorcing Harris. She’d probably always put up with his affairs because she wanted the power and prestige of being married to a judge. It’s been damn good for her business, that’s for sure, and I’d bet anything that she was working up to ru
“Tough bitch,” Ryan commented.
“No shit! So Rachel had Davis drive her over to Brian’s house.” I paused, trying to fit it all together.
His frown returned. “She convinced Davis to kill Brian?”
I shook my head. “I still think Rachel did it. I don’t think Davis would have supported his buddy to that extent—especially after he’d found out about Harris and Elena. And it would have been easy for dear stepmom Rachel to get close enough to Brian to shoot him and make it look like a suicide.” More pieces started to fall into place. “In fact, I don’t think Davis had any idea that Rachel killed Brian until the next day, when it hit the news.”
Ryan’s mouth twisted. “At which time he proceeded to freak the fuck out.”
“Exactly. He confronted Rachel about it and ended up dead. But before that, I think Davis called Elena and told her what happened. It’s the only thing that would explain Elena’s panic. And I’ll bet you anything that if we check Davis’s phone records, we can confirm it.”
Ryan shook his head as he pulled onto the highway. “So why didn’t Elena spill what she knew to the police? It would have saved her from being a suspect in her husband’s murder.”
I thought for a few seconds. “Elena was never a strong suspect, and she knew it. At first she was afraid that Rachel might have known that Davis had spilled the beans to her, but after I paid Elena a visit, I bet she realized that it would take only one phone call from her to finish Rachel off …”
“More blackmail,” Ryan stated.
I gave a nod. “Yeah, that’s what I think too. But I bet it wasn’t for money.”
Ryan flicked a questioning glance my way. I gave him a thin smile in return. “Elena Sharp loved being a society wife,” I explained. “With Rachel’s cooperation and assistance, Elena could return to Beaulac and play the tragic widow—”