Death By Chocolate 6 (Mystery and Women Sleuths) (Josiah Reynolds Mysteries) (8 page)

I had only seen Farley Webb several times and then had never really paid much attention to him. He was the type of man who bores me. Good-looking and knows it, with a head full of narcissism and ambition. He wasn’t even that charming. I never knew what a down-home boy like Dwight saw in him.

Of course, one doesn’t have to like one’s business partner in order to do business. Maybe Farley put up the money for their venture.

“Hello, Mrs. Reynolds. Nice to see you again,” crooned Farley as he swept me into his plush office. “Please have a seat.” He looked at his secretary who stood beside me. “Would you like something to drink – coffee, tea, water? We’ve got it all.”

“No thank you.” I replied, admiring his tailored grey suit.
Armani,
I wondered.

Farley gave a curt nod to the woman who briskly left the room. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

Could he get any smarmier?

“I’m sorry to bother you, Farley. I can see that you are very busy . . . and very successful. I must say I had no idea.”

Farley smiled, showing his professionally whitened teeth, while playing with his silk tie. “I can’t deny it. Dwight and I struck gold. We both worked our tails off, but it paid off as you can see.” He was referring to the expensive mahogany office furniture and the several Henry Faulkner paintings on the wall. In a corner was a John Tuska sculpture.

“May I ask what is going to happen now that Dwight is gone?”

“I have control over the company and we will go on as before. Some of our clients don’t even know that he is gone. Things have gone that smoothly.”

Surprised at this, I reared back in my seat. “Really?”

“We both put clauses in our contract that if one of us was incapacitated for any reason, then the other partner would take over the reins. We thought this was fair to the other partner.”

“What happens to the incapacitated partner’s family?”

“The business buys them out.”

I was quiet for a moment.

Farley looked concerned. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Reynolds. Selena will receive excellent compensation and she doesn’t want a thing to do with the company anyway.”

“So it’s win-win for everyone.”

“Except for Dwight. May I be blunt, Mrs. Reynolds?”

“Of course.”

“Why are you here? I’ve heard that you have been asking questions about Dwight’s disappearance.” Farley gave me another wide bright smile. “You don’t think I had anything to do with it, do you?”

I gave a small laugh. “Did you?”

Farley chuckled.

“Ginny asked me to look into Dwight’s disappearance – not in an official capacity, but to help her resolve some issues. She is awfully confused at the moment and is giving Selena some reasons for concern. I’m just trying to help Ginny resolve some of her questions, so she can move on. To tell you the truth, I am concerned about Ginny. I hope you don’t mind me being here asking some things.”

Farley sighed . . . I think with relief. “If you put it that way, of course not. I want to help anyway I can. I know Ginny is having a terrible time and that she and Selena are butting heads. If you can resolve this conflict by asking some questions, go right ahead.”

“Thank you. Did you and Dwight get along?”

“We were like brothers. Going into business with each other was the best thing we ever did.”

“And the business is doing well?”

“Let me put it this way. I switch out my Mercedes every year.”

“You’re not married, are you?”

“Guilty as charged.”

“Girlfriend?”

Farley gave me that cheesy grin again. “Lots of them.”

“Everyone get along . . . you with Selena, the girlfriends?”

“Oh, I see. You want to know if there was woman trouble.” Farley looked out the window. “No.”

When someone doesn’t look me in the eye when answering a direct question, a little bell never fails to go off in my head.

“Farley? Is that the honest truth? Whatever it is, it will be found out sooner or later.”

He patted down his tie and then played with the pens on his desk as if trying to make up his mind about something.

I remained quiet, waiting for the man to speak.

Finally clearing his throat, Farley came out with, “I was trying to spare Ginny’s feelings, but I know that Dwight is alive.”

I nearly jumped out of my chair. “What!”

Farley took out his handkerchief and wiped his forehead. “We hired a new girl about a year ago. Well, Dwight went crazy over her and they started having an affair. He told me that he was really happy for the first time in his life, but he didn’t want to hurt Selena or leave the baby. Dwight was in a quandary and didn’t know what to do. I think he was hoping that the affair would blow over and he could go back to his normal life.”

“Dwight never seemed like the cheating type.”

“It took me by surprise, that is for sure. She left for a position out west a week before Dwight disappeared. I think he staged this disappearance so he could join her and start a new life.”

“Why not divorce Selena first?”

“Who knows why people do the things they do. I think he was loco in love.” Farley leaned forward. “We also are missing money from the accounts as well.”

“How much?”

“Over two hundred thousand.”

“Did you tell Selena this?”

“Why do you think she wants to move on with her life? If Dwight wants to be free of her, then she is going to cut him dead. She wants closure. Understand?”

“Why the memorial?”

“I think it was pride. Selena didn’t want people to know that Dwight had run off and left her high and dry. In the beginning she really did think Dwight was missing until I told her about the other woman.”

“What was the girl’s name?”

“Susie Brinkman. She took a job with some oil company in Houston. That’s all I know.”

“Have you or Selena looked for Dwight in Houston?”

“Heavens, no. We want to keep a lid on this. If my clients found out that Dwight ran off with two hundred grand, they would beat a path to the bushes. No. No. This has got to be kept quiet for all our sakes. That’s why Ginny needs to quit asking questions. I wish she’d just let things be,” confessed Farley.

“But she doesn’t know about this affair,” I said.

Farley gave me a knowing look.

“She does? Well that . . . daughter of a dog. I’m sorry that I have bothered you with this. I could just kill Ginny.” I got up and extended my hand.

Farley took it and we shook. “Let me walk you out.”

“Thank you. I would appreciate that. Tell me. What happened to Dwight’s secretary? I know they were close.”

“Amanda didn’t like the new position we offered, so she went to work for some big horse farm. She does all their paperwork. She’s very good with details, you know. I gave her a glowing recommendation.”

I stood at the office’s front door. “Thank you, Farley. This conversation has been most illuminating.”

“I knew that a woman with common sense like you would see the light. I hope you can convince Ginny that this is being handled in a way with the least confrontation or embarrassment to the family.”

“I’ll talk with her, I promise.” I reached my hand up to his face. “Farley, it looks like you nicked yourself in the chin shaving.”

Farley felt his chin and chuckled. “Did that falling off a rock pile when a kid. That scar’s been there nearly as long as I have. No need to worry.”

I gave him my sweetest smile. “I won’t worry. You can count on that.”

“I don’t like gossiping,” said Amanda, “and I don’t like you bothering me at work.”

“This is not gossiping. This falls under the umbrella of information gathering. If there is a possibility of Dwight being alive, Ginny ought to know. Now both Ginny and Farley Webb said you were close to Dwight. Do you think he is alive and living in Houston with a Susie Brinkman?”

Amanda grabbed my arm and pulled me into her office. “Sit down,” she commanded. “Act like you are talking to me about a horse.” She held out a book. “Point to some pictures and smile, for God’s sake.”

“What do you think?” I asked, thumbing through some catalog.

“I think that you are busybody getting me into trouble with my new boss.”

“Come off it. Farley said he gave you a glowing recommendation when you quit.”

Amanda snorted. “Oh, is that what Farley says? Farley fired me. Two weeks after Dwight goes missing, Farley says there’s nothing for me at the company and he needs to let me go. Pronto.”

“That’s a far cry from his story.”

“I don’t give a hoot what his story is. I know the truth. I was asking too many questions about the spreadsheets after Dwight went missing. They didn’t seem right to me.”

“Farley accused Dwight of taking money.”

“Oh, that’s a laugh. Dwight was a straight arrow. I worked closely with that man for over five years. He was as honest as the day is long. If anything, Farley would be the one to dip his hand in the till.”

“What do you think is going on, Amanda?”

“I think Farley is playing hanky-panky with the facts. I think he is using Dwight’s disappearance to cover his tracks.”

“Do you think Farley had anything to do with Dwight’s disappearance?”

“He’s too dumb or lazy to murder anyone. I don’t think he had anything to do with that. No matter what his faults, Farley loved Dwight.”

“Was Dwight having an affair with this Susie Brinkman?”

“I never saw any indication of it. That kind of stuff just permeates the air. Sooner or later everyone notices hot flashes going on between two people, but nobody noticed anything.”

“Did Dwight seem unsettled to you?”

“Now that you mention it, Dwight seemed distant the last two weeks. I asked him what was wrong but he said nothing.”

“Do you think it had to do with the missing money?”

Amanda snorted. “Hell no. Dwight knew Farley. If he caught Farley taking out money, Dwight would just demand Farley pay it back or take a portion out of his check each month. That would not be a deal breaker for Dwight. He knew Farley’s weaknesses and just learned to deal with him creatively over the years rather than force a confrontation. Farley was good at his job and brought in boatloads of money. It would have been replaced very quickly.”

She pulled out another catalog and placed it before me. “I never got to finish working on the spreadsheets, but do you know how much was missing?”

“Farley says over two hundred thousand is gone and he told me that he believes Dwight took it to start a new life in Houston.”

Amanda whistled. “Wow! That’s a lot of cannoli. Has anyone checked in Houston for Dwight?”

“I think that’s the next step.”

“Let me know anything that you find out about Dwight. He was good to me. He was good to everybody.”

I rose from the table. “Thanks for talking with me.”

“I have Susie’s cell phone number if you need it. Do you want it? She gave it to me before she left.”

“What?”

Amanda scribbled a number on a post-it and handed it to me.

I was stunned.

Could it be this easy?

Sometimes God does smile on me, wicked woman that I am.

I was very tired and on my way home to the Butterfly when I spied a dark blue sedan with tinted windows following two cars behind. Doing as I had been instructed, I turned into a convenience store parking lot.

Once inside the store, I called my daughter’s cell phone. Once she answered, I sputtered, “Rosebud,” and then hung up. I took my time buying junk food and then went to my car, wasting time eating the junk food. After twenty minutes had passed, I headed for the warehouse district on Old Frankfort Pike.

The area was going to be Lexington’s new Bourbon and Entertainment district, but at the moment it was still full of empty warehouses and abandoned parking lots with no streetlights.

Glancing in the rearview mirror was the blue sedan, as I expected. Speeding up, I rushed through an opened gate into a rough parking lot that still had an intact fence.

The sedan turned in after me.

Making sure my doors were locked, I had my taser ready. Of course these things were useless if my stalker had a gun, but I’d worry about that if I saw one.

The point was moot, for as soon as I gave the pre-arranged signal with my lights, four black SUVs sped out from behind buildings trapping the blue sedan inside the fence.

One man from each car jumped out with weapons drawn. The four surrounding the sedan yelled for the driver to turn off his car and come out with hands up.

Another SUV sped out from its hiding place and stopped near my car. Asa stepped out and knocked on my car window. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. Just exhausted. I thought he’d never catch up with me.”

“We’ve been following him all day. He’s been searching. It took him awhile to find you.”

I got out and moseyed over to the sedan, knocking on the window. “You want to come out now?”

When he didn’t emerge, I knocked harder. “I’m tired. My leg hurts. If you don’t come out on your own, then these nice men are going to drag you out after I leave. What is done to you then will never be discussed with me. You get my drift?”

The car door slowly swung open and out stepped a sheepish Walter Neff with his hands held in the air.

“Walter. Walter. What are you up to?”

“Nothing. I was just going home and your thugs jumped me.”

“They are not my thugs, Walter. They are Asa’s thugs. You must know the rumors that Asa is not at all like me. I’m a softy. She is made of sterner stuff.”

“I think social psychopath is the term that was used at the trial,” deadpanned Asa, standing beside me.

I nodded in agreement. “Yes. I think that was the term.”

We both stared at Walter.

Walter looked uncomfortably at Asa who was holding a Glock 9 mm on him. After one of Asa’s men frisked him, Walter asked, “Can I put my hands down now?”

Asa shrugged.

Walter slowly lowered his hands and tugged at his shirt collar. He glanced at one of Asa’s men searching his ride.

“Why are you following me?” I asked.

“I told you. I was going home.”

“Asa tells me that you and Fred O’nan are getting chummy.”

“Who?”

“Now I know you think you have a beef with me over Ethel Bradley’s lotto ticket, but you must realize that I didn’t get any of the money either.”

“Nobody did because you turned it over to that simpleton. I could have been rich.”

“But it wasn’t our lotto ticket.” I took my cane and thumped Walter on the skull with it. “Look at your chest. There are four red lasers dancing on your nice black trench coat.” I turned toward Asa. “Can I get a gun with one of those red light thingamabobs on it? They are so cool. Don’t you think they’re cool, Walter? Sorta gives you the heebie-jeebies when you see those lights flickering on your body, doesn’t it. It would me.”

Walter blinked while his hands twitched a little.

“Now, listen to me, Walter. I like you and don’t want to see you get into trouble. You can either accept the fact the lotto ticket wasn’t ours to keep or you can keep following me and feeding O’nan details of my whereabouts. But if you do, then my daughter, over whom I have no control . . .”

“And is a social psychopath,” interjected Asa.

“Is going to let loose her ‘thugs,’” I finished.

Walter shrugged. “I don’t know who this O’nan is that you keep talking about.”

Asa flipped on a recorder. Conversations between O’nan and Walter spilled into the darkening night.

“Okay. Okay. So I know the guy. So what?”

Asa stepped forward invading Walter’s personal space, causing him to back up against the sedan. “If you ever again follow my mother or put her in harm’s way, then I am going to destroy your beautiful Avanti which you have hidden away in storage in Nicholasville and then I’m coming after you.” She poked him on the chest. “When I catch up with you, I’m going to do to you what I did to the Avanti. Understand?”

Asa turned to me. “Mother, I’ll take it from here.”

I looked at Walter, who gave me a pleading stare. “Now, Asa, don’t do anything crazy. I just wanted to give Walter a little tap on the shoulder. I don’t think you need to break his jaw. Right, Walter?”

“Anything you say, Josiah. I’m your guy.”

“I’m glad you see the light,” growled Asa, “because now you’re going to spill your guts about O’nan.”

“What do you want to know?”

Asa beckoned to one of her men. He put away his gun and began pulling me toward my car.

“Asa. Asa! Don’t do anything foolish,” I cried out.

The hired gun turned on the car and slammed the door shut after pushing me in. “We’ll take care of this, ma’am. You don’t need to worry.”

“Josiah, don’t leave me alone with your daughter. Josiah. Josiah! Joooosiiiiah!”

I rolled down my window. “You brought this on yourself, Walter. Don’t worry. She won’t kill you. Not tonight anyway.”

And with that statement, I was gone.