Take Stock in Murder (29 page)

Carrie walked to the front of the cottage. The building was in darkness. She cupped her hands and peered in the window. There was a faint light coming from the back of the cottage. Carrie waited a few seconds to see whether there were any other movements within the building, and then tried the door. It was unlocked. She opened the door very, very slowly and then jumped as a buzzer sounded. She closed the door, and the buzzing stopped. She found herself in a reception area.

The light at the back became brighter as the door opened wider. “Mrs. Faraday, is that you?”

“Yes, Jennifer, it’s me.”

“Is there enough light for you to find your way?”

“Yes, I can see just fine.”

Jennifer held the door, then closed it once Carrie was inside. They were in a large office area behind the reception area, with several desks separated by cubicle walls. Carrie imagined this room had been part of the living room and dining room when the cottage was a home.

Jennifer was tall and had a slim build. She had very short blond hair with a pixie cut. Her hair was well bleached from both the bottle and the sun. Her tanned face was enhanced by a white turtleneck, which showed smartly above her loden-green crew sweater. When she turned around, Carrie was surprised that she was a little older than she had expected. Jennifer pulled out a chair for Carrie, then took a position sitting on the edge of the desk, with one foot dangling over the side.

“I’m glad you came.”

“Your offer of evidence to clear me was most enticing. What evidence do you have?”

“How much do you really know about Todd’s murder?” She was now casually swinging her leg. Carrie couldn’t help but notice her shoes. Those marvelous little black flats with the gold bar had made another appearance. Carrie tried not to stare, but she was sure there were streaks of white caught between the soles and the leather. Once again the little voice reminded her that she should have waited for Charles.

“Mrs. Faraday, are you listening?”

“I’m sorry. I was just looking at your shoes. I’ve a pair just like them. Aren’t they just as comfortable as they can be?” Jennifer looked somewhat startled by Carrie’s remark.

“Yes, they are. They’re a nice change from the golf and athletic shoes I wear all day, but could we get back to Todd’s murder?”

“Yes, of course. It’s just that I’ve been under a lot of pressure. The results seem to be this tendency to go babbling on about the most trivial items. Now about Todd…How much do I know? Very little. Other than I’ve been charged by the police just because Todd, Charles, and I had a small altercation. That was no reason to assume we would shoot the man. Can you imagine what the world would be like if people shot one another just because they exchanged some cross words?”

“You don’t have any theories about who may have committed the murder? I thought I heard that you and your husband were investigating.” Her tone indicated impatience with the conversation.

“Oh, yes, Charles and I’ve been asking questions when given the opportunity, but no other suspects seem to be emerging.
That’s why I was interested in what you said on the phone. If I understood you correctly, you believe the murder may have been committed by a gambler trying to collect one of Todd’s many debts.”

“Yes, I think it’s a real possibility. In fact, I believe the police will eventually find this was the motive.”

Carrie said nothing but looked dumbfounded at Jennifer, waiting for her to continue.

“You know that Todd was the black sheep of the family.”

Carrie nodded. “Yes, I guess everyone knew that about Todd.”

“Then you won’t be surprised to learn that he spent a lot of time in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. He ran up quite a tab. Todd told me he owed the gamblers over one hundred thousand dollars.”

“Gee, that’s quite a debt. How did he plan on getting that kind of money?”

“He came up with the idea of starting the Investment Club. You’ve heard of it?”

Carrie didn’t want to give away how much she knew to Jennifer. She was limiting her comments. “When I was golfing with the ladies, they were talking about who would take over the Club’s investments due to Todd’s untimely death,” Carrie said.

“How foolish those women are. Todd was borrowing from the women’s investment accounts to pay the gamblers. And yet they continued to give him more money to invest.”

“But I don’t understand. If Todd was paying the gamblers off, why would they kill him? Clearly they wanted Todd to continue to clear his debts.”

For a moment Jennifer was lost on Carrie’s argument. Then she said, “But Todd wasn’t paying the gamblers everything he owed, nor was he paying them fast enough. Plus, knowing Todd, he was probably trying to play some other angle with them they didn’t like.”

“You said you have evidence that the gamblers murdered him.”

“Not for the actual murder, but I do have evidence.” Jennifer turned, opened a desk drawer, and pulled out an envelope. She undid the clasp and pulled out several slips of paper. “You see, I’ve got the IOUs.”

Carrie thought they looked like the same IOUs they’d seen in Todd’s condo. “But if you have the IOUs, what did the gamblers have to hold over Todd? You normally don’t get the IOUs until you have paid off the debt.” The minute Carrie had finished her statement, she was sorry she’d said it. As Jennifer stared at her, trying to figure out her next answer, the door behind them opened.

rad Barrington entered the room, holding a gun.

“You’re absolutely right, Mrs. Faraday. You
do
get the IOUs back when you pay off the debt. That’s how we have them. We found them among my brother’s things, and Todd had cleared his debt.”

Brad was dressed all in black: turtleneck, slacks, shoes and socks, a bomber jacket, and even a knit sailor cap. “I thought your dumb act was a little overdone; however, you fooled Jen.”

“Hello, Mr. Barrington. What brings you out tonight?” Carrie asked. She was not pleased to see Brad Barrington, considering her suspicions. But she needed to keep her cool and push for information.

“You don’t sound very surprised to see me!”

“No, I’m not, Mr. Barrington—or may I call you Brad?”

“Brad will be fine.”

“Brad, if you poke at the fire long enough, you eventually move the ashes aside to reveal the glowing embers,” Carrie said.

Time, time
, Carrie thought.
Keep playing for time
.

“Mrs. Faraday…Or I’m sure you’ll extend me the same courtesy and allow me to call you Carrie. Perhaps you could be a little more specific about your theories. I think you know quite a bit more about the Investment Club and my brother’s murder than what you have told Jennifer. Oh, and perhaps you could do this without babbling about shoes.”

Careful, careful
, Carrie thought.
Don’t indicate that Charles or anyone else might be reaching the same conclusions, or this madman will continue killing
. That’s when it hit her that Brad planned to kill her. “To be honest, I don’t know anything about who killed your brother.”

“Carrie, please. Stalling for time won’t help. If you’re waiting for your husband to rescue you, I’m afraid we’ve sent him off on a bit of a wild-goose chase. Now, let’s try it again. What do you know?” Brad kicked a trash can across the room, causing both Carrie and Jennifer to jump. “You were saying…”

“My theories are just that: theories. I learned about the Investment Club when I went golfing with the ladies. They said how they were all making money and that they all loved Todd, so they had no motive to kill him. Then I learned about Todd’s involvement with several women, but the affairs seemed to be minor flirtations everyone knew about. Again no motive. Do you think if I knew who murdered Todd, I’d have come here to get evidence from Jennifer?”

“The trip to my brother’s apartment turned up nothing?” Brad asked. “The chat with Sara Chaney brought no leads? You want me to believe talking with that bartender, Jake, at the Club, and your husband’s interrogating my wife tonight produced no results? I find that hard to believe, although…” He paused, and it was clear he suddenly had an idea. “This may work just as well. You and your husband can’t find any leads. You’re becoming distraught over the lack of progress. The thought of spending the rest of your life in prison is more than you can bear. Suicide wouldn’t be out of the question.”

Jennifer’s voice was shaky. “Brad, what are you talking about? You sound like you’re implying that Mrs. Faraday will have an accident. Look, I’m not getting involved in anything like that.”

“Jen, calm down. I only want to understand what information Mrs.…Carrie has about the murder. Somewhere in her deductions, I believe she concluded that I had something to do with it. This means other people could come to the same conclusion. Now, you were saying…”

“All right, Brad. I’ll level with you.” Carrie figured she had nothing to lose, and that if she made a strong enough case, he might realize that it wouldn’t be long before others came to the same conclusions. “I’m a photographer and a writer. I worked the murder out the same way I work out the structure of an article or a layout of photographs. I wrote everything down that I knew about the murder, and it became obvious what happened.” Carrie thought of the chart she’d safely stored in the safe at home.

“What do you mean, you wrote everything down?” There was anger in Brad’s voice.

“I told you. I’m a writer.”

“You mean, there’s a copy of your conclusions?”

“On my computer at home.”

“Well, then, we know where we’re going next. We need to make a little trip to the Faraday home to steal a computer. Go ahead. Let’s hear the whole story.”

“Once I found out that Todd’s body was moved, I knew two people were involved in the murder. I began to look for a couple. I kept pursuing the leads about Todd’s affairs with different women. For a long time, this threw me off.”

“Why would that throw you off?” The whole process still seemed to confuse Jennifer.

“Go ahead. Explain it to her.” Brad sounded very smug.

Carrie started her explanation again. “My being framed for the murder was based on the allegation that Todd and I had had a relationship. So naturally I fell into the trap of looking for another jealous husband who wanted Todd out of the way. However, Todd’s relationships proved to be nothing. The women found it flattering. The husbands didn’t seem to bother. So I came to the conclusion that the only people really affected by Todd’s antics would be the family.”

Brad said, “You got that right. Once again my family had to deal with Todd and his stupid little games. Then what?” Brad exchanged places with Jennifer and was now sitting on the edge of the desk. Jennifer moved to one of the office chairs.

“Next I investigated the Investment Club. But this theory also proved to be a dead end. There was no reason for the
ladies to complain or commit murder when they were making huge profits. The ladies thought Todd was very clever, and they were happy, with one exception. Charles discovered that Delores Chaney said something to your father about the unrealistic profits. So I asked myself the question: Who would be unhappy if a scandal surfaced concerning the Investment Club? The answer? Your family, because the firm could be embarrassed.”

“Then you knew when you came tonight that Todd wasn’t involved with gamblers?” Jennifer asked.

“Jennifer!” Brad only stared at Jennifer, indicating one more time that she should remain quiet. “And…”

Carrie hesitated and thought,
Should I mention Linda Barrington?

“I can tell by the fact that you’re hesitating that there’s something else,” he prodded.

“Well…There were the rumors about your wife and Todd.”

“I assume that is why your husband was at the Perkins Tavern interviewing Linda. By the way, who alerted your husband that Linda was there?”

“I don’t really know. He took the call. I assume it was the bartender. Charles seems to know bartenders all over town. Every time we go out, we seem to run into some bartender he knows. Just the other day—”

“Stop!” Brad yelled. “You’re babbling again. Let’s get back to the topic at hand.”

“Oh yes, we were talking about your wife. I haven’t talked with Charles yet, but it doesn’t matter what he learned or didn’t learn from Linda. The answer is still the same. Who would be
affected by a scandal concerning Linda and Todd having an affair? There’s only one answer—the family.”