Page 12 of Night Prey
Londyn gaped at him. “Did you report it?”
He shook his head. “It was up to Malone to report, and she didn’t want anyone to know. Especially not her brother.”
“Why on earth didn’t you tell Hoffman that?”
“Malone and I talked about it before the shooting. She’d forgiven Junior, and from what she said, it ended up having a positive impact on her life.”
“How so?”
“She said it helped her realize what she wanted to do in life and her underserved clients benefited. And it helped her to learn to forgive.”
“Sounds like she has her head on straight, if she was telling the truth. She could’ve been planning to do him in and wanted you to think she’d forgiven him when it could still be a strong motive for murder.”
“After all these years,” he said, “I doubt it.”
“I hope not telling Hoffman doesn’t come back to bite you and damage your career.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Londyn remained quiet for a few moments then shifted in her seat to look at him. “What about Malone’s parents? When did they die?”
“She was six. Reed was eight.”
“You think there was anything to Junior’s claim that their crash wasn’t an accident?”
Ian shrugged. “My biggest question right now is whether Junior’s murder is related to her at all or a coincidence.”
“It’s clear you’re not liking her for it.”
“Not at all.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but is it because you know her?”
He considered the question. “I don’t think so, but I have to say if I didn’t know her, the evidence would have me liking her for the crime.”
“Yeah,” Londyn said. “The circumstances make her an obvious choice, but from what I’ve heard about her, she’s a very smart woman and talented attorney. You gotta think, unless she lost her cool big time, that if she wanted to off this guy, she wouldn’t do it in a public space after arguing with him in front of witnesses.”
“True that.” Ian turned into a full lot in front of the high-rise where Junior had lived on the seventh floor. Ian’s phone dinged, and he glanced at the holder on the dashboard. “The warrant came in.”
“Perfect timing or we would’ve been sitting out here until we got it.” Londyn leaned forward and looked out her window. “Swanky place. Do we know what Junior did for a living?”
“Not yet.” Ian shifted into park. “I checked the class reunion program, and he didn’t list an employer.”
“Maybe he was embarrassed about his job. Or maybe he was just too lazy to provide the information to the organizers.” She slipped out her door.
Ian climbed out. “He was unmotivated in high school, and I never expected him to be a success story. Had too big of a chip on his shoulder about his size. He was barely over five feet tall. As you can imagine, he was teased all through school.”
Londyn nodded. “Have you located his vehicle yet?”
“It’s in the parking lot at the hotel. Criminalists are processing it, but when I searched, I didn’t find anything of interest.”
They crossed the lot to the front door. The sparkling clean glass automatically slid open with a whoosh and revealed a lobby furnished in contemporary furniture with clean lines. They approached the doorman and held out their credentials.
“Do you know Gilbert Flagg Jr.?” Ian asked.
“Junior. Sure.” The burly man wearing a uniform of white shirt and black slacks smiled, revealing a missing tooth on the left side. “Most everyone around here knows him. He’s the life of the parties.”
“We need access to his condo.”
