Page 57 of Silent Menace
Peter nodded. “I got off work at one and came straight over here. We talked for a while, then watched TV for a few hours before dozing off on the couch. Neither of us moved until her parents got up around seven.”
Eric jotted the information in his notebook, then clicked his pen several times like he often did when considering the facts of a case. Hailey resisted the urge to snatch it out of his hand.
“You can’t seriously be considering me a suspect.” How could Eric even question her innocence? He was practically family—would be once he and her cousin Allye tied the knot next month.
Another click, then Eric sighed. “No. I really don’t think you had anything to do with this. But I have to do my job. And so far, yours is the only name that has come up as someone she’s been on bad terms with. I haven’t been able to get ahold of your boss, but I stopped by your office. Your coworkers indicated that, to their knowledge, all her clients were satisfied. Would you say that’s true?”
She deliberated on that a moment, trying to remember if she’d heard anything to the contrary. She came up empty. “I can’t really confirm or deny that. I don’t—didn’t—hang out with her outside of work, and I do my best to avoid the office gossip.” She preferred to keep her head down and focus on her own clients. “And Mr. Gleason is on a cruise. He likes to totally disconnectwhen he’s on vacation, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he chose to avoid paying the Wi-Fi upcharge and has his phone off and shoved in a drawer.”
“Seems odd for a man in his position to make himself completely unavailable.”
She lifted one shoulder. “I don’t disagree, but he insists we do the same when we’re on vacation.” Not that she’d had opportunity to take one herself since returning to full-time work.
Eric tapped his pen against the notepad. “Was Ms. Novak planning a trip in the near future?”
“Not that I’m aware of. Why?”
“She called out sick yesterday, according to your coworkers. But there was a packed suitcase near her front door. Had her passport in it, among other things.”
She shook her head slowly. “I really doubt it. She just got back from vacation a couple weeks ago. Maybe she just never unpacked?”
“Was she the kind of person to leave her suitcase sitting for two weeks? That’s not the impression I’ve gotten.”
“That would seem out of character for her,” she admitted. Stefania always seemed to have things in order. Her cubicle, her attire, her career. Well, until Hailey had gotten the client she wanted...
Peter interjected again. “May I ask, Detective, how Ms. Novak was killed?”
Eric’s features tightened. “Autopsy has yet to be done, but cause of death appears to be a gunshot wound to the forehead. Close range.”
Her stomach turned. She was no investigator, but even she could draw the conclusion that it had likely been personal. Had Stefania ticked off the wrong person in her private life? Or was this related to Pendleton Accounting and the things Hailey had discovered regarding Eukaria? It seemed too much of a coincidence for two of Pendleton Accounting’s CPAs to be targetedunless there was a connection, but that didn’t necessarily mean Eukaria was that connection.
Eric fixed her with a look she couldn’t quite decipher. “By the way, I paid Oscar Redmond a visit the other day.”
She wasn’t sure why that mattered right now, but she figured he had a reason for bringing it up. “Did he blow up on you?”
“No, but he was clearly holding on to his temper by a thread. He admitted to confronting you in the parking lot and to ‘accidentally’ cutting you off on the road, but he also tried to claim you exaggerated the incidents and reported him out of spite.”
“Great.” Making an enemy of Oscar Redmond was not something she wanted to do.
“I made it very clear to him that you were not the one who brought up his name. Not sure if that helped, but I did discover what set him off in the first place. Apparently, he’d been counting on acquiring the big remodel job that city hall was advertising. Another company won the contract, and he was livid.”
“Okay ... and that has to do with me how?” She hadn’t so much as set foot in city hall or attended a council meeting since Wesley’s death. Despite knowing she’d done nothing wrong, it was still too painful and embarrassing.
“That was last Friday—the day before he confronted you. He said after he got the news, he went to the bar to blow off steam over a couple of drinks. A woman sidled up to him and suggested the real reason he lost out was because the city couldn’t afford him due to the money Wesley stole from the city funds. The woman he described fits Ms. Novak to a T.”
“Why would she do that? I paid back every cent of that money,” she hissed through clenched teeth.
Eric gave her a sympathetic look. “I know. Still, I followed up with the council. The other company had slightly underbid Oscar’s price, but it was only by a couple hundred dollars or so. The bigger selling point was that their crew had more experienceand was likely to get the job done more quickly. It had nothing to do with you or Wesley.”
His reassurance didn’t provide much comfort. Oscar’s reputation as a hothead was well-known. He’d been involved in more than a few altercations, some of which had come to blows. And yet her coworker had deliberately misled him in an attempt to ... what? Ignite his anger against Hailey?
“Why would Stefania do that?” she asked again.
The men were quiet for a minute, but finally Peter said, “Someone’s been trying to get rid of you. If she was involved in that somehow, it would have been an extra pressure point to exploit.”
Meaning, Stefania might have something to do with the Eukaria situation? Details started trying to connect, but Hailey was so shaken by the news that she was having trouble seeing the full picture.
She appreciated that Peter hadn’t mentioned her client outright. She still hadn’t figured out whether she should bring Eric in on that situation. This would probably be her best opportunity though. Before she had a chance to decide, she heard a thump and a wail from the back of the house. Nap time was apparently over. “Excuse me. I’ll be right back.”
