Page 66 of Hell Hath No Fury

“I’m sure it’s filed in Sonny’s office. If you give me a minute?—”

“I don’t think so. Sonny had that agreement with him on Saturday at the Powell farm.”

“Oh.” This appeared to be news to Neidermeyer. “Well then, perhaps we can make an appointment for later today to give me time to track it down.”

“You witnessed Nell signing the document last Wednesday, correct?”

Neidermeyer waved a dismissive hand. “If that’s what concerns you, believe me, I’ll call someone in to witness your signature, since I’ll be adding mine as representing North Star.”

“That’s not it. You let Sonny coerce my sister into putting her name on a legal document while she was obviously under the influence.”

Neidermeyer grew still, her eyes narrowing to slits. “I was not aware of that.”

“Sonny was. Which means, even if you could put your hands on that agreement, I would have it nullified.” Emma rose. “But you won’t be able to track it down because I tore it up.”

Neidermeyer stayed in her chair but placed her white-knuckled fists on the table. “Then what are you doing here? What kind of game are you playing?”

Matthias stood. “It’s called fishing for motives. I wondered who stood to profit from Jones’s death. Now I know.” He placed a guiding hand on the small of Emma’s back. “You don’t need to show us out. We know the way.”

* * *

“I can’t believe she didn’t know about me tearing up the sales agreement.” Emma stared through the Jeep’s windshield at the building housing North Star, waiting for the air conditioning to cool the vehicle’s interior.

“If I was officially investigating the case, I’d have asked her when was the last time she saw or spoke to Jones.”

Emma looked at Matthias. “I told her you were a detective. She didn’t know you weren’t actually on the case. Why didn’t you ask?”

“Because I’m a hundred and fifty miles out of my jurisdiction.”

“That’s why you let me take the lead.”

He shrugged. “Partly. Mostly. She was buying your story. I figured you’d get more information from her as long as she was seeing dollar signs.”

“Should I have kept playing her instead of telling her I tore up the agreement?”

“No. You did fine.” He shot her a grin. “Hell, you did great. The fact she didn’t know about your meeting with Jones on Saturday reveals a lot.”

“Such as?”

“He may not have trusted her as much as it seems.”

“Then why put her in charge of the company once he died?”

“Good question,” Matthias said.

Emma leaned back, pondering it. “Maybe they had a fight. Maybe she did something to make him reconsider.” As the scenario played out in her mind, her heart rate increased. “They used to be tight, but that changed. He intended to change his Will and put someone else in charge, so she had to get rid of him before that could happen.”

“Whoa,” he said, sounding like he was coaxing a runaway filly to slow down. “In legalese, that’s conjecture.”

“But it’s possible, and it’s motive.”

“All of which needs to be proven.”

“You want to turn the information over to the troopers?”

“I didn’t say that. In fact, that’s the last thing I want to do. Fergusson would throw a fit if he thought I was doing his job.”

“Someone has to.”