“I’m sorry, no. If he’s not in his office, I’m not sure where he would have gone.” I hesitated again before asking, “Is everything okay?”
Diane tucked her normally neat hair behind her ears and swallowed hard. It was only then I noticed how disheveled she appeared, too. Rather than her usual wardrobe of trendy designer blouses and skirts, she wore an old T-shirt that had a large, blotchy stain across the chest. She’d paired that monstrosity with track pants and flip flops, neither of which I ever would have guessed she even owned, let alone would ever be seen wearing in public.
I set the coffees on a side table and stooped down to talk to my friend, who now visibly had to work to fight back tears. “You can always talk to me,” I cooed, wondering if I should offer a tissue or a hug.
“It’s Richard,” she confessed with a sob. “He didn’t come home last night, and he’s not answering any of my calls or texts. I don’t know what to do.”
I thought back to that morning. I’d never seen my boss so out of sorts, and I was willing to bet Diane had never seen him lose his composure like this either.
“Tell you what,” I said, hoping I wouldn’t regret this. “I’ll shoot you a call whenever I next see him.”
Her eyes widened, the unshed tears now sparkling with mirth. “Oh, would you? That would be such a huge help.”
“Sure.” I really didn’t want to insert myself into the middle of their domestic drama but also couldn’t ignore my friend in her hour of need.
“He’s been acting so strange this past week,” Diane continued after grabbing a tissue for herself and giving her nose a good blow. “We’ve been married almost thirty years, but suddenly it’s like he’s a stranger.”
I really didn’t know what to say to that, so I patted her on the shoulder and offered a placating smile. “There, there, I’m sure everything is fine. He’s going through a rough time with the death of his aunt. Right?”
Diane nodded. “Ethel was always my favorite in the family. I just wished we would have spent more time with her in the final days. I think we all half expected her to live forever. It’s been such a shock.”
I would have loved to ask her about the dinner party, but there was no way I could justify having that knowledge. Instead I said, “I really am so sorry for your loss.”
She sniffed and tucked the used tissue into her purse. “Oh, look at me. I’m keeping you from your work.” She tossed the magazine back on the coffee table and stood, attempting and failing to brush the wrinkles from her outfit. She laughed sarcastically. “I’m such a mess. Maybe a salon day is in order.”
“That sounds like the perfect idea to me.”
“You promise you’ll call me if you see him?”
“I promise.” That at least I could do. Solving the murder, though? I was seriously beginning to worry about what other unsavory secrets I might uncover if I kept digging.
Diane nodded, glanced around the office, and then surprised me with a tight hug. “Thank you, Angie. You have no idea how much you’ve helped.”
Less than a minute later, she was gone and I was just as confused as ever.
Our youngest associate, Derek, emerged from the office he shared with another of our blue blood frat-type attorneys in training, Brad, and made a beeline straight for the coffee. “Thanks for this,” he said, grabbing two and spinning on his heel to dive back into their office.
I followed sitting at the corner of Derek’s desk, so neither man could ignore me. “You guys were at the will reading yesterday, right?”
Derek took a slow slurp of coffee. “I wasn’t invited, but Brad was.” He didn’t seem too happy about this fact, but I didn’t have time to unpack Derek’s feelings when there was still so much more to learn about the Fultons.
I fixed my gaze on Brad and tried to show my interest in the topic without encouraging any flirtations on his part. “I’ve heard the craziest things. What happened?”
He spun in his chair with a self-satisfied smirk. “Well, there was this hot secretary who got electrocuted and had to be rushed to the hospital.”
Non-detective me would have either slapped him knowing full well I could lose my job for doing so, or she would have stormed out without so much as a second glance. Brad had asked me out once or twice or a few dozen times, and each time I’d said no. I would forever say no, that was one certainty I’d happily stake my life on.
Add to all this the fact he referred to me as the firm’s secretary on a regular basis, and I was more than a little irked. I was a paralegal. Just because I happened to bring everyone coffee most days didn’t change that. Besides, I was pretty sure Brad had only scraped by in law school because of his father’s connections. Everything I had career-wise—which admittedly wasn’t much—came from my own merits.
I forced a smile. “After that, I mean?” As skeezy as I found Brad to be, at least I could count on him wanting to impress me. That meant he might be a little looser with his tongue than some of the more tight-lipped attorneys. And that’s exactly what I was banking on now.
He cleared his throat and adjusted his tie, sitting straighter in his seat as he revealed, “The old lady left almost everything to her cat. And one lady lost her cool completely when she heard.”
Oh, now we’re getting somewhere!
“What lady?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow in curiosity.
His face contorted in a grimace. “She was short, had gray hair, pretty frumpy. I think maybe it was the niece?”
Hmm, that sure sounded a lot like the person Octo-Cat and I found lurking around Ethel’s estate the night before. “What did she do when she found out?”
“She started yelling all these profanities, said how much she had looked after Ethel over the years while all the cat ever did was catch some mice and poop in a box. She said she deserved the money.”
I laughed and silently tucked away the second-hand insult to deliver to Octo-Cat later. “And what did everyone else say?”
“Basically to stay in her lane. She sat down and shut up pretty quickly after that, then rushed out of there as fast as her feet could carry her when it was over.”
I chuckled and tried my best to picture the fiasco. “Sounds like I missed quite the show.”
Brad popped to his feet and popped his collar in a move I’m sure he thought was sexy, but I found ridiculously clownish. “I’d be happy to give you a recap over dinner.”
I yawned and shook my head. “Thanks, but I’ll have to pass.”
He shrugged off the bruise to his ego. I was beginning to believe he had freaky healing powers like the Wolverine or the cheerleader girl from Heroes. Nothing ever seemed to faze him more than as a glancing blow.
“See you guys later,” I said with a polite nod to Derek, whom I’d always liked far more than Brad. Then again, I liked everyone in the office better than Brad. Except maybe Bethany. Those two were probably tied for last place on my list of favorite coworkers.
Maybe if she wasn’t having an affair with Mr. Fulton, she’d consider Brad a possible suitor instead. That would be great for getting him off my case, but I wasn’t sure if it would be worth the nightmare possibility of those two teaming up.
When I passed back through the main area, I noticed all the to-go cups of coffee had been claimed while I chatted with Brad and Derek about yesterday’s will reading. That meant either someone was being greedy or that Mr. Fulton was indeed nearby and had consciously hidden from his wife during her visit.
I took a deep breath before going to check his office. Nobody responded to my knock, but the door hadn’t been latched all the way, so I gently pushed my way inside. I knew it was wrong to snoop, but it was also wrong to murder—and I needed to at least try to bring the culprit to justice.
After my strange run-in first with Mr. Fulton and then with his wife, I was beginning to suspect my kindly boss could have blood on his hands, which made breaking into his office all the more risky.