CHAPTER 27
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We met Madison’s wife in the driveway in front of her majestic villa. She was on her way out, and when we arrived, gave Odelia a supercilious look, before declaring, “I’m not a difficult person, Mrs. Kingsley, but I do appreciate punctuality. So I’m afraid we’ll have to do this some other time.”
“I just need five minutes of your time,” Odelia hastened to say.
Deith Madison ostensively checked her watch, then said,“Make it three.”
“Witnesses told us that you and your husband had a row yesterday in his office. Would you care to elaborate what that row was about?”
“No, I would not. What happens between husband and wife is nobody’s business except theirs. Next.”
“Could it have something to do with the fact that your husband’s girlfriend Natalie Ferrara is expecting his baby?”
The woman’s mask didn’t crack, indicating an extreme level of self-control. “I don’t know where you get your information, but I can assure you it’s all filth and lies. And if you dare to print any of this, I’ll sue you and your paper into oblivion. Last question!”
“Where were you last night, Mrs. Madison?”
For the first time emotion flashed across the woman’s face. I interpreted it as surprise. She quickly regained her poise. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I was home last night.”
“Alone?”
“Since my husband was in the habit of working late at the office, it wasn’t unusual for me to spend my nights alone. So yes, I was home alone last night. Now if there’s nothing further,” she said, walking to a waiting yellow Mercedes.
“Rumor has it that your husband didn’t kill himself, Mrs. Madison, but that he was pushed. Care to comment?”
This seemed to spark her interest.“Who told you this?”
Odelia shrugged.“A reliable source.”
Deith studied Odelia carefully before responding.“Please share your suspicions with the police. I find it hard to believe Michael would have killed himself. He wasn’t the type.” She got into the Mercedes, and before long we were being sprayed with gravel as she drove off at a respectable rate of speed.
“What do you think?” asked Odelia, as we stared after the disappearing car.
“She seemed truthful enough,” I said. “Except for the part about the pregnancy. I’m pretty sure she knew all about that, and that’s what that fight was about.”
“I agree,” said Odelia. “But until we get her into the police station, she’ll never admit to that.”
“So why don’t you make a citizen’s arrest?” Dooley suggested as we got back into our own car.
Odelia laughed.“You need to have probable cause to make an arrest, Dooley. A suspicion that someone is lying isn’t enough.”
“I think she did it,” my friend insisted. “She found out about that pregnancy, and got so upset she shoved him out of that window.”
“It’s possible,” Odelia agreed as she started up the car. “But we need more than a hunch to make an arrest. We need evidence, and a solid case against Deith.”
“You’ll get there,” Dooley assured her. “I have every confidence in you, Odelia.”
Odelia grinned.“Why, thank you, Dooley. That’s very nice to hear.”
And since our interview with Deith was cut short, she decided to squeeze in one more person before she called it a day.
That person was Natalie Ferrara, who featured high on our list.
Unfortunately for us we didn’t find Natalie home. We did find her brother Luke though, who had reluctantly dragged himself up from the couch to answer the door, and resumed his position the moment we walked in. He was watching the same football game the Mitchells had been watching, only he was surrounded by junk wherever you looked: plates with half-eaten sandwiches, empty plastic wrappers, pizza boxes, cans of beer and soda, an overflowing ashtray on the table, and a pervasive smell of marijuana causing me to cough the moment we entered.
Looked like Natalie’s brother wasn’t exactly making himself useful!
“Nat’s out,” he said as he took a sip from a container of beer. “I can give her a message if you want.”
“No, that’s all right,” said Odelia, looking around for a place to sit, but not finding any.
Luke burped.“Want pizza? You’ll have to shove it in the microwave if you want it hot, though.”
“I’m fine,” Odelia assured him. “So you heard about what happened to Michael Madison?”
“Who? Oh, that guy. Yeah, he died, right?”
“He did. Sometime late last night.”
“Uh-huh,” Luke said, not showing the least bit of interest.
“So where were you guys last night?” asked Odelia casually.
“Here,” said Luke.
“You and your sister both?”
“Sure. Where else would we be?”
“You didn’t go out?”
“Nope. Had some friends over. Had a little party. Slept.”
When nothing more seemed forthcoming, Odelia decided to broach a sensitive subject.“Did Natalie tell you about her affair with Madison?”
“Uh-huh.”
“And how did you feel about that?”
He frowned.“What do you mean?”
“When Madison broke it off with your sister.”
“Yeah?”
“How did that make you feel?”
“I don’t get it,” he said, confused.
“Were you upset that your sister’s boss got her pregnant and then broke up with her?”
“Why would I be upset about that? It’s her life. Nothing to do with me.”
“No, I get that, but as her older brother—”
“Younger.”
“As her younger brother, you might have been upset with Madison.”
“Well, I wasn’t, all right? Frankly I didn’t care. If she wanted to have an affair with her boss—incidentally the oldest clich? in the book—that was her business.”
“She was clearly upset, though.”
He frowned.“Okay, so who are you, exactly? And why the third degree?”
Patiently, Odelia once more explained who she was, causing the kid to groan with annoyance.
“Just get lost, okay? If I’d known you were a reporter I’d never have let you in.”
“Who did you think I was?”
“How should I know? Natalie’s friend or whatever. But you’re clearly not a friend, so you can just get lost.” And as we removed ourselves from the apartment, as requested, he yelled after us, “And don’t come back!”
Frankly I had no intention of going back to talk to this annoying individual, and neither had Odelia. I felt sorry for Natalie, though, who had to live with this guy.
“Family isn’t always everything, is it, Max?” said Dooley as Odelia drove us home.
“No, it’s not,” I agreed.
“Poor Natalie.”
“Yeah, poor Natalie.”
Dooley turned to Odelia.“If your investigation reveals Natalie as Michael Madison’s killer, maybe you can hold off on having her arrested until she kills her brother, too.”
Odelia laughed at this.“Thanks for the tip, Dooley. But I don’t think that’s entirely legal.”
“No, but it’s the right thing to do,” my friend returned.
Maybe he had a point. With family like that, who needs enemies?
CHAPTER 28
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Before going home, though, Odelia decided to make a detour by the police precinct, to discuss the case with her husband and uncle. And so we found ourselves in Uncle Alec’s office for the second time in one day.
And as Odelia gave the two cops an extensive report of her findings, it soon became clear that she’d been liaising with Chase all the while, and the latter hadn’t been idle either. He’d been checking the alibis of the suspects Odelia had interviewed, and the result was thus: Gary Rapp had indeed spent the night drinking at a bar with some lovely ladies, but had left at two, which would have given him plenty of time to slip back to the office and kill his former boss.
Wayne Piscina hadn’t lied when he said he delivered a meal to a late client, and that same late client had confirmed his story as had Piscina’s new boss. His route had taken him pretty close to Advantage headquarters, though, so who was to say he hadn’t paid a visit to his old boss, gotten into an argument andshoved him out of his window? It would also explain the lack of badge activity, if Madison had personally buzzed his late-night visitor in and taken him up to his office.