“I only wish more cats were like you!” she said. “Vegetarians, I mean.”
We took our leave, and as we walked away, Brutus said,“I hate broccoli. And quinoa.”
“And I hate lentils,” I said.
“I actually like tofu,” said Dooley. “I think I could get used to it.”
“It’s all matter of perspective,” I said with a grin.
Brutus didn’t even crack a smile.
Probably too soon.
Chapter 28
As she was driving home, Odelia got a message from her uncle.
‘If you’re going to inject yourself into this investigation, you might as well drop down to the station to watch the interview.’
She smiled, performed a quick U-turn and headed down to the station. She didn’t particularly enjoy police interviews, but she did want to see what Wolf had to say for himself. Even though her cats were pretty convinced the director had nothing to do with Dany’s murder, the presence of that yellow parka in his closet proved otherwise. As Chase had said, it was an open-and-shut case. One of those cases where the killer is so cocky he trips up even before the person he murdered has arrived at the morgue.
She parked in front of the station house and quickly hurried inside, not even bothering to lock up her car. The pickup was so old and decrepit no one in their right mind would steal it.
She arrived at the interview room at the back of the station, and when she entered found her uncle already standing at the two-way mirror.
He looked up when she entered.“I thought you’d want to see this.”
“Thanks, uncle,” she said, and gave his shoulder a squeeze.
“I know it’s hopeless to try and keep you from putting your sleuth cap on, but you can’t blame me for trying,” he said in response. “Especially considering how much the victim resembled you.”
“Well, you were wrong about me being the killer’s target.”
“It would appear so,” he said cautiously.
She thought about Brutus almost being run over, but decided not to mention the fact. That was probably a coincidence. There was, after all, probably more than one person dressed in a yellow parka driving around Hampton Cove.
In the interview room, Chase and Wolf sat, the director uncharacteristically ill at ease. His hair was a mess, and so was his beard, and he was still dressed in his silk pajamas.
“I didn’t do it, detective!” he exclaimed. “You have to believe me! I liked that girl. She had a gift. Why would I kill a promising young talent like that!”
“I’ll tell you exactly why,” said Chase, who was his usual unruffled self. He was never better than when interviewing suspects and making them sweat. “You were having an affair with Dany Cooper, and when she pressured you into getting a divorce from your wife, you knew it was time to get rid of her.”
“That’s… crazy,” blustered Don. “Who told you that?”
“You told me yourself.” Chase placed Wolf’s own phone on the table and tapped it. “I’ve made a printout of your WhatsApp chats. Pretty hot stuff, Mr. Langdon.”
Wolf’s face turned white as a sheet. “I thought WhatsApp messages were automatically deleted?”
“That’s Snapchat. You should probably read up on your social media. Now do you still deny having an affair with Miss Cooper?”
He hung his head.“No, I don’t,” he said, now with a voice as if from the tomb. “We were having an affair. It’s true.” He looked up. “But I didn’t kill her.”
Chase took a stack of papers he’d brought into the interview room and began reading. “Wolfy, baby. Have you talked to your wife yet? Inquiring minds want to know. Smiley smiley smiley. When is the divorce planned? Heart heart heart. I think I can hear the wedding bells already. Kiss kiss kiss. Can’t wait to say I do, sweetboo. Cupid Cupid Cupid.”
“All right, all right, all right,” said Wolf. “Yes. I promised her I’d divorce Emily.”
“But you were never going to do that. Because your wife was your partner in Langdon Productions, and without her and her family’s money, you were sunk.”
“Who told you all this?” Then he shook his head. “Never mind. You’re right. I couldn’t get a divorce. Not unless my next couple of projects all proved sure-fire hits. Emily had already told me she was sick and tired of throwing good money after bad. Called the production company a black hole. So it was do or die, and the Bard in the Park thing in the Hamptons was going to give me a lot of publicity and hopefully push my next Broadway show, which I’m hoping will put us in the black. And I promised Dany the main part.” He spread his arms. “So you see? I would never kill her. Shewas going to be my star.”
“So why didn’t you give her the starring role in Bard in the Park?”
“Like I said, I’m only doing these Bard in the Park shows for the visibility and the buzz. There’s no money in it. Plus, I didn’t want to show off Dany and risk her being wooed away by the competition when they saw how good she was. And she was awesome.”
Odelia frowned. So what did that make her? Less than awesome, apparently.
“You’re not making your case here, Wolf. You just admitted you couldn’t afford to get divorced. And that Dany was pressuring you. So why don’t you simply admit you killed her?”
“But I didn’t! I loved that kid. She was great fun to be around. And I’m the one who discovered her. This was just like that movie…” He snapped his fingers. “A Star Is Born!”
“InA Star Is Born the male commits suicide when the female’s success eclipses his own,” said Chase dryly.
“What I mean to say is, I discovered her. I was going to turn her into a star, and—”
“And then you were going to ride on the coattails of her success.”
“Exactly!” said Wolf without a trace of irony. “She was my ticket to the big time. If she became a star, I didn’t need Emily or her damn money. I could buy her out. Be my own man!” He tapped the table frantically. “So why would I kill Dany, huh? It makes no sense!”
Odelia turned to her uncle.“Max and Dooley talked to Wolf’s Chihuahua.”
Uncle Alec grinned.“Now there’s something you don’t hear every day.”
She ignored him.“The dog—who is called Ringo, by the way—said Wolf would never kill Dany. They had a good thing going, but also, Wolf was with Ringo when Dany was killed. He saw the killer, Alec. He saw the killer and it wasn’t Wolf Langdon.”
Uncle Alec fingered one of his chins.“Are you sure about this?”
“Yes. Ringo also said he didn’t get a good look at the killer’s face, but an owl did.”
Alec’s grin widened. “An owl.”
“An owl, yes. Sitting in a tree…” Hearing herself, she had to smile, too. It sounded pretty ridiculous. “Anyway, Max and Dooley are talking to this owl as we speak, so…”
Uncle Alec nodded.“You think we may have arrested the wrong guy.”
“Could be. Unless the dog is lying, but in my experience dogs rarely lie.”
That grin was back.
“Yes, I know how this sounds,” she said. “But you know me, uncle. I’ve solved cases you thought were unsolvable before.”
“I know you have. And I’ll be happy to hear what this… owl has to say. In the meantime Wolf Langdon is still my best suspect, and I’m keeping him right here.”
“The yellow parka.”
“The yellow parka—and his motive. Greed is always a great motive for murder, and he had a whopper of a motive, no matter what he’s saying about thisA Storm Is Born stuff.”
She didn’t bother to correct him. “Someone could have planted that parka.”
“Someone could have, but inmy experience that is rarely the case.”
“So what about the Chihuahua and the owl?”
He held up his hand.“I know your Dr. Dolittle qualities have been useful on more than one occasion, honey, but the statement of a dog and an owl is not something that will stand up in court, I’m afraid. A solid motive and physical evidence, on the other hand…”