Twisted Game (Margot Harris 6)
Page 22
“Something like that.”
“I would, but I didn’t. That could be because Tim was working with crooks from day one, so it just looked normal. I’d say he was, but that’s just a guess.”
“But an educated one.”
“I suppose.”
Helms ate some more burrito and then added, “I don’t know if some crook killing Rita instead of Phoebe makes it better or worse. Maybe worse since she didn’t have anything to do with Tim’s shady business. It’d make it hard to be mad at her if she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Are you mad at her?”
“Sometimes. Other times, I’m unbearably sad. Others, it’s like I am now. I don’t know what to think.”
“I think that’s normal.”
“Yeah, but what would you know about it?”
“More than I want to. My mother was murdered.”
“No kidding? I’m sorry to hear that. Did they catch the killer?”
“They did,” Margot told him, leaving out the part where it was her father who killed her.
“Did it help?”
“Not really. Though I guess it didn’t hurt. If he’d never been caught, I think it might have hurt more.”
“Yet you’re working for Phoebe’s defense.”
“Yeah, well, if she did it, nothing I do is going to matter. If she didn’t, p
utting her away won’t do anyone any good.”
“It’d be nice to put someone away, though I agree it’d be better if it was the person who committed the crime. I suppose it doesn’t matter in the end. Rita’s dead either way.”
“Who was the mobster?”
“I’d rather not say, especially in light of what happened to Tim and Rita.”
“I can find out anyway, you’d just be saving me some time and the headache of digging through Tim’s records. I’m not going to tell them who told me. Discretion is a big part of my profession.”
“Sounds like some sort of advertising slogan.”
“Maybe it should be. That doesn’t make it less true.”
Helms considered this for a long second before saying, “A punk by the name of Harry Lee. From what I understand, he made his money in heroin.”
When Margot didn’t say anything, Helms added, “You don’t look surprised.”
“I’m not.”
“I’d be careful with that guy. He didn’t get where he is by being nice.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Margot was headed for her car when she spotted Cassandra Cole standing on the sidewalk next to Margot’s Prius.
Cassandra held up her hands like she was being arrested as she said, “It’s not what it looks like.”