Wrong Place, Wrong Time (Pete 'Monty' Montgomery 1)

“Let’s hear them.”

“Where do I start?” Monty scowled. “To begin with, the note was typed and unsigned—strangely impersonal for a suicide. The telephone call to Edward Pierson was vague. Not a gut-spilling confession. Just some ambiguous fragments. Not even enough to make Pierson call the cops—which he’d do in a minute if he suspected Rhodes was involved in Frederick’s murder. Then there’s the slush fund Rhodes mentioned in his note, the one he was supposedly stealing from. Jenkins, my forensic accountant, never found a trace of it. And he’s the best there is.”

Monty paused to stick a french fry in his mouth. “There were no burn marks and no gunpowder residue on Rhodes’s face. Which suggests the thirty-eight wasn’t pressed to his temple. Also, crime scene didn’t find any powder residue on his hand.”

“I didn’t think they tested for that anymore,” Devon interrupted.

“They don’t. Too many false positives. But the absence of it tells me Rhodes didn’t fire that gun.”

“His prints were on it?”

“His and only his. That’s consistent with a homicide staged to look like a suicide.”

“What about the angle of the weapon?”

“Slightly downward.”

“Upward is more consistent with a suicide,” Devon remembered aloud. “Still, none of this constitutes proof.”

“I’m a PI now. I don’t need proof. And you know my old saying….”

“If it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it usually is a duck,” Devon recited. “And I agree with you. There are way too many discrepancies. So now what?”

“Now we figure out why Rhodes was killed and by who.”

“Probably the same person who killed Frederick.” Devon put a forkful of salad in her mouth, chewing and swallowing thoughtfully. “That lets James off the hook.”

“He never left Florida,” Monty agreed. “I already checked that out. Which doesn’t mean he’s not involved. It just means he didn’t pull the trigger.” A frown. “You’re seeing him Sunday night.”

“And Blake tomorrow night,” Devon added in reminder.

“Assuming he’s up for it. He’s the one who found Rhodes’s body. He was pretty shaken up.” Monty’s frown deepened. “I got the feeling the suicide ruling wasn’t sitting right with him, either. I’m not sure why.”

Devon put down her fork. “The other night, Blake mentioned that Chomping at the Bit needed to tap into the contacts and suppliers of the food-services division. That meant his working closely with both Frederick and Philip.” She leaned forward, propping her elbows on the table and interlacing her fingers. “He implied that James might try to sabotage his efforts and undermine him now that Frederick’s gone. I have no idea if any of this is connected, but it does put all three people who were targeted this past week center stage.”

“True. It’s worth looking into. So are the surveillance tapes from the Pierson building—the ones taken last night. Although I’d bet my bottom dollar they won’t show anything.”

“You think the killer was already inside.”

“Yup. I think he or she works at Pierson. I think he or she framed Rhodes for Frederick’s murder, then killed him, leaving the building via the delivery entrance. I don’t know if Rhodes was squeaky-clean or not, but I’d be willing to bet he planned to tell Edward Pierson everything. The killer couldn’t have that. Which reminds me. I’m going to see if I can get someone to check out Rhodes’s hard drive. Assuming he had something incriminating, the killer might have deleted it.”

Monty paused, leveling a hard stare at his daughter. “Back to Blake Pierson. Given the rapport you two have, do you think you can get him to open up to you?”

“If you’re asking if Blake’s attraction to me is going to make him spill his guts, the answer is no.”

Another pause, this one longer and more intense. “You’re in pretty deep.”

“I don’t know that.” Exasperation laced Devon’s tone. “How could you?”

“Call it father’s intuition.”

Devon averted her gaze, fiddling with the edge of her napkin. “Let’s leave your intuition out of this, okay? In fact, let’s avoid the whole subject of my personal life—especially since I’m not sure yet if Blake Pierson factors into it. My focus right now is helping you solve this case, and getting Mom safely home. It’s possible that Blake is actively involved in keeping that from happening. Until I’m sure how deep his role in all this goes, I’m not thinking ahead.”

“In that case, you should be eager to get him to lower his guard tomorrow night. The sooner he tells you what he’s not saying, the sooner you can decide if he’s worth thinking ahead about.”

THE DRIVER OF the maroon coupe eyeballed the diner, then flipped open his cell phone and punched up a number.

“Still having dinner with Daddy,” he reported. “Probably strategizing. No problem. I’m sure they’ll have a follow-up call tomorrow. I’ll get the audio.”