Hour Game (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell 2)

“I was here.”

“Eddie can corroborate that?” asked Michelle. “He came back early from the reenactment.”

“How did you know that?” asked Dorothea.

Michelle looked uncomfortable. “I drove up with Chip Bailey to Middleton to see the battle. Chip had to leave early and Eddie drove me back. He said he wasn’t going to stay for the second day of the reenactment.”

Dorothea stared at her suspiciously and then said, “Well, he wasn’t in the house last night. He was probably in his studio. He sleeps there sometimes.”

Michelle started to say something but then stopped.

King said, “So you don’t have an alibi. By the way, I called the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. You never checked in on the night Bobby was killed, like you said you did. The FBI will also have discovered that fact. Were you at the Aphrodisiac that night?”

“Yes. Kyle brought me the drugs around ten o’clock.”

“Ironic.”

“What is?”

“He was your alibi for your father-in-law’s murder, but now he’s dead. So unless someone else at the club saw you, there goes your alibi for that murder too.”

Dorothea put her head in her hands and started sobbing. Finally, Michelle rose, went into the kitchen and came back with a wet cloth for her.

“Just take it easy, Dorothea,” said King. “Kyle’s death hasn’t been ruled a murder yet. It might just be a drug overdose. Or even a suicide.”

“I can’t imagine that man taking his own life. The little I saw of him he was far too interested in furthering his own interests.” Dorothea wiped her face with the cloth and then stared across at King. “So where do we go from here?”

“We can’t keep your actions secret.”

Dorothea’s lips started to tremble. “I guess I couldn’t expect you would.”

“The extent of what has to be revealed is still to be determined, however.”

“I didn’t kill Kyle Montgomery or my father-in-law!”

“Speaking of the latter, why did you go to the hospital that day?”

“Does it really matter now?”

“It could.”

She drew a long breath. “Bobby promised me money, a larger part of his estate. His will needed to be changed to do that. He said he’d do it, but had never given me proof he had.”

“So you went there to see if he’d verify he’d done it?”

“I heard he was awake and talking. I didn’t know if I’d have another chance. My financial problems would be solved if Bobby had changed his will like he said he would.”

“No, you mean they’d be solved when he died and you actually got the money,” corrected Michelle.

“Yes,” Dorothea said quietly as she looked down. “Anyway, when I got there he wasn’t coherent, and was back on the ventilator.”

“Did Eddie know about this change-in-the-will prospect?”

“No. Eddie thinks we’re fine financially. Eddie doesn’t worry about anything.”

“I think you’re wrong there,” said Michelle.

“Why would Bobby change his will to favor you and Eddie over Remmy? From what I’ve heard he’d already provided for you both.”