Never Tell (May Moore Suspense Thriller 2)

“Whichever of your bosses deals with Reed Leisure and the Reed family.”

Christa’s eyes widened and May saw she knew about some of what was going on.

“That would be Mr. Devonshire.”

“Is he available for a quick chat with the police?”

“Let me check.”

Christa got up and rushed down the corridor.

A moment later, May heard the click of her heels as she rushed back again.

“Mr. Devonshire can have a brief meeting with you in the first boardroom to your right.” She indicated the passage she’d just returned from.

“Thank you,” May said.

She and Owen hurried down the hall and went into the boardroom. There, six leather seats surrounded a polished oak table. May and Owen took seats facing the door.

“I hope this works out,” May whispered to Owen.

“I hope so too,” he whispered back.

“If you think of a question, ask it,” May advised. “We both need to do the talking here.”

“Right,” Owen said, nodding.

Footsteps sounded outside and the door opened. Mr. Devonshire walked in. He was a tall man with silver hair and a neatly trimmed gray beard. He was dressed in a black suit, a gray tie, and a white shirt.

“Good afternoon, Officers. I understand you’re here on official police business? What can I do for you?”

He pulled up another chair and sat down, facing them across the table.

“I understand that your firm represents the Reed family business,” May continued.

“That’s right. We’re on retainer to deal with all their legal matters,” he explained.

“I don’t know if you are yet aware that Madeline Reed has recently been murdered?” May said.

“What?” Mr. Devonshire nearly jumped out of his chair. He clearly had not known, and was deeply shocked. “Madeline? Murdered? When? I knew about Danny, but her?”

“Just a couple of hours ago. She was murdered in the same way as he was. Hit on the head and then drowned. She was staying at Rushway River Lodge, and they found her body in the bathtub.”

“This is appalling,” Mr. Devonshire muttered. He’d turned pale.

“There must be some reason why they were both killed in such a specific way,” May explained.

“Absolutely,” Mr. Devonshire said, nodding vigorously.

“We need to find out what the common thread is. I understand that certain information may be privileged, but I’m hoping that given the seriousness of the situation, you’ll be able to tell us some of the facts,” May appealed.

Mr. Devonshire rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “What facts?” he asked.

“It seems very likely that these crimes are related to the Reed Leisure business, or to the Reed family,” May said. “Danny was killed on the shores of the lake near the new hotel, but the killer targeted Madeline Reed while she was staying elsewhere, and that means that Madeline must have been known to the killer.”

“That’s likely, yes. However, I’m not sure what I can tell you. The matters we handled for the Reeds were all routine. Very routine. Legal matters such as contracts, a couple of warnings for defamation, and one or two in-house matters. We dealt with their staffing disputes and the like.”

May persevered anyway. “What were the recent disputes? Anything involving Danny or Madeline?”

“Not that I recall,” Mr. Devonshire said, but he suddenly sat very still and May felt sure he was lying.

“Have you been involved with the family’s other business interests?” Owen asked. “Anything untoward there? Any recent conflicts, disagreements, bad blood? Anyone forced into a sale or a position they were unhappy with?”

May could see in his face that there were answers. But he wasn’t giving them. Instead, he shut down.

“Nothing that rings alarm bells for me,” he insisted. “We deal only with issues here in Minnesota. They have other law firms on contract for their New York affairs.”

“What was Madeline’s role in the business? Did she have a role?”

“No official role. I know she accompanied her brother to some of the launches and openings,” Devonshire said smoothly.

“What was their relationship like?”