Carolyn Arnold - McKinley 03 - Money is Murder by Carolyn Arnold Page A

we were leaning towards Adam?”
    “Well, unless he squeals like a girl, it wasn’t him.”
    “Hmm.” Sara chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Who would want Robert dead?”
    “Good question. We’re going to have to call the police. What about the USB stick?”
    Sara shook her head. “Not a sign of it anywhere.” She paused a moment, thoughts reflecting in her eyes. “What woman would want Robert dead, and could she also have killed Cindy, or is it even related?”
    “I think we’d have to agree it’s all connected. What about Robert’s assistant? What was her name?”
    “Daniela, but I didn’t get that read off of her. Know what I mean? She wouldn’t have confessed to covering for him if she was a cold-blooded killer.”
    “I suppose, and what would her motive be?”
    “This has to do with that company, Reid.”
    “We’re going to have to talk to Edward Cranston about the account.”
    “But we’re not sure he’s in the clear with this.”
    “I’m not sure how else to go about things. We don’t fully trust Adam either.”
    “Why don’t we go do some research on the company first and we’ll go from there? Maybe Jimmy will have answers back about the doorman and Benson, and whether they were paid off.”
    Sean pulled out his cell phone and dialed the police.

 
     
     

     
    Questionable Actions
     
    “WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED by your being here?” Detective Benson was out in the hall with Sean and Sara.
    She watched the way he stood, the angle of his hips, the manner in which he shifted position from the left leg to the right pretty much every thirty seconds, like clockwork. He either had a hip problem or a knee issue. But it wasn ’t his physical deficiencies that had her true attention. It was his overuse of eye contact. It was a compensation, but for what? It was quite likely she wouldn’t know the answer to that until she had more to go on. Right now any suspicion she had about the man had to be muted to the background as inconsequential.
    “It’s just like we’ve told you a few times,” Sean said. “We showed up to talk to him and found him like this.”
    “You didn’t see anything else?”
    “I told you that too. I almost had the shooter, but they got away.”
    “They? A guy or a girl?”
    Sara ’s eyes snapped to Benson. She was thankful he was focused on Sean. She found it interesting he would raise the question of whether the perp was a female. Typically murders carried out in this manner were executed by men. The drugging of Cindy Quinn? Sara could believe a woman was behind that, but a shooting? If it wasn’t for Sean’s discovery, it wouldn’t have been her first leap.
    “So you chased this person down the stairs and out into the back alleyway.”
    “Your crime scene people are working the stairwell. They’ll find the bullet.”
    “I have no doubt of it.” Benson’s tone was dry and incredulous. He looked down at the notebook he held and flipped the page. “And if I have any further questions, where can I find you?”
    “The Universal Acquisitions’ condo building,” Sean said.
    “I should have known.” Benson pressed on a smile and tucked the pad into his jacket pocket. “There’s no reason the two of you need to stick around.”
    The coroner came out, pushing a gurney with Robert ’s body, encased in a black bag. He greeted them with a slight dip of his head. His assistant, who was helping him, pressed his lips in a grim acknowledgement.
    Benson ’s attention went from the body back to Sean. “If you think of anything, you will call?”
    “You have my word.” Sean turned to Sara and cupped her elbow. “Come on, darling, we wouldn’t want to get in the way of the man’s job.”
    “Of course not.” Sara smiled at Benson but it was met with a small quiver of the mouth, a snarl perhaps.

     
    Sean hustled Sara to the street where he hailed down a taxi.
    “Why didn’t you tell him you thought it was a woman?” she asked.
    “We’re not sure