Latham's Landing by Tara Fox Hall Page B

drinking, and odd
ways, he was a good fit. He was intoxicated, but had passed a
Breathalyzer test. Shockingly, he’d not denied the crime, but
instead admitted it, right before stabbing Lease’s partner in the
arm with the murder weapon.
    Hawk had been right, this was a simple
case. But there were a few holes in this story that needed
answering, like a valid motive. “I’m sorry, but we have just a
few more questions, Miss Stone.”
    Carolyn nodded.
    “ Did you hear any noise at
all?”
    Carolyn shook her head. “Nothing. But I’m a
deep sleeper.”
    “ You were in bed when the crime
occurred?”
    “ Yes, asleep.”
    “ Had Dewey been hanging around here
previously?”
    Carolyn nodded. “He’s been doing some odd
jobs for us. I think my dad felt sorry for him, because they went
to school together years ago.”
    That feeling was about to change , Jim
thought to himself. “Any motive you can think of?”
    “ Dewey disliked that we wouldn’t let
him live on that land of his rent free,” Carolyn replied. “Dad
wanted to help him, but didn’t want to just give him money. He
wanted Dewey to work for it, and get off the booze. Dewey’s been
angry lately, saying that he’d wished my father hadn’t bought his
property when it went to auction for back taxes, that we just
wanted to lord it over him that we had more than he
did.”
    That was motive aplenty. “Do you have
someone to call?”
    “ I’ve called my dad, like I said,”
Carolyn said, petting her kitten. “As soon as he gets it, he’ll
likely be catching the first flight home. Until then, I’m staying
with a close friend. I’ve already called her. I’m going to drive
over there tonight as soon as you leave.”
    Bowman nodded, then got to his feet, Drake
following. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
    Carolyn’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you.
I’ll show you to the door.”
     
    After the police officers left, Carolyn
walked upstairs, her kitten Raven at her heels. She began packing,
tossing clothes into an overnight bag. She was going to stay with a
friend that much was true. But her stepfather wasn’t coming home.
Oh, she’d called his IPhone, and left the teary message begging him
to return to her as soon as he got the message, telling of her
stepmother’s murder. But she’d made sure to take the IPhone out of
his bag before he’d left yesterday. It was sitting beside his bed
now. He’d never even miss it, not with his Smartphone and his
Blackberry.
    Dewey had been the perfect patsy, with his
malice and stupidity. She’d only had to tell him how her stepmother
laughed at him behind his back, and he’d done the rest all by
himself. What was unnerving was that he’d probably planned to
murder her as well tonight, to leave no witnesses.
    “ Got what was coming to them, both of
them,” Carolyn said vehemently to her kitten. “Dad will, too, when
he visits that construction site tomorrow.”
    Big companies had cheats, and her
stepfather’s firm had been no exception. Carolyn had just pointed
out a few discrepancies to her father that she’d seen while
interning these last few weeks of summer. Then she’d anonymously
told the embezzling foreman George that he was going to be fired,
that her father found out everything. George’s crafty nature mixed
with desperation would likely do the rest.
    “ And so what, if it doesn’t?” Carolyn
said bitterly aloud. “I’ll just have to come up with another plan
to gain my independence. I know who killed Rob, but no one believes
me.” She packed her last clothes and closed the lid with a slam.
“I’m not going to college in the fall, and pretend like
everything’s okay. Because nothing is ever going to be okay
again.”
    The kitten purred, kneading the coverlet with
its tiny claws.
    She petted it. “You understand, Raven.”
    Steven and Sheila wouldn’t give me my money
until I was twenty-one. That was my mother’s money, damn it, and
neither one of them have any claim to it! I