MURDER AT THE PIER (A Sister Sleuths Mystery Book 1) by Rayna Morgan Page B

didn't learn how to stay out of trouble while he
was doing time."
    Maddy's eyes widened. "Wow, we were at the donut shop
yesterday morning and . . ."
    Paul jerked his head, cutting a quick, curious look at Lea.
Her hand flew out to grab Maddy's necklace: "Maddy, you didn't tell me you
went ahead and bought this necklace. I love it on you." Looking at the two
men, she put her hand to her mouth. "Oops. Sorry, guys. Didn't mean to
interrupt. What were you saying about the donut shop, Maddy?" She looked
pleadingly at her sister.
    "I was saying I had two chocolate donuts so no dessert
for me." She fingered the dessert menu in the napkin holder, as Lea expelled
the breath she was holding.
    Returning to Tom's story, Lea didn't hide her contempt.
"And now the oldest brother is getting his younger brothers in trouble,
willing to let them suffer the same fate?"
    "Not exactly a good role model, huh?" Tom's eyes
narrowed as he turned to Paul. "Until we found their prints, they weren't
on our suspect list for the burglaries. In fact, from an anonymous tip we
received, your client's employee was at the top of the list." Tom leaned
back, arms folded across his chest. "Fingering . . . or should I say fingerprinting
. . . the brothers lets your client's employee off the hook for those
burglaries. But your client didn't know about the anonymous tip we received so
what made him suspicious of Juan Martinez in the first place?"
    "My client had a tip of his own. His site manager
found a note taped to the door of the construction trailer suggesting Juan as
someone they should look into. Jim asked me to intervene as a neutral third
party to determine any possible involvement on Juan's part." Paul signaled
the waitress, pointing at the bread basket for a refill. "After
interviewing Juan, I completely eliminated the possibility of his involvement
in my own mind, but I'm glad your findings have confirmed my judgment."
    Lea nudged Paul's shoulder. "You've always been a good
judge of people, sweetheart."
    Tom lifted a beer to his
lips, draining the bottle. His next comment took his listeners by surprise.
"Actually, the fact Neal was apparently meeting the brothers gives us
reason to believe Neal himself was the mastermind."
    Paul's face registered shock. "What motive would Neal
have to be involved in something so underhanded? From my dealings with Don
Carson's company, I've seen he treats his employees generously. Surely, Neal's
salary was more than enough to support even his lavish lifestyle."
    "You'd think, wouldn't you? I mean, how much does a
single guy need to live comfortably in this small town?" Paul had
obviously touched a nerve involving Tom's pay as a public official.
    "It turns out Neal was behind schedule and over budget
on several of Don's projects," Tom explained. "His poor management of
those jobs was threatening to tarnish Don's reputation as well as significantly
reduce the developer’s net worth. From what Ken Crosby told me this morning, Neal
was pouring his own money into the projects to keep Don from finding out what a
bad job he was doing."
    "Do you think he was worried about Don firing
him?"
    "Probably. It's common knowledge Don thought of Neal
as a second son. But common wisdom also has it Don's going to pass his business
on to his son when he retires, regardless of whether or not his son chooses to
be involved in it. He would never tolerate his legacy being diminished before
that event occurs."
    "I still don't see what led Neal to become involved in
the burglaries," Maddy interjected.
    "We examined his financial records after his death. It
was obvious from credit card and bank statements he was living way beyond his means.
He'd already been drawing more than his salary from the projects. When they
went over budget, he needed money to pump back in to stop the cash flow
hemorrhage. He turned to an illegal source of cash . . . the sale of stolen
goods across the border. Construction materials were the obvious choice to
steal because