After serving a breakfast of mixed fruit, yogurt, and granola, Heather cleaned the kitchen as Steve picked up his phone and called Leo. The first thing out of his mouth was, "Can you talk?"
Steve had his phone on speaker so Heather could hear both sides of the conversation. "Yeah, for a little while. Ayana is in some sort of worthless meeting with the bosses, so I'm flying my desk until this afternoon."
"What happens then?"
Leo sort of growled. "You know how I always put off firearms recertification until the last minute? Well, it's three weeks past last minute. Once again I'm in the dog house."
"What's Ayana going to do while you re-qualify?"
"She's to stick with me and do whatever I do, even though she just qualified at the academy."
Steve took a sip of coffee. "I'm glad it’s you and not me."
"Me, too," added Heather as she placed a bowl in the dishwasher.
"How was the cruise?" asked Leo in a louder voice.
"Wonderful. You need to take your wife on one."
"I'll do it on one condition: You come stay with the kids."
"On second thought, you wouldn't enjoy cruising. Too much water, high potential for getting seasick, crowds, and nothing to look at but the sky and sea."
Leo chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say.”
Steve added, "There's another reason he shouldn't go on a cruise. They already have six kids and that much time alone might add to the count."
"I just lost all interest in cruising," said Leo. "Now tell me what's on your mind."
"Good news," said Steve. "Bella decided on her own that the case wasn't moving fast enough to suit her, so she got hired to work for Frau Webber."
"It wasn't my idea," said Heather as she sat at the table across from Steve. "But I have to admit she might be an excellent source of information."
"I'm not so sure," said Leo. "Ingrid Webber didn't impress me as the type of woman who'd open up to anyone. She's not above telling cops she's too busy to talk and insists I give her three days’ notice before I darken her doorstep."
"Bella's supposed to work day and night for four weeks without a break. She'll have a room there and not leave."
Steve took his turn. "How many staff members are there today?"
"Let's see," said Leo. "It's hard to keep up with the staff because Ingrid keeps firing them. There's the old butler that has to oil his joints to move and his wife, the cook. They're both German as sauerkraut and pretend they can't understand English. I had to call in a translator. What a waste of time and money, but I managed to learn two German phrases, so it wasn't a total loss. ‘Ich erinnre mich nicht’ and ‘Ich weiB es nicht.’”
Heather parroted back the translation in English. "I don't remember, and I don't know."
Leo let out a huff. "I could have figured that out with Google Translate."
Steve set his cup down on the table. "We may be in luck. Bella speaks German fairly well, but understands it even better."
"Now you have my attention. The butler never has much to say, but Ingrid and the cook seemed to treat each other more like sisters than that master-servant thing Ingrid does with the other help."
Heather added, "Bella is supposed to communicate with us every night through text or email. We'll keep you apprised if she finds out anything interesting."
"Interesting or not, pass on the information. I need all the help I can get."
"Anything new on the Green family?" asked Steve.
"There was a development yesterday. Sid Green hired Lucy's maid, Sylvia Lopez, back. I believe he’s showing Howard who’s boss."
It was Heather's turn to have her attention grabbed. "Now we have someone in each house who can give us information. Bella’s a sure bet and Sylvia owes me a favor if we need to call it in.”
Steve placed his palms on the table and rolled his fingers, making tapping sounds. "What about the wine? Has anyone thought to pursue that line of research?"
"Ayana is working on it,” said Leo. “I'll ask her today if she's made any progress."
"With a person in each house," said Heather, "we should at least be able to find out if either family keeps that vintage in stock."
"Ayana checked credit card receipts for the occupants of both households, but came up blank."
"I guess they could have paid cash, but that seems unlikely," said Steve. "This was more productive than I thought. It may take days or weeks to put together a clear picture of suspects and motives, but at least we're moving in the right direction."
Leo said, "I like the idea of days much better than weeks. And speaking of days, Lucy Green's funeral is in four days. Ayana and I will be there."
Steve ended the conversation with a final word to Leo. "I won’t be at the funeral, but Heather will. I'll send you a text tonight and let you know how Bella fared with her first day working for Ingrid Webber."
"I'll be looking for it, unless Ayana uses me for a target at the shooting range."
* * *
The day passed with Heather reviewing the notes Steve and Bella collected on the two families and their respective members. It didn't take long for Heather to realize something happened in the Webber clan about thirty years ago that caused their fortunes to hit a sharp decline. She also pored over Leo's search of the Webber's bank accounts, a report from her acquisition team on distressed properties, and her own cursory research of publicly available stock and bond holdings. By putting together all the scattered pieces she determined the Webbers had enough residual income to pay the taxes and give the illusion of wealth.
She took her findings to Steve, who sat with his right hand cupping his chin, the pose he sometimes struck when he listened with extra intensity. After she finished her report, he stayed motionless and silent for at least thirty seconds. He finally allowed his hand to drop. "We need to find out what happened to their fortune. We know the Greens reaped the most from the oil partnership, but the Webbers had more than enough to live in luxury for generations."
The ring of Steve’s phone put further discussion of a fortune, which was mostly lost, on hold. He told the phone to go to speaker and answer the call. The caller ID only gave the number of the person calling, not the name.
"Mr. Smiley," came a voice crinkled with age.
"Is this Sid Green?" asked Steve.
"Come back and talk to me. I don't like or trust the investigator my idiot son hired."
"Are you sure Howard and the bodyguards will let us in?"
"Don't worry about that. I still control most of the money around here. I'm paying for the bodyguards; they’ll do what I say. As for Howard and that silly PI he hired… This is still my house. Nobody will stop you coming in."
He let loose with a phlegmatic cough and had to catch his breath. "I had another dream that someone else is going to die and the man looked a lot like me. As long as I get to see my great-grandson married to that sweet Anna Webber, I don't care. Until then, I need all the help I can get."
"When do you want us to come?"
"Time's ticking away. You'd better come today, and make sure that pretty lawyer lady comes with you. She's enough to make an old man's heart go giddy-up. I may get an extra day or two of living out of a visit from her."
Steve covered his mouth to suppress the chuckle. "Since she does the driving, I’ll bring her along. We’ll be there as soon as we can punch our way through traffic."
The phone call ended and Heather stood. "I'll take a quick shower and run a brush through my hair. Give me thirty minutes."
Steve made the sound of a horse whinnying. "Giddy-up, cowgirl. There's an oil baron that needs our help."
She didn't have a comeback, so she left.
An hour and ten minutes later, they pulled into the driveway of the Greens’ mansion. Butch met them at the front door and ushered them inside. They passed two men dressed in khaki pants, collared shirts, and navy jackets. The snug fit of their blazers accentuated their broad chests and did little to hide the bulge of firearms. No one smiled.
As expected, Butch walked at a brisk pace with head erect, swiveling from side to side as if it were mechanical. Heather caught his reflection in a mirror and saw Butch’s eyes darting like that of a bird of prey. He knocked on Sid's door and waited for the sound of two latches to click. She noticed on the way in that another dead bolt had been installed.
Once seated, Heather asked, "How long do you plan on keeping the bodyguards?"
"Until you two find who killed Lucy and get the police to lock him up and throw away the key."
Steve tested the water. "To accomplish that, we'll need access to all family members and staff. It's to be made clear to them we expect their full cooperation."
Sid ran a hand down his whiskered face. "Like a fool I already gave Howard too much of his share of the inheritance, which means I don’t have as much control over him as I used to. He’s independent and stubborn, so I can’t promise much cooperation from him, but there's plenty Tim and Carol are still due to receive. You’ll have their cooperation after I get through with them. Thankfully, I don't need to threaten Chad with changing my will for him to do the right thing. He's one of those rare Green men that's not looking for how he can get his hands on the next buck. Even rarer still, he’s getting married for love."
Heather needed to make sure she had Sid's descendants straight in her mind so she drew out the diagram from her valise. "Speaking of your family, I want to refresh my memory. Howard is your son."
"I'm unhappy to say that he is."
"Why do you say that?" asked Steve.
"Howard acts like I'm already dead and can't wait until this place is in his name. The other day, he had no right to kick you out. He has money, but not the big chunk and he doesn’t own this house."
Steve then asked, "Why did you wait so long to call us back to look for Lucy's killer?"
Sid pointed to Butch and motioned toward an oxygen tank. "Get me some clean air and tell them."
A plastic face mask covered Sid's mouth and nose. Once Butch finished his task, he stood erect. "Mr. Sid took the death of Lucy very hard, and he believes Howard is the prime suspect in Lucy's death."
"He did it," said Sid through the plastic which muffled his voice.
Butch continued, "The strain of the death was almost too much for Mr. Sid. His lungs filled and I thought we might lose him, but between the medicine and his desire to live to see Chad and Anna married, he pulled through."
Sid pulled the mask down. "Truth. That’s what I want you to find. I think Howard is guilty, but I've drilled enough dry holes in my day to know I can be wrong."
"I believe Heather and I speak the same language as you, Mr. Sid. We brought a contract for you to sign that states what we'll do, and not do, to find Lucy's killer."
Sid waved the contract away and again pulled the mask from his face. "Give it to Butch. He has limited power of attorney and understands all that legal stuff."
Heather handed it over. For the second time since she'd met him, Butch smiled. "University of Texas School of Law. I used the GI bill to help pay my way after I discharged."
With the contract signed, Steve and Heather spoke with Butch and made plans to return the following morning. Their discussion of where to eat on the way home was interrupted when Steve's phone announced an incoming call from Leo. “Hey, Leo. What’s up?”
A sheepish voice with a heavy accent spoke instead of Leo. "Mr. Smiley?"
"Yes."
"This is Ayana."
She said something else, but the words made little sense.
"Ayana," said Steve. "Where's Leo?"
"In ambulance on way to hospital."
"What happened?"
"I shot him."
The call disconnected.