The next morning, I awoke with one mission on my mind. I needed to ask Carmen some lingering questions. Plus, I wanted to meet this Mr. Barnaby. If he was going to be Carmen’s lawyer, I needed to know his game plan.
I pulled into the driveway, happy to see Cedric was here.
Mr. Barnaby must have been the owner of the silver Mercedes. I parked my Camry next to it. I thought it was awfully nice of the man to come by the house.
Cedric didn’t look very happy to see me when he opened the door. “We’re kind of busy right now, Mom.”
“That means I’m right on time.” I moved past my son into the living room. It wasn’t like he was going to close the door in my face. He knew better than that!
A large man with smooth ebony skin and a grayish short haircut sat at the dining room table. His deep brown eyes were sharp and stared back at me from behind circular gold-framed glasses.
Carmen sat in the chair next to her lawyer. She looked up, not looking like she slept at all last night. “Hey, Ms. Eugeena,” she smiled. “Mr. Barnaby, this is my future mother-in-law. Eugeena, this is my lawyer.”
Mr. Barnaby raised his eyebrow at me as though I really shouldn’t be there. “Mrs. Patterson, Carmen told me about your assistance with her case.”
I marched up to a chair and pulled it out, making myself at home. Everyone around the table shifted their eyes towards me. Probably not sure what to do with me, but I knew what I wanted. “Do you have any coffee, Cedric?”
Knowing it was no use deterring his mama, Cedric disappeared into the kitchen.
I turned my attention to Mr. Barnaby. “I’m so glad you’re here. Detective Wilkes shouldn’t have hauled Carmen off to the police station like that yesterday. She didn’t have any real evidence. She should be looking at all parts of the case. You know I watched that show 48 Hours. Is that what she’s trying to do? Wrap this case up in two days. She’s making mistakes.”
Carmen held her head in her hands. “I’m going to be ruined. I shouldn’t have left with the police yesterday. My assistant has already called me several times. My patients are concerned and want to know if I will be there for them.”
Mr. Barnaby placed his hands on the table. “I’m sorry, Carmen. I’m glad you called me.”
I stared at Mr. Barnaby’s hands. I can’t say I’d ever seen a man’s hands looking better than mine, but I also wasn’t one of those women who treated herself to a manicure either.
Barnaby’s eyes were laser focused on Carmen. “The police have nothing but circumstantial evidence. Nothing hard core like a murder weapon or DNA. Those cameras were mounted in the parking lot. What the detective failed to say is they saw you leave seven minutes after arriving. It wouldn’t have been enough time for you to go up and kill Mr. Randall.”
Cedric brought me a steaming cup of coffee. He’d remembered to keep it black. I nodded my thanks and took a sip. I inquired, “So you’re saying whoever was in that room had to be in there more than ten minutes?”
Mr. Barnaby turned to me. “Well, I’m not saying it’s not possible, but realistically, Mr. Randall had to be having a conversation with an unknown person. The conversation turned violent. It could have been quick.”
The more I listened to this so-called good lawyer, the more I wondered if he really knew what he was doing. He didn’t seem to be offering anything to make Carmen feel better.
Carmen shook her head. “I’d never guess Darius Randall would turn out to be some celebrity. I looked online today, he has like 20,000 followers on Instagram. The man never read a book that I knew of and come to find out, he’s authored seven books in the past eight years. He’s like a saint to some people because he’s helped them get out of debt and learn to live like a millionaire.”
I eyed Carmen. “Well, he wasn’t a saint. Someone didn’t like him a whole lot since they smacked him upside the head and left the man dead.” Then I remembered the real reason I came to see Carmen. “Are you sure you didn’t see any evidence of another person being in Darius’s room on Wednesday morning?”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t really paying attention. I was pretty focused on talking to him. It had been a long time since I talked to him face-to-face.”
“This may seem like a really strange question, but when you walked in, what did you notice about the room?”
Carmen bristled with nervous energy. “What do you mean?”
Mr. Barnaby stared at me as well, his eyes disapproving.
I was stepping on his turf with my questioning.
Cedric spoke up. “Mr. Barnaby’s time is pretty valuable here, Mom. Can this wait?”
I was no cop, but I knew I didn’t want to lead Carmen into an answer. “No, Mr. Barnaby is supposed to defend Carmen. That means he needs to know what kind of evidence the police are building for the prosecutor. Right?”
Mr. Barnaby’s gray eyebrow shot up again, but his mouth curved into a smile. “You’re quite knowledgeable about the law, Mrs. Patterson.”
I shook my head. “I wouldn’t claim that. What I do know is details are important.” I eyed Carmen. “What do you remember seeing in the room? Suppose someone else was there before you? Could Darius have had breakfast with someone? Maybe there were two plates or two coffee cups?”
She frowned. “I don’t remember anything like that. Besides, if there was, then Detective Wilkes would have DNA to work with from someone else.”
We remained quiet for a moment. Then Carmen said, “I do remember a tray by the door.”
That’s something. “A tray?”
“You know, the tray you get with room service. There was a tray by the door, but I only remember one glass.”
I responded to this revelation. “So he received his standard breakfast order from room service.”
Cedric stared at me. “How do you know this, Mom?”
Carmen looked baffled. “He had breakfast. What does that matter?”
I slapped the table. “It nails down the timing. You arrived at nine o’clock. He had to be dead for a while. Didn’t Detective Wilkes mention a time frame starting after midnight and lasting until seven o’clock? I bet his breakfast was delivered before seven o’clock. Someone entered his room after he received and finished his regular breakfast order.”
I gazed around the table. Everyone was staring at me like I’d grown a horn.
I tried to explain. “When I talked to my friend, the hotel manager, she said Darius had been at the hotel over a week. The staff noticed him because he ordered room service every morning. I bet some of the same people served him and took care of his room every day he’d been there. He seemed to be a man of routine. Darius had no qualms with letting whoever killed him into his room. Something he said made them angry. This angry person picked up an object and struck Darius on the back of the head.”
Carmen rubbed her arms as if she felt a chill. “This all sounds like a great theory, but Detective Wilkes thinks they have their person. Me.”
I exclaimed. “But you arrived after all of this happened.” I looked at Mr. Barnaby. “Tell her. Don’t lose faith. Not yet.”
Mr. Barnaby nodded. “I have to admit Mrs. Patterson is thinking in the right direction. It’s up to the prosecutor to prove your guilt. We can certainly present doubt about their findings… that someone else was in that room before you arrived.”
I still wasn’t sure I liked Mr. Barnaby. I suppose he was still thinking through a strategy, but time was of essence. If Detective Wilkes was not going to look at every option, she would settle on charging Carmen. We couldn’t let that happen.
I didn’t know if Cedric talked to Carmen yet, but I felt the need to point out the presence of Monique Sanders. “You know what, Mr. Barnaby, it was really great to meet you. I do need to run some errands today. Cedric, can you walk me out?”
Cedric followed me out. “You don’t like him, do you?” He asked, once we were close to the front door.
I held my hand to my chest, projecting an innocence at Cedric’s question. “Don’t like who?”
Cedric’s exasperated look told me he knew the game I was playing.
“He doesn’t seem to be helping. What’s his strategy?”
“He’s the best, Mom. Mr. Barnaby knows what he’s doing. I just wish we had hired him earlier. Carmen could have called him and maybe avoided the whole process yesterday. It’s really unfair how this detective has focused on her.”
“Especially when there is another woman more current in Mr. Randall’s life.” I peered at Cedric. “Did you tell Carmen about Monique?”
His eyebrows shot up. He glanced over his shoulder as if he was expecting Carmen to appear behind him. “Not yet. Do you think it’s necessary?”
I frowned at my son. “Look who’s keeping secrets now. That lawyer certainly needs to know. Of course, you need to tell her. Monique claimed the man was her boyfriend, but she didn’t seem to know his whereabouts. I’m sorry, but I’m not convinced she didn’t go over to there and kill him herself. She was pretty volatile when you broke up with her. What do you think?”
Cedric closed his eyes. “She had a temper, but murder. Do you really think she would kill someone and then walk around later like she knew nothing about it?”
I shrugged. “You knew her better than me. I just remember the aftermath. That woman shook you up a bit with her behavior after the breakup. I don’t think anyone’s ever reacted the same way.”
Cedric looked over his shoulder again. “Okay, I’ll talk to Barnaby and tell Carmen.” He squinted his eyes at me. “You’ve been really busy, Mama. You’re not planning on sticking your nose anywhere else, are you? You know how I feel about you doing this. Barnaby has his own investigators.”
I was sure the slick lawyer did, but I can’t really say I trusted the man. For all I knew, Barnaby could have been relishing the idea of Carmen getting arrested and going to trial. He was a defense attorney.
“Don’t worry about me. You stay focused on how to help support your fiancée. Tell her I will see her tomorrow at the bridal shop at ten o’clock.”
My son’s face appeared more nervous.
“This wedding is still happening. Understood? I know you two love each other.”
I reached up to hug him. He was a grown man, but still the sensitive boy I raised. The one who grew quiet and pensive when life dealt him a blow. The boy who craved and didn’t always receive his father’s attention, the very man whose steps he followed into medicine. My son, for whatever reason, balked at love and commitment until Carmen Alpine caught his eye during her residency under him.
There was something special about their union. I knew it.
It was time for me to get reacquainted with someone who had been close to Cedric. Someone, I thanked God, my son had sense enough to walk away from years ago.