Iris woke me up by climbing all over my body. When I pretended to still be asleep, she upped her game by sneezing near my head, quickly followed by impatient jumps from side to side, each ending with a playful butt-in-the-air stance and a short, soft bark. I lifted my head to spot Otis sitting sphinxlike in the doorway, patiently waiting for his minion Iris to rouse me.
Ashley, the early bird, was, once again, clanking around in my kitchen. The aroma of eggs and bacon wafted into my room, with an overlay scent of fresh coffee. I swung my legs off the bed and stuck on a pair of flip-flops. I grabbed a comfy knee-length gray hoodie as I passed by my dresser and quickly threw it over my long-sleeved top and jogger-style PJ bottoms as I followed Iris’s lead down the hallway in quest of breakfast, with Otis trailing behind the mini-procession.
Ashley was already dressed for work, in trim charcoal gray pants and a speckled light gray Everlane cashmere pullover, a brand she’d introduced me to after liking it on a certain American princess we both obsessed over.
She swung the carafe off the coffee maker and topped off her mug. “Scrambled eggs and turkey bacon are ready. Do you want any toast?”
I grabbed a mug and poured myself half a cup of coffee and filled the rest with nonfat milk. “I think eggs and bacon will be enough. Thanks, Ash. You’re the best.”
“My pleasure.” She slid the eggs on a plate and added three slices of bacon before setting it down on the counter with a smile.
I zapped my coffee in the microwave and then joined her at the counter to dig in.
After we finished our meal and Iris and Otis were fed and watered, Ashley and I shared our last cups of coffee together before we went off to work.
“Is it too early to pay Katie a visit and ask her about the notes?”
Ashley gulped the last of her coffee. “Go for it. I’ll join you if you like.”
“Thanks. Let’s bring Iris along too.”
The three of us strode across my front lawn and driveway to Katie’s house next door. I rang her doorbell.
Katie peeked through a window and quickly came to the door. “Hi, Iris!”
I scooped up Iris, who had been jumping and licking Katie’s hands in greeting. “Hi. I just wanted to check on you. Your note had me a little concerned, so I wanted to make sure you were all right.”
Katie’s smile dissolved into an expression of bewilderment. “I’m sorry, Tory. What note?”
Ashley and I exchanged a meaningful eye roll.
“The one you left on your door about going away for a family emergency.”
She frowned and cocked her head to the side. “Sorry. I have no idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t leave a note on my door. And thankfully, there’s no family emergency I know of, but now you have me worried there might be.”
“Where were you then?” Ashley asked.
“Oh, I took a little drive down to LA to visit a friend for a few days.”
I pulled up a photo of the note on my phone to show her.
Her eyes flickered and she spoke quickly. “No. I didn’t write that.”
“Huh. Well, I’m glad you and your family are well. Seems like this might just be a childish prank. Have a good day.”
“Bye, Iris. See you later.” Katie watched us cross the driveway and lawn then waved and went inside.
Ashley wrapped her arm around mine. “Whoa. That was weird. She might not have written that note, but I bet she knows who did. Did you see her blush when she saw the note?”
“Yeah. I know. Something is off with her today. She seemed surprised but also like she knew something. She couldn’t look me in the eye. And she only had direct eye contact with Iris.”
• • •
An hour later I was at my desk at Benning Brothers, checking my schedule for the day.
Uncle Bob strolled in holding a mug. “I wanted to tell you about my meeting with Matt Ortega.”
“Oh, yeah. I’ve been wondering how that went.”
“I’ll cut to the chase. Matt claims he never complained about you hiring Sam. In fact, he was touched that you hired Sam—thought it was ‘very kind of you,’ to quote his exact words.”
I swiveled in my seat to face him. “You’re kidding. What about the other nursery employees?”
“He said he hasn’t heard anyone even mention Sam or you.”
“Wow. I wonder why Jed told me they were complaining. Obviously, one of them is lying. I wonder if it’s Jed or Matt?”
“I’d put my money on Jed, mainly because of his drinking issues. I honestly think his brain is a little pickled and he gets some perverse satisfaction out of stirring stuff up.”
“Yep. I’ve noticed that. Tends to have a dramatic streak, definitely. But why start something with me? And why target poor Sam?”
“Jealousy? That’s the only thing I can think of.”
“You’d totally vouch for Matt?”
“Yes, I can, both before and after a couple of beers, but Jed, not so much. I’ve had to pull him aside now and again at social functions and tell him he’s reached his limit.”
“He seemed fine at the firefighters fundraiser. He drove Aunt Veronica home.”
“That was unusual. He seemed fine then. Otherwise I wouldn’t have let him drive her home. Probably on good behavior because I really laid into him at your wedding.”
“You did? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It was your big day. I didn’t want to ruin it by running to you with details of a drunken brawl during the cocktail reception.”
“Thank you for that. That prize went to Milo’s disappearance.” I wistfully remembered our perfect wedding ceremony. My stomach churned thinking about the horrible aftermath. “Do you know who he fought with?”
“He didn’t say, but he was a little bruised up.”
I shook my head in disgust. “Hopefully he’s on the wagon now. Do you think that’s why he’s starting trouble? Maybe he’s irritable from alcohol withdrawal.”
Uncle Bob’s face lit up. “You might be right. Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him drink since your wedding. I can relate. I get grumpy every time your aunt puts me on a diet.”
We both laughed.
“What time is your insurance person coming?”
“Let me double check. I think it’s eleven. I have a couple of hours before that to get organized and figure out how best to explain the embezzling. I know you don’t want it to go public, but I really think we should tell the police too. This is what they do. They might figure out who did it right off the bat. As long as we know it wasn’t my dad or any of us, I don’t think being victims of embezzlement will hurt our business. I mean, we’re victims. It’s not like we cheated our clients.”
“I’ll think about it. How about that? That’s the best I can say right now.”
I was about to twist his arm a little bit more when there was a tap at my door. Standing in the doorway was Jake. I gasped in utter shock, while reaching for my phone.
My voice quivered. “What are you doing here? How did you get in?”
Jake took a step inside my office. “I’m sorry—”
“Stop right there or I’m calling the cops. Leave, now.”
“I need to talk to you. I feel so badly about last night. I tried to call or text to explain . . . but it appears you’ve blocked me.”
Uncle Bob strode in front of me and turned his head from me to Jake. “What’s going on here? Who are you?”
I unlocked my phone. “He’s supposedly a PI.”
Jake reached into his pocket and Uncle Bob and I both flinched.
Uncle Bob shielded me. “Whoa!”
Jake had dug a business card from his pocket. “I can assure you, I am a PI. I work for Sloan Mutual. Actually, we met the night of your sister Jo’s murder.”
Uncle Bob relaxed his guard dog stance.
I swiped the card from Jake’s fingers, glanced at it, and waved it in the air. “Humph. A likely story. Anyone can print up phony business cards.”
“It’s real. I’m the PI your father’s life insurance company hired to investigate his death. We have an appointment today at eleven.”
I froze in place as I absorbed his words and reread his card.
“I know it’s a lot to take in. That’s why I tried to tell you last night over dinner. I thought it might be easier in a more relaxed atmosphere.”
My face was on fire, and my heart’s pounding reverberated in my ears. “Get out. How could you trick me into thinking you were somebody else? Your other business card didn’t have Sloan Mutual on it. It just said Private Investigator.”
“I didn’t trick you. I only use the Sloan Mutual card when I’m on official Sloan Mutual business. I have another one for Beachwood Mutual, too, when I represent them. I mentioned my biggest clients were insurance companies.”
I thought back. He was right, he had. “But all the other opportunities you had.”
“I was working the case. We thought your father’s death was suspicious from the get-go. I wanted to see if my instincts were correct.”
“Your instincts about what?”
“That you weren’t involved. That’s why I followed your activities. I guess I better brush up on being unobtrusive.”
“You were the white car following me.”
Uncle Bob piped up. “You’ve been following my niece?”
Jake nodded. “Because I wanted to observe your spending habits, see who you met with, what you did with your time. To make sure you weren’t buying Ferraris and paying off hit men.”
My brain felt scrambled from trying to process the information overload. “Get out. How could you betray my trust? I thought you were trying to kill me. How did you know that my father’s autopsy results confirmed his murder?”
“What? That call I got at dinner, that was my contact at the county coroner’s office giving me a heads-up your father’s death was declared a homicide.” Jake’s clouded face revealed his pain. “The last thing I wanted to do is cause you more distress after all you’ve been through. I’m on your side.”
“Are you?” My default lately had been to fear the worst, but I had to admit he had a good answer.
He held up two fingers. “Scout’s honor. Team Tory.”
I smiled weakly.
“Technically, I never lied to you. I was just waiting for the right time to tell you I was working for Sloan Mutual. I always intended to tell you eventually.”
“How about when we first met? That might’ve been a good idea.”
“But I was on the job, and then your aunt got murdered, so it was hardly a good time to worry you about insurance investigations.”
“Well, then, after that, and every other time we met ‘accidentally.’”
“Again, all those times I either had a subject under surveillance or . . .”
“Or what?”
“Or we were having a good time and I didn’t want to spoil it.”
My face got even hotter, but this time not from anger. “Oh.”
Uncle Bob cleared his throat and stuck out his hand to Jake. “Bob Benning. Nice to formally meet you, Jake.”
Jake shook his hand warmly.
Uncle Bob smiled at Jake and threw a concerned look my way. “How about we all take a moment to regroup and rendezvous back here at eleven as originally scheduled. That way Tory and I can make sure we’re all organized and ready to answer your questions without wasting any more of your time.”
“Oh, don’t worry. You’re not wasting my time.” Jake gave me a meaningful gaze.
Uncle Bob looked at Jake and then me and suppressed a smile. “You’re welcome to hang out in our reception area, or there are a couple of places to get coffee down the street.”
I shuffled back to my desk with my head down. “Um, okay. That sounds like a good plan.”
Jake left. Uncle Bob, probably realizing I was on the verge of tears, acted as if nothing unusual had just happened. He said he was going to print out something for the meeting.
I texted Ashley, although it took me forever to type two sentences since the screen looked blurry through my tears. OMG, Never guess what happened. Jake is PI assigned by ins. co. to investigate my father’s death.
My phone rang a few seconds later.
Ashley was energized. “Now it all makes sense. That’s why he was following you. Probably following a lot of peeps for his investigation.”
I burst out in sobs.
“Take a few deep breaths, hun. Why are you upset?”
I cried and my voice warbled. “I don’t know. I thought we were becoming friends, then I thought he was a stalker, now it turns out he’s my next appointment. I feel like I’m on a roller coaster and Jake is at the controls.”
“Try to calm down. Breathe. I’d love to sit in on your meeting, but I have a court appearance I have to go to. Hang in there and I’ll call you when I get out.”
I sniffled. “Thanks, Ashley. Sorry for the meltdown. I’m taking Sam to see our Hotel Santa Sofia condo site this afternoon. So, if you don’t hear from me, I’ll catch up with you later.”
I got a cup of coffee from our office kitchen and pulled myself together. I organized and reviewed my father’s files and rehearsed my spiel to Jake to convince him my father’s death wasn’t a suicide. Wait a minute. Jake said he wanted to make sure I wasn’t involved in my father’s death, which meant he didn’t think it was suicide.
Eleven rolled around and Jake tapped on my door. “Hi.”
“Hi. I was just reflecting on what you said earlier. Sorry if I overreacted, but if you were ruling out my involvement, that assumes you don’t think it was accidental or a suicide, right?”
“Correct. I never thought your father committed suicide. I suspected he was murdered. That’s why I’ve been conducting an undercover investigation. Initially, my investigation centered on the supposed accident because of the unlikely scenario of tripping and falling into the ocean from the pier, especially given your father’s fitness level indicated by the results of his last physical submitted to Sloan Mutual. In cases like this, we always look at the possibility of suicide. After speaking to people who knew him and digging around, there was nothing that suggested a suicidal profile. Then, when your aunt’s murder followed on the heels of your husband’s disappearance, both confirmed my suspicions that something nefarious occurred with your father too and fell in with the theory I was developing.”
“Theory? You have a theory about his death?”
“I do.”
Uncle Bob sauntered in. “What’d I miss?”
“I was about to tell Tory my theory of the case.”
“Go on.”
“Well, first of all, I think they’re all related.”
“All?” said Uncle Bob.
“John Benning’s death, Milo Spinelli’s disappearance and probable death, and Jo Benning’s murder.”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking all along. I made a spreadsheet to list the possible suspects and clues.”
“You did? Great.”
I pulled up my grid and made some tweaks. “I’ll delete you as a suspect now, given you’re officially working with the insurance company.”
Jake raised an eyebrow. “Thank you.”
“And I’ll delete you, Uncle Bob, since now I know why you weren’t being totally straight with the cops.” As soon as the words escaped my lips, I heard my mistake.
Uncle Bob winced and looked at me with dismay.
Jake perked up and addressed Uncle Bob. “What haven’t you told the police?”
Uncle Bob hesitated for a moment and sighed heavily. “Someone’s been embezzling from Benning Brothers. I discovered it a couple of weeks ago.”
“Do you know who?”
“No, but I have my suspicions.”
I snapped my head. “You do? Who?”
Uncle Bob clicked his teeth. “There are only so many people who have access to our computers.”
I bobbed my head. “True, but nowadays computers can be hacked remotely.”
Jake nodded. “She’s right. But in the event we’re not dealing with a computer whiz, who has access to your business bank accounts?”
Uncle Bob cleared his throat. “Well, if you mean access to our computers, there are several people. My wife, my son, my late brother, John, Tory, Milo, and me, of course. We all have access to our office computers. Also, our secretary, Raquel, and the receptionist, Claudette, have access. The two nursery managers, Jed Barnes and Matt Ortega, also have access to the office computers.”
Jake, who’d been listening intently, raised his head. “Okay, that’s access to your computers. What about actual access to your firm’s bank accounts, either online or otherwise?”
“Only me, my wife, and John were authorized on our firm’s bank accounts. Since John’s passing, it’s still my wife and I, and now Tory is authorized too. Our nursery managers, Jed and Matt, are authorized on the nursery business bank accounts, but not on the general Benning Brothers’ accounts that include monies from both the nursery and landscape architecture divisions.”
Jake gave a thumbs-up. “Got it. Thanks.”
I grabbed the files off my desk. “Here are my father’s financial files, including all his bank account information. I went over all of them. Nothing seems out of the ordinary to me, meaning no large, unexplained deposits or withdrawals.”
“Good. I’ll need to review these for my report to Sloan Mutual. Also, Bob, I urge you to report the embezzlement to the authorities pronto. Maybe your SSPD friend, Adrian, could make sure it’s not made public. The police can get warrants to look at phone records, credit card info, bank accounts, all the stuff we as private citizens can’t get readily. They’ll look for recent big expenditures, stuff like that.”
Uncle Bob turned to me. “Do you think Adrian can be discreet?”
“Definitely. He’s great. They probably don’t want to publicize it anyway. Why give the person who stole the money a heads-up?”
“I never thought of that. Okay. I’ll give him a call right now.” Uncle Bob left to make the call.
“Okay. Let me update my suspects and clues spreadsheet.” I rounded my desk, plunked down in my chair, and typed “bank accounts access” and “company computers access” as headings for two new clue columns. “Should I delete Uncle Bob?”
“Leave him on for now, for the sake of argument.” Jake leaned over me slightly to view the screen. “Hmm. Now, with the bank account and computer access stuff added, the suspects with the most checks next to their names are Bob, Jed, and Matt, followed closely by Sam and your aunt Veronica.”
“Great. So that means the murderer is probably someone in my family or an employee.”
Jake straightened up. “In most cases, family members are always the first suspects. All three victims are related by blood or marriage to you, your uncle Bob, your aunt Veronica, and your cousin Sam. Since I’ve ruled you out, we have to look at your other family members—your uncle, your aunt, and your cousin. Before you interrupt me, let me put it another way. By scrutinizing their behaviors, bank accounts, and credit card purchases, we’ll be able to eliminate them as suspects as well. Hopefully.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Hopefully? What does that mean? You think one of them is the killer?”
He leaned one arm on my desk. “Nothing surprises me anymore. But let’s go with innocent until proven guilty for now. And the same goes for your employees, the two nursery managers, the secretary, and the receptionist.”
When I turned to look at him, I felt a pulse of electricity emanating from his eyes.
I turned back to staring at my computer screen, conscious of his breath close to me. “Something’s missing, but I don’t know what.”
Jake leaned in closer. “What’s missing is a motive that unifies all the murders.”
We turned and looked at each other as if the same lightbulb had gone off in our brains.
I sucked in air in excitement. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Jake nodded. “The embezzlement is behind the murders.”
“Maybe my father confronted the embezzler and maybe Milo and Jo found out too.”
“And then the embezzler killed your father and anyone else who knew about it.”
“Okay. Well, I have a date to visit a project site right now with my cousin Sam. I’ll see if I can find out whether he knows anything about the embezzlement. I get the impression he’s hiding something, and Paloma thought he was troubled. So, I’ll let you know what I find out.”
“Sounds good. Meanwhile, I’ll see if any of my contacts can help me with phone logs.”
My phone buzzed. It was Adrian. “Hi, Tory. Just got off the phone with Bob. Thanks for encouraging him to talk to me. Helpful information. I think he felt better getting everything off his chest too. Don’t worry. We’ll get whoever’s responsible. We’ll try to keep our investigation on the down low as much as possible.”
“Thanks, Adrian. I can’t take full credit for convincing my uncle to come clean. Jake Logan, the PI, helped persuade him.”
Jake’s gaze pulsed through mine again as I turned to him and smiled when I mentioned his name.
“Yeah. He’s a good guy. I took the liberty to run a thorough background check on him at the urging of Ashley. He’s legit.”
“Um, thanks?” My face heated up with embarrassment. Why the heck did Ashley ask Adrian to do that? Did she think I was an idiot who couldn’t think for myself?
“Before you go off on Ashley, she did it from a good place, Tor. We all care about you. You’ve been through so much and have so much on your plate. Ash just wanted to make sure he was on the up and up.”
“You read my mind.” I laughed, and as I did, feelings of love and gratitude for my dear friends overwhelmed me and swept away all the negativity I’d felt seconds earlier.
“Also, Ashley told me your neighbor Katie claims she didn’t leave the note on her door. We got surveillance tapes from around your neighborhood for the dates when both notes were found. We’re in the process of going through them, and I’ll let you know if we find anything.”
“Yes. Please keep me in the loop.”
“Last thing. FYI, Ernie is still hot to trot on nabbing a suspect ASAP. He’s going for the usual suspects—in other words, the victims’ family members, particularly you, now that your father’s death has been officially declared a homicide, too, and it looks like Milo and Jo’s murders might be related. Bob tells me you’re the beneficiary of your dad’s insurance policy too. Once Ernie gets wind of that, it will be hard to distract him from making an immediate arrest.”
“So pretty much BOLO for Ernie.”
Adrian guffawed. “Exactly. Look at you, a cop in the making.”
A heady feeling of satisfaction overcame me despite just being warned I had a target on my back, making me smile as we said goodbye. I promised to keep in touch.
I relayed Adrian’s update to Jake.
“Great. Let me know how your road trip goes.”
I turned to walk Jake out of my office. Sam was at my doorway. How long he’d been there, I didn’t know.