Shortly after Adeline left, the door to the holding cell opened again and Elliott walked in. Two of the other founders and inventors of Absolom were with him: Hiroshi Sato and Daniele Danneros.
Daniele marched to Sam and hugged him tightly. “My God, Sam,” she said, shaking her head.
When she released him, Hiro nodded solemnly. Sam couldn’t help but notice the deep bags under his eyes. The man looked like he had been up all night.
Elliott held up a take-out bag from a sushi restaurant. “Dani brought food. If you’re ready to eat.”
“I am.”
They moved to the dining table and began laying out the trays.
“Connie is on her way,” Elliott said. “It turns out she spent the night at a medical clinic in San Francisco. She left for there on a private plane right after our meeting yesterday.”
Daniele furrowed her brows. “Is she all right?”
“I think so,” Elliott said. “I think it was a scheduled treatment.”
Hiro set his chopsticks down. “Then let us state the obvious: if she was not present in the city, she could not have committed the murder.”
Hiro had always been the most blunt of the group. Some mistook his directness for aggression, but Sam had always appreciated his approach—both in the lab and now here.
“And even if she was,” Sam said, “I don’t think she’s physically capable of overpowering Nora.”
“I will go first,” Hiro said, taking a deep breath. “After our meeting last night, I stayed in the lab to work on Absolom Two.”
“What time did you get home?” Sam asked.
“I didn’t. I spent the night there. I showered in my office, and I came directly here when Elliott informed me of what had happened. The video surveillance cameras on campus will confirm my movements.”
Daniele screwed the top back on her water bottle and set it down. “I went directly home after our meeting last night. I ate leftovers, ran a bath, and read.” She glanced at the others. “My home video surveillance will also verify that.”
No one looked at Elliott, but he shifted in his chair. “I went home after the meeting. Had a few drinks and went to sleep. But I did call Nora last night.”
The room was silent and still.
“Before or after Adeline and I visited?” Sam asked.
“Before.”
“Why?” Hiro asked.
“The obvious,” Elliott replied. “I wanted to finish Absolom Two. She didn’t. She wanted to destroy it.”
“What was said?” Sam asked.
“I asked if I could come over to talk. Nora said no.” Elliott glanced at Sam. “She said she was having guests.”
Sam stared at the table. “How did it go? The discussion about Absolom Two?”
“How do you think it went, Sam?”
When no one said anything, Elliott added, “She was absolutely adamant that we destroy the prototype and cease any further research. It didn’t matter what I said.”
A knock at the door drew the group’s attention. Sam stood and opened it and found Constance standing there, a scarf wrapped around her head, brown eyes peering up at him, already filled with tears. She reached out and hugged him. In his arms, she felt small and fragile, and Sam didn’t dare hug her tight.
Her voice sounded as fragile as her body felt. “I’m so sorry, Sam. How are you holding up?”
“All right,” he lied.
She broke the hug and stared at him. “We’re going to figure this out.”
They joined the others at the table, but Constance didn’t eat. She briefly confirmed Elliott’s account of what she had done after the meeting, and when the group fell silent, Hiro stood from the table.
“We must start with motive. I believe the most likely explanation is that Nora was killed because she opposed Absolom Two.”
Elliott stood. “I take that as a veiled accusation against me.”
“Your perception is incorrect.”
Daniele held her hands up. “Let’s back up a second.”
Elliott strode to the door. “You can back up without me.”
“Elliott, where are you going?” Daniele asked.
“This will hit the press soon. We need to make a statement. If we don’t, the narrative will get away from us.”
Hiro cocked his head. “And what precisely is our narrative?”
“The truth: a wonderful human being was tragically and senselessly taken from us. And Sam Anderson and his daughter had nothing to do with it.”
Without another word, Elliott marched out.
“He’s right about the press,” Constance said. “If the public perception is that you’re guilty, it’ll be hard to change that—even after the facts come out. And kids can be cruel. We need to get ahead of this for Ryan’s sake.”
“True,” Sam muttered.
“Back to motive,” Daniele said. “I’m not sure the Absolom connection is right.”
“How so?” Hiro asked.
“I think Absolom—and the next generation of it—is on our minds, and that’s the first thing we see. But we should look at the more obvious motives. The two classic reasons for murder.”
“Which are?” Sam asked.
“Love and money.”
Sam shrugged. “Not sure that helps. If love is the motive, that would seem to lead back to me.”
“But framing you doesn’t,” Daniele said. “Think about it—what if the person who killed Nora was in love with her? The killer finds out you’ve been seeing her. They know it’s getting serious. And they can’t handle it.”
“Then why would they frame Adeline?” Constance asked.
Daniele focused on Sam. “I believe you can answer that.”
“Maximum pain.”
Daniele nodded. “The only thing worse than losing your future is seeing your kids lose theirs. Whoever killed Nora might have seen an opportunity to strike back at both of the people responsible for their unreturned affection: Nora and Sam.”
“That leaves money,” Hiro said.
“And Nora would have left a lot of it,” Daniele said. “Her shares in Absolom Sciences are worth billions.”
Hiro nodded. “But she doesn’t have any children. And she’s a widow. Who would it go to?”
“I think we should find that out. And I think we should make a list of everyone who knew the contents of her will.”
“I agree,” Sam said. “But if it’s for the money, why frame me?”
“Convenience,” Daniele said. “In homicide investigations, the police almost always start with lovers and former lovers. You were there. There was an altercation. It works out well.”
“Next steps?” Constance asked.
“I’ll call Tom Morris,” Daniele said. “Nora may have filed her will with the company.”
“I’ll start trying to track down any former romantic acquaintances,” Hiro said.
Sam turned to Daniele. “I hate to ask, but Ryan’s still here at the station. And…”
“You want me to keep him? Of course. I’m happy to, Sam.”
*
When they left, Sam began clearing the take-out containers from the dining table. A small slip of paper was lying under one of the sushi trays. At first, Sam thought it was the message from a fortune cookie, but there weren’t any of those with the meal.
He picked it up and read the short message:
LOOK UNDER THE TABLE
He felt his pulse quicken.
Still holding the slip of paper, he moved to the door, locked it, and set the short note back on the table. They would need to get fingerprints off of it, though he figured that was likely a long shot.
He looked under the dining table, but there was nothing there. He got down on his hands and knees and crawled under and peered up.
Taped to the underside of the table was a small cream-colored envelope.