“Adrian Archer! I hope you’re not going to ask me if you should go to the police with that,” Charlotte said.
“What?”
“Oh, I’ll explain later. It’s just the day I’ve had. I’ve got so much to tell you.”
Ray picked up his hat. “Come on. First a word with Phil, and then let’s go home.” He closed the door behind them and strolled over to Phil’s desk. “Any news on that condo sign near the hotel that was vandalized?”
“Just kids, it looks like. Nobody filed an official complaint,” Phil said.
“Just going to check on it now and then I’ll be at Charlotte’s after that. Call me if you need me.”
“Will do.”
Charlotte and Ray climbed into the police car, and a few minutes later, Ray pulled into the Middleton house driveway and parked the car.
They got out and, hand in hand, walked the short distance to the Bartucci land. The condo sign was gone.
“Let’s talk this through,” said Charlotte, gesturing at the tall grass behind the chain-link fence. “Bartucci, a speculator and property developer, buys this property at the suggestion of his agent of record, Adrian Archer. He wants to build condos here. He puts up a sign here,” she said, pointing at the fence, “hoping to drive down the value of the adjacent property.” She gestured at the Middleton house. “The listing agent is Lynda Flegg, and Hugh Hedley is supposed to view it on behalf of a client. The lawyer Joseph Lamb, who acts for the vendor of that property,” she said, making a chopping motion at the Middleton house, “is also acting as the lawyer for the owner of this property.” She swept her arm toward the vacant property. They turned to each other. “So the common denominator here is Joseph Lamb.”
“We’ll have trouble getting any information out of him,” said Ray. “Lawyers always cite attorney-client privilege and tell you nothing.”
“I need to go and see him, though. About the theater school.” She looked up at him. “I get the feeling he holds the key to Hugh Hedley’s murder. I tried asking him if he knew Hugh very well, but he didn’t answer. What do you think?”
“You might be right. Knowingly or unknowingly, he could be withholding the piece of information that will crack this case wide open.”
He put his arm around her, and they walked back to the car. As they passed the Middleton house, Charlotte glanced up at the upper floor. She stopped and pointed. “I thought I saw a curtain move,” she said. “And the house is supposed to be empty.”
Ray’s eyes followed her finger. “I’ll ask Phil to check it out on his way home. Could be some kids have broken in.” He pulled his car keys out of his pocket and unlocked the doors. “I hate vandalism.”
*
Charlotte grated Parmesan cheese over some fresh pasta and tore up a few leaves of basil. She set the plates on the table, and as they ate, she summarized her conversations with Jessica and Paula.
“So, according to Jessica, Adrian and Sophie were having a fling, and they spent the night of the murder together in New York. And Paula has a theory that Hugh was killed by someone who mistook him for Adrian. That Adrian was the intended victim.”
“Those are lines of inquiry to be investigated,” said Ray. “In any murder inquiry, everything is looked at with a view to ruling people out, and those who can’t be ruled out become suspects. But even if Sophie and Adrian did drive into Manhattan that night, we can’t rule them out, because the murder could have been committed earlier. In fact, the Albany detectives haven’t found anyone who saw Hugh during or after the second half of the play.”
“Anyway, Paula would like to talk to you about it. I think she likes you. You play your cards right, and she might invite you to her annual Fourth of July barbecue.”