CHAPTER TEN
Sarah made it into the office a few minutes to nine. Makeup and eating had gone by the wayside, and her outfit was the first pair of black pants and sweater she grabbed from her closet. As she hung her jacket, she heard Harlan in the refreshment nook, putting water into the coffee machine.
Normally, she made coffee before he arrived. Unlike some bosses who insisted coffee making was a secretarial task, Harlan didn’t. It wasn’t an assigned responsibility that made her normally rush to put the coffee on but rather a matter of her personal need for a jolt of java to start the day, coupled with her belief that beating him in by a few minutes and already having the coffee going made her look more efficient. As weak as she’d felt in so many areas of her job when she began a little more than a year ago, anything that provided an appearance of efficiency and competency had seemed important. And it still did, though Sarah felt better about her skills and was no longer nervous Harlan might fire her at any moment.
Thank goodness. Today she felt entirely discombobulated.
She stashed her purse in her desk drawer and popped her head into the coffee nook.
Harlan acknowledged her and handed her an empty mug. “Coffee should be ready in a few minutes.”
“No problem. What a morning it’s been so far.”
Harlan raised his brows. “What happened?”
“Botts showed up before eight this morning to do the inspection. If I hadn’t been walking Fluffy, he would have come and gone. No telling when he would have managed to put us on his schedule again. As it was, he thought he had an out because there wasn’t an owner or contractor on the premises.”
“Sneaky.”
“Very. I think that’s why he came when he did. I swear when I reminded Botts I’m an owner, too, so he could do the inspection with me, he looked annoyed. If he could have thought of an excuse or called himself on his cell phone with an emergency, I think he would have.”
“Why didn’t he?”
“Because I didn’t let him out of my sight. He had no choice but to do the inspection when I pulled out my key and unlocked the door.”
“How did it come out?”
“I don’t know. The minute I let him in, I texted Cliff, hoping he was working somewhere in the vicinity, and called Marcus and Emily, so one of them could come over and help with the inspection.”
“And you left Botts there alone?”
“No. Because I don’t know anything about kitchen stuff and didn’t want him to take advantage of me, I stalled by asking him questions about his relationship with Riley.”
Harlan chuckled. “What was it you said about not investigating?”
Sarah held up her hand as if saying “stop.” “I wasn’t investigating. I was protecting our business investment until Marcus, Emily, or Cliff got there.”
“A likely story.”
“Harlan, that’s not what’s important. Botts swore Riley and he were only friends. He claimed that except for going out for some meals and giving her lots of rides on the back of his motorcycle, there wasn’t anything else going on between them.”
Harlan scratched his head. “That definitely isn’t the impression I’ve gotten from anyone I’ve talked to.”
“Me either. Do you think she could have been stoking Jacob’s jealousy to keep him in her pocket? And he fell for it?”
“Anything’s possible. Did you try to press the issue more?”
“The window of opportunity closed. Marcus and Cliff arrived almost simultaneously, so I left Botts with them and rushed home to get ready for work.”
“And here you are.” He lifted the full coffeepot and offered her some. She held out her mug. Harlan filled it before pouring himself a cup. He took a long sip. “Jacob and Anne are coming in this morning. I’d like you to sit in and listen. Take notes if you want.”
Sarah opened her eyes wide and stared at him. He normally conducted client meetings privately and insisted on making his own notes. Her office functions were primarily to be the receptionist, handle the filing, and type letters, pleadings, or anything else he needed typed. Harlan had few shortcomings, but he couldn’t type. “Did I miss something here? You know I don’t know shorthand.”
“No, I’m simply interested in your reaction to what Jacob and Anne say. Let’s see if your memories from last night are the same or differ significantly.”
“I thought the police are supposed to keep witnesses separate.”
“I’m not the police. Besides,” he quickly added, “all of you already gave formal, signed statements.”
Before Sarah could reflect too much on Harlan’s motivation for having her sit in, the front door buzzer sounded. While Harlan took his coffee and went into his office, she hurried to her desk. After checking the monitor to see who was at the front door, she buzzed Jacob and Anne in. “Good morning.”
Jacob nodded a greeting. Unlike his sister, who radiated “powerful mayoral candidate” in a tailored brown suit with a pink blouse and brown pumps, Jacob was a disheveled mess. He had on the same blue shirt and khaki pants, albeit more wrinkled, from last night. A shadow of a beard on his normally clean-shaven face made Sarah question if he ever went home. Based on Anne’s picture-perfect look and the fact Harlan was wearing clean clothing, she knew none of them stayed at the station all night. That meant Jacob should have had time to go home, sleep, and change clothes before this meeting.
Sarah wondered what he did instead after he left the police station, but she knew, at least here in the office, it wasn’t her place to ask. She hoped Harlan would.