Chapter 32
His hands were shaky as he read from a statement. He looked tired, worn, haggard, as if he hadn’t slept in days. Tears streamed down his cheeks. He was dressed in a jacket and tie and stumbled a bit as the reporters surrounding him with their microphones jostled him to get a little bit closer.
“Tofu was my life, my everything. I cannot imagine going on without her. This is an incomprehensible loss to me, to my family, and in the days and weeks ahead, as the reality of this unthinkable tragedy sinks in . . .” Tony Molina wiped his tear-stained right cheek with his hand. “I’m sorry. . . .” He cleared his throat and tried to continue, but he couldn’t. He crumpled up the paper and stuffed it in his coat pocket and then pushed his way out of the throng of reporters and through the yellow police tape and back inside his house.
A handsome Asian reporter stepped in front of the camera. “There you have it. Tony Molina, clearly a broken man, unable to speak to reporters after a housekeeper found his wife’s body, shot to death. Although the police are not talking, and there has been no press conference as of yet, our source who is close to the investigation is reporting today that Mr. Molina was not at home at the time of the shooting. According to our source, Mr. Molina was playing golf with some longtime friends at the time of his wife’s murder, and thus is not being considered as a suspect. This is Ralph Kim reporting live from Rancho Mirage. Back to you, Tanya!”
A raven-haired beauty in a bright pink blouse beamed into the camera as if she had just been watching a heartwarming piece about a dog rescue adoption center. “Thank you, Ralph. A local Cathedral City man hiking the Gene Autry Trail learned the hard way that snakes are not friendly household pets. . . .”
Violet scooped up the remote and shut off the TV. “And the Oscar for Best Actor goes to . . .”
Poppy stared glumly into space, still in shock over the unsettling news. “So you think he was lying?”
“I hate judging anyone before all the facts are in, but I’m struggling to buy that loving husband act!” Violet said.
Iris, who was sitting on the couch with Poppy, shrugged. “He struck me as sincere, Violet.”
“This is such a switch. You’re always telling me how I am the most naive and trusting person you know!” Violet said, shaking her head. “How you are more worldly and skeptical, and naturally trained by experience to detect a man’s real character, but just because you are a fan of Tony Molina’s music, you’re willing to believe anything he has to say!”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Violet! The man has an alibi!” Iris argued.
“He knew he was going to need an alibi to cover his tracks! The police always start by looking closely at the spouse!” Violet said. “He could have hired an assassin to do the dirty work for him!”
“A professional assassin? In Rancho Mirage?” Poppy asked with a raised eyebrow. “You really need to stop reading so many John le Carré novels, Violet.”
“I agree!” Iris piped in.
Violet threw her arms up in the air. “You call me Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, say I always see the best in people, and turn a blind eye to the realities of the world! Well, this one time, Iris, I’m looking at that man on TV and I’m telling you, he is guilty!”
Poppy stood up. “After sitting through two days of testimony at his trial, I have no illusions about Tony Molina. I don’t think he is a good person, I think he pals around with a lot of shady people, and I think he is capable of a lot of criminal activity, including assaulting Chef Cicci and tampering with a jury, but seeing him on TV talking about his wife, I just don’t think he was faking it.”
“If it wasn’t her husband, then who on earth did kill her?” Violet asked.
Poppy began pacing back and forth around the office. “It might have been a robbery gone bad. Maybe thieves somehow broke in and didn’t know she was home at the time and panicked—”
“It’s a gated community. How did they get onto the property?” Violet asked.
Poppy stopped and thought about it. “Perhaps they were disguised as air-conditioner repairmen, or gardeners, or plumbers. Home owners in gated communities give out gate codes all the time to service people.”
“Or maybe Tony Molina gave them the code so they could get in there and kill his wife!” Violet said matter-of-factly.
“All I’m saying, Violet, is my gut is telling me Tony didn’t kill his wife based on what we just watched on television. However, I do not have the same feeling about Alden Kenny, who we now know was having an affair with his wife.”
Violet marched over to Poppy, waving her hands. “Poppy, the truth is right in front of you. Tony found out about the affair and had them both taken out! Everyone knows he has mafia connections!”
Iris pouted, not wanting to believe the worst about her beloved Tony Molina.
“Yes, Violet, I suppose that’s possible! But your new friend Lydia told you Tony already knew about the affair long before Alden was killed! There is a lot more to the story, in my opinion,” Poppy said. “And I look forward to finding out what the whole story is!”
“You mean when the police find out!” Violet said.
Poppy offered a halfhearted nod.
“Because that’s their job. We, on the other hand, should focus on finding new clients with actual cases and the means to pay us! Don’t you agree, Iris?” Violet turned to Iris, fully expecting her to support her since she had been the one pounding that point home for days. But Iris stayed mum, wavering.
Violet’s eyes widened. “Iris?”
“My Tony is innocent. I would not mind helping prove it,” Iris mumbled.
“You used to be on my side!” Violet protested.
“That was when we were just looking for some spoiled rich girl, but this is the Tony Molina we are talking about. A superstar! My superstar!” Iris said.
“Well, I guess that’s it then. I’m officially outvoted,” Violet said with a sigh. “We’re now investigating two murder cases and not getting paid for either one of them!”