Dying for the Truth (A Rockcrest Cove Cozy Mystery Book 4) (6 page)

The meeting was in full swing when the office phone rang. Maddie reached over grabbed it while the rest were in an animated debate on how to deal with Connors the next time they crossed paths.

“Hello.”

“This is the operator. I have a caller online for a Maddie McDougal.” The call caught her completely by surprise.

“Who?”

“I have a call for Ms. Madeline McDougal from Captain Evans.”

Maddie’s heart skipped a beat and her voice went up an entire octave. “Really?” Everyone in the group stopped their chatter and turned to listen to her conversation. Maddie’s face turned a little red and she turned her back to them. “This is personal,” she whispered.

Everyone turned to look at Bailey, who simply shrugged her shoulders.

“Yes, I’ll take the call,” Maddie said into the phone. “But hold on while I get on the other extension.” She quickly excused herself and went to pick up the phone in the kitchen.

“Yes,” she told the operator. “I’m here.”

“All right. I’ll put him on.”

A few minutes later she heard Phillip’s voice come on the line. “Maddie. How are you?”

“I’m doing well, Phil.” She answered a little like a schoolgirl.

“Well, from what I can hear, you’re not doing that well. What’s this I hear about you being arrested?”

“Yes. It’s a pretty ugly situation right now, but my attorney assures me that I have nothing to worry about.”

“Are you sure? From what I read, it sounds pretty serious.”

“Yes, it is serious. But we’re all working on the case as we speak.”

“Listen. If you need anything—anything at all—I can drop everything and be with you in a flash.”

“No need for that Phil,” she said. “I’m really doing fine right now.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, not entirely convinced.

“I’m sure.” She stayed on the phone for a few minutes, trying to reassure him.

“Listen, I’ll be checking on you very soon, Maddie. This doesn’t sound like anything to play with.” His concern was obvious even over the telephone.

“Listen, Phil. There’s no need to worry. Kyle is working right now on getting Connors to drop the charges. He says they don’t even have any evidence to prove I did it. It’s mostly just assumptions. But if anything changes, I’ll be sure to let you know.”

“All right,” he said. “I’ll be expecting regular reports. I can be there in a matter of hours if need be.”

“I know you can, Phil. And I really appreciate your concern, but don’t put your job in jeopardy for my sake. If anything changes, I’ll make sure you know about it.”

“OK. I’ll be getting some time away from the bridge in about a month. How about I come by then?”

“That would be wonderful. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Maddie hung up the phone and stood there for a brief moment. She thought about Phil and all her friends in the other room. How lucky she was that she had so many who cared enough about her to make sure she got through this ordeal successfully.

Chapter Five

Maddie returned to the war room to continue battering out the plan for her defense, but her mind was tired now and she found it hard to focus. She took off her glasses and gently massaged the bridge between her eyes to ease some of the tension. So much was happening in such a little time that she was having difficulty staying on point. Her usually strong façade was quickly weakening in light of everything that had happened. But she didn’t want to worry her friends, so she kept silent and decided to just sit back for a while and observe what they all had to contribute.

“I managed to get some copies of his bank statements and tax records.” Bailey took a stack of papers and slammed them down on the desk in a way that demanded everyone’s attention. “You’ll never guess what I found.”

“Bailey, let me remind you that any evidence you found when you ‘broke into’ the bakery will be inadmissible in court,” Kyle said, reprimanding her.

“It doesn’t need to be admissible,” Bailey pointed out. “But it’s information that we can use.”

“Ok. What is it?”

“It looks like Evan was in some serious financial trouble.” Bailey started tossing bank statements on the table. “He didn’t do anything illegal, you know, but apparently Emma was the brains behind the business. After her death, the profits for the business began a long downward spiral that left them almost bankrupt.”

“A lot of businesses are in financial jeopardy, Bailey. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they are going to commit murder.”

“No. But, he had to take out a number of loans to keep his business afloat. According to his bank account statements, he couldn’t get a bank loan to buy a bag of chips. So he had to go to private investors. Well, it turns out that he wasn’t able to get enough money together to pay them back either.” Bailey stood over the group with a look like she had figured out something and was waiting for everyone else to catch up.

“I’m sure you have a point to all of this,” Kyle said.

“I do,” she answered proudly. “Since Evan wasn’t able to pay back the loans to his private investors either—”

“He defaulted on his payments?”

“Yes. His business was in some serious trouble, so he owed a lot of people money,” Bailey continued.

Eleanor began to put the pieces together first. “They were private investors?”

“Yes,” Bailey said, pointing as if they were playing a game of charades.

“So maybe loan sharks?”

“Yes! You got it!”

“And, if they weren’t the traditional financial institution, some of them may not have been very happy that they couldn’t get their money back.”

“Right!” Bailey jumped up in the air now as if she had won the game.

“So, we need to find out who he owed money to.”

“Already got it,” Bailey announced. She placed a small personal ledger on the table in front of everyone. “And you won’t believe who was one of his biggest lenders.” She waited for effect. “Michael Hale.”

Maddie, who had been sitting and listening, sat completely straight in her chair. Her mouth fell open and her eyes stretched as wide as they possibly could. “Michael Hale?”

“Yes,” Bailey responded. “Apparently Evan had borrowed quite a bit of money over the last year or so and was indebted to him to the tune of …” Bailey stopped and started looking over the papers she had on the table. “Ah, here it is, three hundred thousand dollars.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Maddie exclaimed. “There’s no way that Evan would have borrowed that much money. And certainly no way for him to earn enough to pay him back even if his business was doing well.”

“Well, it’s right here in black and white.”

“When did he borrow this money?” Maddie asked.

“According to this it was two years ago.”

Maddie sat back in her chair, her thoughts spinning through her head. “That was right about the time that the bakery opened, right? Emma was still alive.”

“So, it was Emma that borrowed the money,” Eleanor contributed.

“It could have been seed money to get the new business off the ground.”

“But maybe Evan didn’t even know about the loan until it defaulted.”

Maddie got up and started pacing the floor with Bailey. “I don’t understand something,” she said, chewing on her fingernail. “Why was he in default? The business was doing very well. When Bailey and I were in there, they were having an extremely difficult time keeping up with customer demand.”

“That may be true, but apparently it wasn’t enough.”

“Loan shark?” Eleanor asked.

“Or maybe a gang, trying to squeeze them out of money for ‘protection.’ Or something like that.”

“Whatever it is, we need to know why he wasn’t able to pay it back even with a pretty successful business venture.”

“There’s something else too,” Bailey added. “Evan was single, so he had a life insurance policy to the tune of a million dollars.”

“What?”

“Guess who was the beneficiary?”

“Michael Hale,” Maddie said quietly.

“We need a meeting with Michael Hale,” Eleanor announced.

“Ok. I’ll call him and set up a meeting,” Maddie offered. “We met him on the cruise, and I think he’d be very interested in finding out how well the case is going.”

Another week had passed and little had changed. Connors had still not looked for another suspect and Maddie was still the prime target. She was starting to get concerned that she would have to face trial, so she decided to follow through and confront Michael. She had discussed the matter with Phil in her nightly conversations with him. He had been very worried about more than just her arrest. He too had learned about Connors and his bullheaded ways and was worried that if another suspect was not found and arrested soon, Maddie would have to stand trial.

Because of that, he wanted to make sure that she was protected when she confronted Michael. He had arranged for several of his security personnel from the boat to be close by for their meeting tonight. The concern was that if she had used Bailey, Eleanor, or even Kyle, they would be recognized and the whole plan foiled. So his personnel would be sitting close by for the entire affair.

Maddie didn’t really feel that was necessary, but she agreed to it anyway. Phil had made his point very clear, either his personnel would be there or he would. Reluctantly, Maddie agreed as long as Bailey was allowed to be somewhere out of sight as well. The bickering had gone well into the night, but eventually they came to an agreement and the stage was set.

Michael was already waiting for Madeline when she arrived. She smiled at him as she once again admired his finely tailored suit. Maddie found it hard to believe that Michael could have been responsible for such a heinous crime, but after their discussion the other night, all the evidence pointed in his direction.

“Maddie.” He smiled. “It’s so good to see you again.”

“Likewise.” She smiled back at him. “Have you been waiting long?”

“No. Just arrived only moments ago.” He took a casual look at his watch. “Shall we go inside?”

“Absolutely,” she agreed. “It’s a little chilly out here.”

He offered her his arm and they both went through the door like old friends.

“I have to say, Michael,” Maddie started, “I was quite surprised when you recommended this place. I thought your tastes would be a little more refined.”

“Well, to be honest, Maddie, they are but—”

He stopped to let the waiter come back to take their wine order and leave menus for them to look over.

“But what?” Maddie asked when the waiter had once again left.

“But, since my wife and I separated, I’ve felt more inclined to do things a little more simply.”

Maddie was genuinely surprised. Her hand went up to her throat and she stared across the table at Michael. “I’m shocked, Michael. I hadn’t heard.”

“No one has,” Michael confided. “As far as anyone else is concerned, she’s taking an extended vacation in Europe. At least that’s what I’ve told everyone, but it’s pretty much over now.”

Maddie’s eyes blinked in rapid succession. Her entire perception of the man was beginning to change. Maybe she didn’t know him as well as she thought.

Michael took a furtive look around the room before he leaned across the table toward Maddie. He placed his hand gently on hers and gave her a strong and firm look. “I was wondering,” he said, his voice almost a whisper, “how you are doing? I heard about what happened.”

Startled once again, Maddie looked at the man across the table from her. His appearance seemed like a friend, but she suddenly had a feeling that he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

The waiter came again and they each placed their order before she could answer him. She was thankful for the interruption, because it gave her time to formulate something to say that wouldn’t get him suspicious.

“I’m faring well,” she said. “Chief Connors is not likely to change his mind unless I deliver him up another suspect. Honestly,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I think the only reason he arrested me was because he thought I would do a better job of finding the real killer than he would.” She finished with a slight chuckle and a grandmotherly glint to her eye.

“You’re probably right about that,” Michael agreed. “But don’t you think he’s going a little too far?”

“Oh absolutely,” she answered honestly, but that’s just the kind of man he is. If he’s not going too far, he’s not going far enough.”

“I wonder if that’s how he’s solved all of his cases over the years. He finds someone he can falsely accuse and forces them to do his grunt work. In the end, he gets the credit for the solve because the person is usually just an innocent bystander in the whole thing.”

“Hmm. I never thought about it that way before.” She gave him a thoughtful point of her finger. “You may be on to something. When this is all over, I think I’ll take a closer look at Connors’s methods over the years. It may just be enough to get him out of office so that we can get someone a little more dedicated to his job. Thanks for that insight, Michael.” She rewarded him with another friendly smile.

“You talk as if you think you’ll get off and be back on the straight and narrow again.”

“I’m confident that the evidence that they have against me is circumstantial at best. They don’t have anything concrete, so I’m sure that Connors will try to push it to the end but it’ll all just end up as one real unpleasant memory.”

“That’s interesting,” he said thoughtfully. “And knowing you, Maddie, it means you have a bead on someone you think might be the guilty party.” He was still smiling, but something about his face showed increased tension.

“I do,” she agreed. “But I can’t say for sure just yet.”

The waiter arrived with their appetizers, and much of the conversation switched to food and more trivial things for the majority of the meal. By the time the waiter arrived with the desert menu, Maddie was concerned about how to get the conversation back on the case so that she could get her questions answered.

She passed on the desert and so did Michael, and while they waited for the waiter to bring the check, she said, “Michael. You never told me what was the cause of you and your wife breaking up.”

Michael looked startled at the question. “I suppose it was an accumulation of things over the years. You may not know that my business has been bleeding money for several years now. A string of bad investments, you know.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin and pulled out a credit card and placed it into the folder the waiter had brought.