Chapter Seventeen #2
“Hello?” he said, tentatively. He was probably afraid to answer his phone after the dreadful call he’d received last night.
“This is Lieutenant Sam Holland, Metro PD in Washington, DC.”
“You’re the one who’s married to the VP.
“Yes, I am. I’m also the one who’s taken temporary custody of your brother and sister.”
“How are they? They’re all I can think about.”
“They’re doing okay, but they’re going to need to be told what’s happened. I wondered if there’s any chance you might be able to come here. It would help, I think, if you were here when we tell them.”
“I’ve got tickets on the train at noon. I’ll be there by midafternoon.”
“That works.” Sam gave him their address. “I’ll let the Secret Service know you’re coming. They’ll need ID at the checkpoint.”
“No problem.”
“Could we talk for a minute about your father and stepmother? I know you’ve been away at school, but did either of them mention any problems they were having with other people, any issue that might’ve led to something like this?”
“I’ve been trying to think of anything since Agent Hill called me last night, but there’s nothing that I knew of, except the madness with his former business partner, which I’m sure you already know about.”
“Yes, we’ve been briefed by the FBI. What was your dad doing for work since relocating to DC?”
“He’d been consulting with high-tech companies who wanted his expertise on the software he developed. I don’t know the specifics, but he was in demand.”
“Do you know if he continued to work under his real name or if he used the alias?”
“His real name.”
“I’m wondering why he did that if he’d gone to the trouble to relocate his family under new names.”
“That was the name his professional reputation was tied to—or what was left of it after that son of a bitch Piedmont ruined everything for him—and the rest of us. It’s been a fucking nightmare.” He paused before he said, “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize to me. I can’t imagine what you and your family have been through.”
“I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t lived through it. My poor dad. Everything he worked for his whole life, gone because of someone else’s greed. And then we had to change our names and go into hiding. Because of him. Because they were afraid he would do something like this.”
“Can you think of anyone else, besides Piedmont, who might’ve had a beef with your father and stepmother?”
“It was him. It had to be him.”
“I understand why you would be so certain, but I’ve learned to look beyond the obvious when investigating homicides.”
“Agent Hill said they were tortured, bound and set on fire. No one else in this world would have reason to do something like that to them other than Piedmont, who blamed my father for everything when he was the one who ruined their lives. Not my dad.”
Sam could tell she wasn’t going to get anything else from the son, who firmly believed there could’ve only been one person responsible. “Are you in touch with your mother?”
“Yes,” he said tentatively. “What about her?”
“Can you tell me her name and where I might find her?”
“Why do you need her? She’s been out of my father’s life for fifteen years.”
“Just being thorough.”
“Her name is Margaret Armstrong. She never changed her last name after they divorced.”
“And she lives where?”
“Ojai, California.”
“When did you last see her or talk to her?”
“I saw her over the summer and talked to her last week. I still don’t understand why you’d ask about her.”
“I’m covering all the bases, Elijah. That’s how this works. Was your parents’ divorce amicable or hostile?”
“Sorta hostile. They fought over me for two years. My mom said my dad squashed her with his money. But that was a long time ago now.”
“What precipitated their breakup?”
“He met Cleo.”
And there we have it, Sam thought. “Can you tell me more about how that transpired?”
He sighed deeply. “Cleo was hired as a marketing expert to help promote the software developed by APG. My dad swore to me that nothing happened between them until after he and my mom had split, but my mom never believed that.”
“What do you believe?”
“My dad never lied to me. If he said nothing happened, nothing happened. Things between my parents were messed up long before he ever met Cleo.”
“How so?”
“My mom is a good person, a really good person, but she’s had a lot of challenges.”
“What kind of challenges?”
“This won’t be in the paper or anything, will it?”
“It’s for my information, unless our investigation leads in your mother’s direction.”
“It won’t,” he said emphatically. “She had nothing to do with this.”
“Tell me about her challenges.”
“She’s suffered from schizophrenia in the past. She’s on good meds now and doing well. It’s been years since she’s had any kind of incidents.”
Sam took frantic notes. “In the past, when she would have incidents, what did they involve?”
“There were voices, in her mind, that directed her to do things that were wildly out of character for her.”
“Was she ever violent?”
“Sometimes,” he said hesitantly before quickly adding, “but not because she wanted to be. It was the disease.”
“Was she ever violent with you?”
“I don’t get why this matters. She had nothing to do with my dad’s murder. If she were going to murder him, she would’ve done it years ago.”
“Do you think she’d be capable of murdering him?”
“I gotta go. I’ve got class and then a train to catch.”
“I understand that this is extremely difficult for you, but you and I are on the same side. We both want justice for your dad and Cleo, and for you and your siblings.”
“My mom didn’t do it. Duke Piedmont killed them. That’s all I can tell you.”
“One more thing before I let you go. When was the last time you saw your dad and Cleo?”
“I was home for the weekend two weeks ago.”
“Did you pick up on any unusual tension or anything out of the ordinary?”
After a pause, he said, “No, I didn’t. I need to go, or I’ll be late for class.”
“No problem. We’ll see you when you get here.”
When the line went dead, Sam closed her phone and drew a big circle around the name of Margaret Armstrong. There was definitely more to the story there, and Sam would be looking hard in her direction.