Chapter 30
Camille
AFTER THE ALIBI
I’m trembling in the chair next to Hank when he finally ends the formal interview.
“Sully, I think we’re done for today. You can see how hard this is on Mrs. Bayliss. If you have any other questions for her, we’ll be happy to meet here with you again, but I’m going to have to insist we give her a break.”
The detective clearly isn’t thrilled this interview is getting cut short.
Hank told me he would stop if it he thought we were drifting into territory he wasn’t comfortable with and to just sit quietly and let him be the bad guy.
I guess when Detective Sullivan started asking if Ben and I had marital problems, Hank thought it was moving into murky waters.
And he wouldn’t be wrong.
I wait for the detective to throw some weight around and threaten subpoenas and all the other things you see on those cop shows, but he nods and starts packing up his things.
He’s got to have his own thoughts about why Hank chose to stop the interview, but I don’t have the bandwidth to worry about that.
It’s hard enough just to put one foot in front of the other right now.
My phone vibrates with a text notification from Silas. He’s outside.
“Detective Sullivan, my brother is here if you want to talk to him.” I’d rather get that part over with sooner rather than later so the detective can move on.
He straightens up and nods. “Yes, that would be good.” Then he looks pointedly at Hank. “Any problems with him joining us in here or would that be too much for Mrs. Bayliss?”
It’s a jab that I try hard not to react to.
Hank’s got that smirk. The one that lets you know he thinks you’re an asshole without saying it. “I think we can accommodate the few minutes it should take for you to speak with Mr. Everett.” Then Hank looks at me. “Want to tell him to come on in?”
I nod, then send the text to Silas, explaining what he’ll be walking into. A few minutes later, Lila is escorting him into the conference room.
Silas greets everyone in the room then sits down next to me. He reaches over and squeezes my hand. “You good?”
My eyes must be red and puffy so there’s no hiding how emotional I’ve been. “Yes, I’m okay.”
Hank leans forward to look past me at Silas. “The detective has a few questions for you.”
Detective Sullivan has pulled the recorder back out and set it to record.
He does the same opening, stating his name then Silas’s while also mentioning that Hank and I are still present.
Then he chuckles before addressing Silas.
“Mr. Everett, I feel sure I know what your answer will be, but can you please tell me where you were on Saturday night?”
Silas settles back in his chair. He looks relaxed and I’m envious of his ability to hide his emotions so well. “Sure, I met Camille for a drink. She had told me she’d be nearby when I saw her at the fundraiser for the Tarver Braddock Foundation.”
“And where did you have this drink?”
“Bar called Chantilly’s.”
The detective is back to taking notes while Hank and I sit quietly and watch their conversation.
“And what time did you leave?”
Silas’s head tilts to the side while he thinks about his answer. “I think Camille left around midnight. I wasn’t far behind her.”
Detective Sullivan puts his pen down and looks at Silas. “And where did you go after you left Chantilly’s?”
“Home.”
“In Corbeau?”
Silas smiles. “That’s the only one I’ve got.”
“You didn’t drive back to Baton Rouge?”
Silas’s hand flinches slightly and I’m hoping I’m the only one who noticed it. “No. I did not.”
Hank steps in. “I believe Mr. Everett has answered the question that solidifies where Mrs. Bayliss was on Saturday night. So unless there’s anything else…”
The detective smiles. “Yes, this has established where both Mrs. Bayliss and Mr. Everett were between the hours of ten p.m. and midnight. My focus is more on the hours before that, from six p.m. to eight p.m., when the coroner has placed the time of death.”
Oh shit.
We all react to this news in different ways. Hank seems visibly taken aback while Silas remains stiff. My tears start falling again.
An hour or so after I left our house someone came in and murdered Ben. I can’t help but think about what Silas said to me in the car before he went into the bar. I didn’t get a chance to talk to him. I knocked but he never answered. This has me questioning things I don’t want to question.
But regardless, this puts him there in that time frame. And for me, it’s when I was stalking Aubrey while she was parading around as me, even though I have nothing to prove that.
This is a nightmare.
Hank recovers first. “Sully, am I misunderstanding the purpose of this visit? We’ve been up front and transparent with you. It’s clear where Mrs. Bayliss spent her time on Saturday and it was nowhere near Baton Rouge.”
I may throw up. All over this table.
Then Silas adds, “If you’re looking for an alibi for me, all you need to do is ask. I was at the farm working on one of the pecan shakers until I left to meet Camille. My wife, Margaret, can verify that if necessary. Just let me know the best way for her to convey that information to you.”
Oh, God. Margaret had only left about an hour before me, so this doesn’t bode well for any of us.
The detective holds up a hand, sensing the hostility coming from our side of the table. We’re playing right into his hands, I know it. “I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t ask the hard questions.” He looks at Silas. “Let me know a good time to speak with your wife.”
Hank stands up. “Sully, my office will be in touch to set that up.”
Silas looks almost surprised at Hank’s unspoken offer to handle this for him.
Detective Sullivan gets the not-very-subtle hint that this interview is over. For the second time, he packs his things while Silas and I watch him.
We stay in our chairs while Hank walks him out. We’re both silent, not willing to bring up anything while in this room. Finally, Hank returns and drops down in the chair across from us and looks at Silas.
“Your wife really going to be able to vouch for you during that time?”
Silas nods. “Yes, of course.” Then he leans forward, resting his arms on the table. “Do you think Camille is at risk of being charged with Ben’s murder?”
I’m proud I don’t visibly flinch at his question.
Hank looks at me then back at Silas. “I don’t believe so. She has a stack of receipts showing where she was during the window they’ll be focusing on. I’m more worried Sullivan doesn’t have any leads so he’s looking for things that aren’t there.”
“Dad’s not happy you’re taking over this firm. Representing Camille.”
I turn toward my brother. “Silas! Why would you say that?”
Hank just laughs. “Oh, your dad made it crystal clear how he feels about me. If there’s anything productive you’d like to say, then please do. Otherwise, I have a full day ahead and talking about the things Randall Everett does and does not approve of is a waste of time.”
Silas raises one eyebrow, while I just watch them in fascinated silence. “Want to know why Ben wanted you out?”
His question knocks Hank back in his seat as if Silas physically hit him.
Silas doesn’t wait for his answer. “Ben thought he could dirty you up. And he was hoping since you came from the DA’s office, you would know their weaknesses.
Know which guys were on the take. The ones who could be swayed and used.
He’d been relying on Foster for years but wanted someone who answered to him, not to Dad.
So honestly, man, take it as a compliment he didn’t want you anymore.
For me, it makes me feel better that you’re the one who has Camille’s back now instead of Ben. ”
Speechless. Hank and I are both speechless.
“I’ll add one thing then we’ll get out of your hair,” Silas says as he stands up.
“Ben didn’t get the amount of success he did, as fast as he did, without getting his hands very dirty and creating enemies along the way.
You make sure Camille stays out of the detective’s crosshairs and I’ll make sure the promises Ben failed to keep don’t come looking for you. ”
Hank is rigid next to me and I cover my hands with my face and groan.
Nightmare.
My absolute worst nightmare.
“Let’s go, Camille.”
Hank doesn’t say anything as we leave and I wait until I’m in the car with Silas before I lay into him.
“What in the hell was that? Why are you threatening Hank? He’s done nothing but try to help me!”
Silas is calm as he navigates through afternoon traffic.
Too calm for what just happened in there.
“He needs to know what he’s up against. There’s a mountain of shit he’s going to have to deal with if he takes over that firm.
And he either needs to man up and handle it or get the hell out of there and let someone else take over. ”
I sink back into the seat and close my eyes. “I can’t believe this is happening. That any of this is happening.”
“I should have told you the truth years ago. Maybe you wouldn’t have been stuck marrying that son of a bitch had you known. I may have owed Ben but you never did.”
“You pretty much got stuck with Margaret too, didn’t you?”
He leans his head back against the seat but doesn’t answer my question so I ask another one he probably doesn’t want to hear. “Will she be able to cover for you?”
He glances at me quickly then his eyes are back on the road. “I didn’t kill Ben.”
I don’t respond because I don’t know if I believe him.
“Camille, Foster didn’t just keep the video of what happened to Aubrey’s parents that night.
He kept bits and pieces of every single thing Dad asked him to do starting before either of us was born.
He’s been stockpiling evidence for years because he was afraid Dad was going to turn on him.
And in his position, I would have done the same thing. ”
“What? What are you saying?”
“When he got his diagnosis and knew he was going to die, Paul Granger wasn’t the only person he went to talk to.
He basically went on tour, trying to make amends to people he felt he had wronged.
He kept Dad’s name out of it for the most part, because while he was scared of dying, he was still scared of Dad too.
But word got back to us anyway. And I went to see him. ”
“What did he say?”
Silas rolls his eyes. “He pulled that bullshit you’d expect someone in his position to do. ‘The evidence is in a safe place and if anything happens to me, it will be released to the public. ’ ”
“Did you believe him?”
He shrugs. “Enough that I didn’t push too hard.
We waited for months to see what he was going to do, but in the end, he never turned it over like he threatened, because he knew he’d lose his power the second he did.
That’s why we’re all scrambling now that he’s dead, trying to figure out where he kept it. ”
I bite my lip and decide to tell Silas the one part I left out from last Saturday.
“Aubrey said there’s a video that shows the accident.
That’s what Foster has. And Ben believed Foster kept everything in the gun safe at his house.
Ben went as far as getting a replacement key made and he was planning to go to Foster’s house and get it the night he was killed. ”
Silas pulls over to the side of the road and puts his truck in park. “There’s more you want to say. I can tell.”
“I saw where he put the key. If he died that early in the day, I don’t think he had a chance to go to Foster’s, so it may still be there.”
“Where is it?”
I describe what I saw through the camera I had set up. Finally, he asks, “Why didn’t you tell me this on Saturday when I saw you outside Chantilly’s?”
“Because on Saturday at Chantilly’s I thought Ben was alive and he was going to Foster’s and if I told you that, you’d have gone there too.” I turn away and look out the window. “And I was afraid of what would happen if y’all were both there.”