Chapter Eighteen #2
He tapped into his keyboard. “I can’t confirm if Ms. Casey is a client but I can tell you if I were looking for a shark of a lawyer, I’d want Valerie Tripp and her appointment book has an opening in thirty minutes.”
“Valerie Tripp who is not Jessica’s lawyer?” I asked.
“I couldn’t possibly say,” said the receptionist and winked. “Shall I book you in? You can wait over there.” He pointed to a cluster of chairs and a leather couch a small distance away.
“Yes, please,” I said.
“Pumpkin!” cried Lily, folding dramatically and resting her forehead on the desk, her shoulders heaving.
“We’ll get Pumpkin back,” I said, gathering Lily into a hug as I gave my name to the receptionist.
“You’re all booked in,” he said. “Can I get you anything? Water?”
“Pumpkiiiiin!” Lily wailed some more.
“Thank you so much!” I mouthed as I guided my dry-sobbing bestie to the furthest chairs. As we sat, Lily rummaged in her purse for tissues and delicately dabbed her eyes.
“How’d I do?” she whispered.
“You should have been on the stage.”
“I know.”
We settled into the uncomfortable chairs and sipped our coffees while we waited.
The woman who walked over to us almost thirty minutes later was only a few years older than us but with a glorious sweep of black curly hair that reached her shoulders.
She wore a dark gray suit and a white blouse elaborately tied at the neck.
If I hadn’t flopped out of the corporate world, I’d have wanted to dress like her.
“Ms. Graves,” she said, shaking our hands. “Valerie Tripp. I’m sorry to hear of your friend’s predicament and I’m glad to help. Come through to my office and we can talk some more.”
As soon as her back was turned, Lily gave me the thumbs-up, her eyes flashing with excitement.
Valerie Tripp’s office had a less than glamorous view over the parking lot at the back, but it was bright and clean with the kind of furniture that came from a generic office supplies store. Law books filled the shelves behind her and the desk was neat with a closed laptop and a notepad and pen.
“I understand your husband is having an affair with your niece, stole your dog, and plans to host a wedding in the house he has evicted you from,” she said, leaning back in her chair.
“That’s right,” said Lily. She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.
“Our friend, Jessica Casey, said we should talk to someone here. She had an appointment with you recently,” I said.
“Hmm,” said Valerie. She tapped her fingers lightly on the desk. “And she told you to make an appointment with me?”
“She did.”
“The same Jessica Casey who just died in a car accident?”
I hesitated. There was no point in lying. Valerie had identified the correct Jessica which, to me, confirmed their relationship. “Yes,” I said. “She mentioned you before she died.”
The tapping stopped. “Did she?”
“She was adamant we see you,” said Lily. “Sang your praises.”
“That’s strange,” said Valerie. She didn’t move, or continue talking. She simply waited. I had the unpleasant feeling we were entering a stare-off that I wouldn’t win. A dance-off, I would have had a shot at. A stare-off? No.
“Oh?” I waited. Two could play at that game. Plus, I needed the time to figure out my next move. I had a feeling our amateur dramatic performance to the receptionist wouldn’t have quite the same effect on the lawyer.
Valerie remained in silence, watching us both.
Finally, when the silence became a yawning chasm between us, she leaned forwards, lacing her fingers together as she rested her hands on the desk.
“Let’s cut the crap,” she said. “I don’t think you’re here because Jessica recommended me.
You’re here because you’re a private investigator.
” She glanced at Lily. “I have no idea who you are.”
“Lily Shuler-Graves,” said Lily, promptly. “What? She’s intimidating,” said Lily when I flashed a look at her. “Like, really intimidating, and I’ve had to fend off handsy A-holes at the bar pretty much every weekend in forever.”
“Lexi Graves-Solomon,” I said, reaching for my PI license.
I knew when the jig was up and the lawyer would take nothing less than a no-nonsense approach.
It was better I played into that than try and continue a ruse she’d seen through.
She examined my license while I said, “Jessica Casey was my client. She hired me shortly before she died.”
“You don’t think her death was an accident.” It was a statement, not a question.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “On the face of it, it looks like a terrible accident but Jessica had some concerns before she died, and I want to honor her request by looking into them.”
“What brought you here?”
“I think this might have been the last place she went before she died.”
“I think so too,” said Valerie. She steepled her fingers under her chin, contemplating still. “Jessica was my client, but she was also my friend. She came to me with a problem and wanted advice on how to solve it.”
“Her husband’s affair,” I said.
If Valerie were surprised, she didn’t show it. “That’s correct. She’d discovered the affair recently and was considering what to do before she confronted Joel. I talked over her options with her, and advised her not to mention this meeting to anyone.”
“In case it got back to her husband?”
“Primarily, yes.”
“Was she going to divorce him?”
“I think so and I hoped so. She had a horrible headache while she was here and I suggested the stress might be getting to her.”
“Would he have made it difficult for her?”
“Almost certainly. Joel is a selfish man. We all knew that but he seemed to make her happy. The truth is, Jessica was always the brilliant one in their relationship. She was warm, friendly, talented, and everyone loved her. She had the business acumen, not him, even if he likes to pretend the farm’s success is all owing to him.
It isn’t, of course. He didn’t like that and it showed. ”
“Did he isolate her?”
“No, if anything, he stewed in his resentment. The more social she was, the more successful she was, the more people liked her… the more he wanted to take her down a peg. He certainly wanted to cut her off from the farm’s business dealings.
I advised her to be very wary of that. And not just hand the reins to him, if you’ll excuse the pun. ”
“Did Jessica tell you he was having an affair with her sister?”
“Yes, and I wish I could say it surprised me but it didn’t.
Yvette always wanted what Jessica had. If Joel paid her the slightest bit of attention, Yvette would lap it up.
And, of course, he wanted someone who thought he was wonderful.
” Valerie laughed ruefully, casting a glance outside as if the slowly rolling clouds were a comfort.
“Jessica certainly thought he was for a long time. The problem was: Jessica had everything. She owned the farm, the business, and everything that went with it. The two of them would have nothing without her.”
I blinked. This was big news. “Would Jessica have gotten everything in a divorce?” I asked.
“Yes. There was a pre-nup. It was watertight. Jessica inherited the farm and as a pre-marital asset, she owned everything.”
I frowned. “How did Jessica get the farm and not Yvette? I know Jessica was the older sister but…”
“Through Jessica’s mother. Jessica and Yvette have the same father, but different mothers.
Jessica’s parents divorced when she was three.
Yvette came from their father’s next marriage.
When Jessica’s mother died, oh, ten years or so ago, Jessica inherited everything.
Not that it was much back then. Jessica built it up. ”
“So if Jessica divorced him, he’d get nothing, but if Jessica died, Joel would inherit everything?”
“He would have,” said Valerie.
“Do you think he could have killed her?” I asked.
Valerie contemplated that carefully. “I can’t answer that,” she said, “but if he did, it would be for nothing. Jessica didn’t come here just to ask about her divorce prospects. She changed her life insurance beneficiary and filed a new will.”