Chapter Twenty-One #6
Kaplan inclined his head. “We understand your feelings, but as we said, more has come to light as we’ve dug further into the matter. As Mr. Layton, Mr. Agassi, and Madame Kim are no longer with us, we may never know the full details, but this is what we believe happened.”
“Mr. Agassi was being blackmailed into providing Mr. Layton with those pills,” Balogun said, picking up the trail. “Seeing as there were no monetary transactions between them, or large withdrawals from Mr. Layton’s bank account—blackmail seems most likely.
“At some point, this arrangement was discovered by your mother, Mrs. Kim,” she said, blowing me back. “Likely after the death of Mrs. Prado.”
“Mrs. Prado?”
She nodded. “To understand how this medical fraud went on for so long, we contacted your family’s lawyer.
We don’t believe he had any knowledge of Mr. Agassi’s criminal activity, but he did say something that made everything clear,” she told us.
“He said that none of this would’ve happened if Mrs. Prado was still running the household.
When we pressed him, he explained that invoices, expenses, and even medical bills went through her first. She oversaw every single penny, and never submitted a charge to him that she didn’t verify five ways to Sunday. ”
Rhodes, Micah, and I exchanged incredulous looks. “So that’s why—!”
“Yes,” Kaplan stated, voice hard. “That’s why Mrs. Prado couldn’t be rehired. That’s why she had to go.”
“Oh my goodness,” I breathed, horror stamping my spine. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t rehired her— If I hadn’t—”
“No.” Balogun shot forward and did something I wouldn’t have expected from her. She held my hand. “You cannot blame yourself, Mrs. Kim. You were trying to help and protect your family and your household. You had no idea there were those within your own home who were trying to do the opposite.”
“But— But what does that mean?” Rhodes burst out. “Did Layton kill Mrs. Prado, or did Agassi?”
“We believe it was Mr. Layton,” Balogun confirmed. “She was killed on Sunday morning. He didn’t have class, or anything scheduled as far as we could dig up. He could’ve been anywhere, including skulking around on your property.”
“And the murder of Mrs. Prado was the first domino to fall,” Kaplan continued.
“Agassi and Layton must’ve fallen out over her death.
No doubt Agassi had been justifying his actions up to that point.
He was keeping children safe by supplying Layton with those pills.
He was a good man—a hero even. But no hero can call himself that after causing the death of an innocent woman.
“It’s possible the two of them got into an argument that was overheard—”
“By my mother,” I whispered through numb lips.
Kaplan just nodded. “Why kill a dying woman?” he asked softly. “That’s what we continually came back to, but the answer turned out to be simple. You’d do it if she discovered something you needed her to take to the grave immediately. A secret that simply couldn’t wait for any day now.”
I was hollow and numb. It felt like my soul was scraped out with a rusty spoon. “Layton was afraid that in her moments of lucidity, my mother would tell me there was a murderer and pedophile in our house,” I rasped. “So he killed her too.”
Micah put his arm around my shoulders, squeezing me tight.
“But how?” he asked. “How did he get to her? He told my wife he was in the library on the third floor. Your cops were up there too. If he skipped downstairs to the east wing second floor, surely he should’ve been your top suspect from the start if you. .. knew...”
Balogun’s headshaking made him trail off.
“The tenacious Officer Davis couldn’t let go of the idea of secret rooms, halls, and entrances in your manor.
They are, as he told you, era-appropriate.
Especially for manors along the coast,” she said.
“So he dug up the old blueprints in city hall. There weren’t any secret cellars for moonshine, but he did find a network of old servant staircases.
One such staircase goes straight to the third floor to the hallway leading to your mother’s room. ”
Rhodes frowned. “But those aren’t a secret. We know about that staircase. We could’ve told you that ourselves.”
“Sure,” Kaplan agreed, “but what we didn’t know until we lined up the officers’ positions with the blueprints, is that the entrances to those staircases are both in a blind spot.
Blind spots perfectly placed to stop all nine officers from seeing someone slip out of the library, go down a floor, kill Madame Kim, and then return to the library without being seen. ”
“It also explains why he skulked around the second floor first,” Balogun put in. “Most of the officers on the second floor reported spotting Layton wandering around exploring the mansion.”
“Why the fuck would he need to explore?” Micah snapped. “He’d been there a thousand times before.”
Balogun tapped her nose. “But they didn’t know that. They just saw a curious looky-loo. They didn’t realize he was scoping out their positions, and confirming no one would see him go up to the third floor... and then sneak back down.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, head falling into my hands.
“I should’ve seen that. That shitbucket told me to my face that he hid out in the library all night because he hated the party.
He didn’t want to be there. It didn’t occur to me that he could’ve just gone home if he was having such a horrible time,” I said.
“Why would he spend all night in our library? Unless he had another reason for being there.”
“That’s the question we also asked ourselves,” Kaplan confirmed. “Nothing about his movements or his actions that night made any sense... unless he had an ulterior motive.”
“So he killed Mrs. Prado, Omma, and framed Courtney all to protect his secret,” Rhodes finished. “What a fucking monster.”
“And it was that monster your family would’ve been left alone with after Agassi left,” Balogun said.
“Agassi’s job was over. He no longer had a reason to live in your manor, and he no longer had the means to supply Layton with pills.
That man would’ve continued to have access to your home, and your child, with you all none the wiser. So, to right his wrongs in his eyes—”
“He killed Layton.” I sighed, rubbing my aching temples. “He knew what time he’d come for Lily’s piano lesson. He knew he could intercept him with a knife in the back before I even opened the door.”
“Yes.”
“And then wracked with guilt over everything he’d done, and all the lives—innocent and guilty—that had been taken,” I said, “Reynard killed himself.”
Balogun met my eyes. “Yes.”
Micah, Rhodes, and I met each other’s eyes.
“I guess...” Micah sighed. “Maybe it says something for Reynard that his last act was to protect our family—protect Lily.”
“It would’ve said more if he reported to Lantana Day that there was a pedophile teaching at their school,” Kaplan said.
“It would’ve said more if he hadn’t stolen from an old, sick woman and gotten himself into the position of being blackmailed.
It would’ve said more if he’d come straight to the police after Mrs. Prado’s murder.
If he had done those things, nothing that followed would’ve happened. ”
“If you had listened to me, a couple of things wouldn’t have happened too,” I flung back.
“I asked you for a chart showing where all the officers were positioned. I told you that Courtney didn’t hurt anyone and was framed.
And I said that Mrs. Prado’s murderer had to be the same person who returned and killed my mother.
I told you all of these things but you dismissed me as a hysterical idiot and ignored me! ”
Stony faces looked back at me. Stony... and contrite.
“You’re right,” Balogun said, her grip on my hand firming.
“While it’s true we couldn’t share details of an investigation with you, or simply take your word on who’s innocent or guilty.
.. it’s also true that we should’ve spent more time listening to you, and less time dismissing you.
Two senseless deaths would’ve been prevented if we had. ”
Rhodes pointedly removed Balogun’s hand, and laced his fingers through mine instead. “What about Mrs. Finley? You said a lot of we believe and it’s possible,” Rhodes said. “If you don’t have proof it was Layton, how will you combat her false confession?”
Balogun straightened. “We didn’t need to combat it.
We simply explained to her that if she didn’t tell us the truth, she ran the risk of allowing a pedophile to die as an innocent victim—with people the world over crying over his memory and memorial.
We asked her if she truly wanted a man like that to be made a saint in death.
“She recanted immediately.” Balogun flicked to me.
“She admitted that she crashed your party hoping to get to either one of you—you or your mother—she didn’t care.
But you were surrounded by guards, Mrs. Kim, and Madame Kim’s room proved too difficult to find.
She never got near any one of you.” She gave me a stern look.
“That is until you walked right through her front door.”
“Not my smartest move,” I said simply.
“Quite.”
“There is one more thing,” Kaplan spoke up. “Mrs. Finley has asked to speak to you. She says there’s a matter you both need to settle, and she asks that you do so as soon as possible.”
I stiffened. The matter of me not being Soo Min Kim. I was wondering why she hadn’t yet told the world I was an imposter. I guess now I know.
“Obviously, if you don’t wish to see her—”
“No, I’ll see her,” I cut in. “Actually, I think that’s a good idea. If we talk, I know we can settle things, and any remaining charges she has for assaulting me can finally be put to rest.”
Balogun shared raised brows with her partner. “Put to rest? Mrs. Kim, whatever else she may have lied about, she still came to your home with the intent to harm you and your mother. We don’t put to rest attempted murder.”
“She got nowhere near my mother or me that night,” I corrected. “And she only attacked me in her home that morning because I provoked her. I told her something she wasn’t ready to hear so soon after losing her only child.”
Kaplan opened his mouth. “Mrs. Kim—”
“All of this will be resolved with one conversation,” I said firmly.
“Mrs. Finley is giving me a chance to do that, and I will.” I gave them both a crazy look.
“Is this really what you want to do? Press charges against a depressed, middle-aged woman whose son was basically murdered by medical neglect? I’m pretty sure she’s been punished enough. ”
Kaplan threw up his hands, frustrated with me. “Fine. You’re the victim. If you intend to stand in the way of these charges, it’ll only make the case that much harder to prosecute, but are you certain?”
“I’m cert—”
Lily’s door opened. Rhodes, Micah, and I were up and across the room before Mrs. Zeller stepped a foot out the door.
“Goodbye, Lily, it was very nice to meet you.”
Our sweet girl waved heartily, smiling her wide, missing-tooth grin. “Nice to meet you.”
I dropped down in front of Lily, making her giggle when I pulled her in for a tight hug. Peering over her shoulder at Alex, he met our eyes... and shook his head.
“Oh, thank goodness,” I cried, peppering her face with kisses. I didn’t notice I was crying until my own tears coated my mouth.
“What’s wrong, Mommy?” Lily hugged me tight—trying to comfort me like the precious girl she was.
“Nothing’s wrong, baby,” I hiccupped. “I just love you so much.”
“I love you too.” Twisting around, she pecked my cheek, then patted my forehead. “There, there. Everything’s going to be okay.”
I swear my heart burst into confetti.
Micah squeezed in and threw his arms around her. Then, Rhodes was at my back—pressing his warmth and solidity against me as he rested his forehead against Lily’s, and right behind him was Alex, throwing his arms around us all.
A very confused Lily became the jelly center of our donut, but we couldn’t let her go.
I couldn’t let her go.
Courtney was right about one thing. These men and this little girl were my family, and for once, family was going to be the thing I clung on to, not the boogeyman I ran away from.