Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
The Washington Hospital had built multiple additions over its long history.
In the course of the various add-ons, a courtyard of sorts had been created.
The outdoor space surrounded on all four sides by brick exterior walls now served as a garden with paths and benches where patients could sit with visitors, or employees could escape the stress of their jobs for a few minutes.
Emma was glad to find the space deserted when she, Eric, and Nell pushed through the glass doors.
Nell eased onto a bench under a shade tree and set her crutches to one side.
Emma joined her and set Nell’s “clear liquids diet” dinner between them, along with a can of ginger ale and some saltines Emma had purchased from the gift shop.
The crackers may have been a cheat to her sister’s food restrictions, but a minor one, Emma figured.
Eric remained standing. He and Emma had decided to ignore their rumbling stomachs rather than chowing down on real food in front of Nell.
“Okay,” Emma said to him. “Out with it. What do you know about Sonny and Tina? And Fran?”
Eric gingerly ran a hand over his broken and wrapped ribs. “Like I said, I’ve only heard rumors.”
Emma glowered at him.
“All right, as long as you understand this is all hearsay.”
“We’re not in a court of law.”
Eric lowered his hand. “It’s been pretty well accepted that Sonny had three passions in life. Making money, whether aboveboard or not, getting drunk out of his skull, and seducing women. The first two are well documented, so I have no doubt the third is also true.”
“Fran?” Emma asked.
“Apparently he’d been seen somewhere with Fran Goodwin on his arm a few years ago.
I heard one rumor that he was contemplating leaving Ashley, but nothing came of it.
I’m not sure which of them broke it off, but then Fran was dating somebody else, and Sonny was back to being a family man. For a while.”
“How many affairs did he have?”
“I wouldn’t know. As I said, rumors. People who ran with him liked to make snide remarks. Like, ‘I wonder who Sonny’s sleeping with this week?’”
“What about Tina?”
Eric kept his gaze on Nell, who’d managed to open the cellophane package and was nibbling on a saltine.
After a few moments, he said, “I had opportunities to see the two of them together a few times. Months ago, we had a business meeting, and Tina was all smiles, hanging on Sonny’s every word.
I could tell from the way she looked at him that she was, at the very least, infatuated. ”
“What about Sonny?”
“He was a flirt and a charmer, but he wasn’t in love with her. You ask me, the only person he was ever in love with was himself.”
Emma thought back to high school, when Sonny had been the star football player and Ashley the gorgeous head cheerleader.
Emma had always seen them as the perfect couple; madly in love.
Was she remembering it wrong? Or was she mistaking love with teenage lust?
Likely, considering she’d been a teen at the time, too. “I wonder if Ashley knew.”
“That I don’t know.” Eric shook his head. “But I imagine she must have. Everyone else around town seemed to be aware. She had to at least suspect.”
“Poor Ashley,” Nell mused as she picked up the can of ginger ale and thumbed the tab.
“Yeah,” Emma agreed. No wonder Ashley was on drugs. A drunk and philandering husband, leaving her to care for their daughter… Another thought struck Emma. The engraved ring that Fran had been so desperate to keep. “I wonder if Sonny was in the habit of giving expensive gifts to his lady friends.”
Eric appeared puzzled by her question.
“Maybe Sonny really did give Fran that ring.”
Eric’s eyes widened. “He promised to leave Tina the entire company.”
“Then changed his mind.”
“And left it to Patrick Winslow instead.” Eric’s lips parted in a devious grin. “Sounds to me like Tina had motive to kill both of them.”
“Killing Winslow wouldn’t get her the company back,” Emma said. “At least I don’t think so. Matthias needs to ask what happens to North Star now.”
“Her motive might be much simpler than that,” Eric said.
Nell raised a hand to interrupt. “I know where you’re going. Spite. Tina was royally pissed at both of them. Hell hath no fury—”
Eric finished the sentence. “Like a woman scorned.”
Emma thought about it. Tina Neidermeyer had ties to both victims. Was angry with both victims. Emma stood and reached for her phone. “I need to call Matthias.”
* * *
Matthias returned to the table after taking Emma’s call and found their meals had been delivered. Both of the troopers were devouring their meals.
After sitting and unwrapping his silverware, Matthias asked, “With Winslow dead, who stands to gain control of North Star Developing?”
“We don’t know yet,” Lukan said around his fish sandwich.
Fergusson swallowed and wiped his mouth. “We’re meeting with the attorney tomorrow morning. You still think this is about the money?”
Matthias shrugged. “Love and money. The two big motives for murder.”
“Did your girlfriend have information we should know about?” Fergusson gestured between himself and Lukan.
“Not anything that would help in a court of law. But…” Matthias shared what Emma had told him about Fran’s and Tina Neidermeyer’s alleged romantic relationships with Jones.
Lukan held his sandwich without taking another bite. “Love and money,” he echoed. “Neidermeyer might be motivated by both.”
“It would be especially intriguing if we find out the business reverts to her in the event of Winslow’s death,” Fergusson mused.
“It makes more sense than the Goodwin woman all of a sudden becoming vindictive, if, as you say, her relationship with Jones ended years ago.”
“I agree,” Lukan said.
“So do I.” Matthias settled the napkin on his lap. “I’ve had Jones’s murder pegged as a crime of passion. Not premeditated. Not with a shard of glass being the murder weapon.”
Both troopers nodded their heads while chewing.
“Jones’s death was a result of momentary rage.” Matthias picked up his Reuben. “I can definitely see Neidermeyer going ballistic. Fran? Not so much.”
A slow smirk spread across Fergusson’s face. He swallowed. “Then again,” he said, “you have a history of being a poor judge about how violent a seemingly meek woman might become.”
* * *
Matthias had been quiet since he returned from his meeting with the state troopers. Emma recognized his simmering anger and knew it wasn’t directed at her. She also knew to give him time rather than pry. He would tell her what was irritating him when he was good and ready.
After leaving Nell in her room under Eric’s watchful eye, Emma and Matthias returned to the hotel. He’d brought her takeout from the Pub on Main, which she dived into while he plopped onto the bed with the TV remote and began scrolling. While eating the monster salad, Emma opened her laptop.
After a couple of minutes, he muttered, “How can there be so many stations and nothing but crap on any of them?”
“That’s one reason I don’t own a television.”
“Another being you don’t have space for one.”
She caught him grinning at her in the mirror’s reflection. “This is true.” She swiveled to face him and decided to venture a few questions. “Is Fergusson going to look into Tina as a suspect?”
“Right now, they’re looking into both Tina and Fran.”
“Looks like Eric and Nell have fallen off their suspect list.”
“It does.” Matthias clicked off the TV and tossed the remote onto the bed. “So we have no real reason to stick around.”
“Except for Nell being in the hospital.”
“Are they still planning to discharge her tomorrow?”
“Provided she does well in PT.”
“Then what? Is she moving back into Eric’s guest room?”
“For one night.” Emma, Eric, and Nell had discussed this topic after Emma’s phone call to Matthias. Then they’d tracked down the social worker, who’d succeeded in making arrangements. “Friday morning, she checks in to rehab.”
“Good,” he said, his tone genuinely pleased.
“Yeah.” She was aware her tone was less so.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It is good. Nell’s much better today than she was only two days ago. I don’t see any sign of her faking it.”
“But?”
“But what then? For now, she’ll be an in-patient at the facility. Afterward, she’ll be transitioned to a group home. At some point, though, she’ll be out on her own. That scares the hell out of me.”
He remained silent for several long moments. When he finally spoke, he softly said, “You’ll be there for her.”
“Yes, I will.” Her answer left her hanging on a precipice. Yes, she would be there for Nell. But where was there?
From Matthias’s tense expression, he was wondering the same thing, but he didn’t ask.
* * *
The next morning, Emma perched on the edge of the bed, tying the laces on her boots, when Matthias’s phone buzzed. He moved to the nightstand, unplugged the device, and picked it up. “It’s Fergusson.” He tapped the screen. “Honeywell.”
Emma listened to Matthias’s side of the conversation.
“Okay… Don’t suppose you know who that might be?
” His face was set in stone, giving nothing away.
Then his stoic cop mask slipped, registering surprise, before he set it back into place.
“I wouldn’t have guessed that, but it does shine a new light on things, doesn’t it?
” After a few more moments of listening, his gaze settled on her.
“I’ll have to ask. Hold on.” He muted his phone.
“What is it?” Emma asked.
“Fergusson met with Winslow’s attorney. While the business agreement was never updated to name a successor in the case of Winslow’s death, his estate in general all goes to his only living relative. Do you know who that is?”
“I have no idea. I’d never met him before Saturday at the construction site.” When Matthias didn’t say more, she prodded. “Who?”
“Winslow’s immediate family has all passed away. He lists one niece as his sole beneficiary.”
Emma waited impatiently.
“Her name,” Matthias said, “is Frances Goodwin.”