Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
PI MELVIN Lipman called Penelope on the phone this time. He had hot information. But Penelope insisted they talk in person. She insisted he bring a complete report.
“I have a signed statement from a solid witness,” he said, handing the folder over. The excitement was in her eyes, but she didn’t open the folder. She led them to two chairs by the window and sat with exaggerated decorum.
“Tell me about it, Mr. Lipman. Briefly.” There was only the hint of a smile on her lips.
“It seems that Roxanne and Don had a very public argument at a party a couple of months before Don’s death.
There were dozens of witnesses. Two of them were particularly cooperative and vocal.
It seems Ms. Monet had been flirting and Don caught her in a clinch.
He tried to drag her home, but she wouldn’t budge and had some words to say, apparently not caring who heard them.
Don yelled back. They both made various threats.
She promised divorce and he promised death.
Pretty dramatic stuff. Had the whole party in a tizzy.
Of course their separation followed shortly thereafter.
” Melvin noticed Penelope turn pink and then white during his summation of events.
He also noted the beads of sweat on her upper lip.
“A motive could be established. Not greed, but something more powerful. We could make a strong case that she had another love interest and wanted out of the marriage. It was obvious he wasn’t going to cooperate with a divorce.
At the very least we could propose a possible scenario—an argument with an ensuing fight where she pushed him off the deck.
” He paused and thought about whether he should voice the possibility that Roxanne had pushed him in self-defense, but decided in the interest of retaining his job he’d keep that to himself. “Second degree murder.”
“I spoke with the coroner. Accidental death was never established strongly enough to stand up at an inquest. We can convince him to reevaluate,” Penelope said.
“In the meantime, you work on loosening her ironclad alibi. Then we’ll go to the police again.
They’ll re-open the case for further investigation into a possible murder. ”
“Sorry about the house.” Melvin said. She winced. Melvin knew she’d never get the house.
“That was only a minor setback. The real victory will be seeing her thrown in jail.”
“Still it’s a valuable property.”
“You’ll find that I don’t dwell long on defeat.” She stood and dismissed him.
But Melvin couldn’t help the feeling that there was more here than she was telling him about. Things didn’t add up. The death might not be accidental, but he doubted the woman murdered her husband. It seemed unlikely from a physics perspective alone.
But then if Penelope Boswell didn’t care about the truth, why should he? Still, it was hard to quell his natural curiosity about what really happened. He shrugged. Occupational hazard. He always wanted to know the real answer.
***
Roxanne strolled into his office with a carefree smile on her face. Her special fund-raising campaign had finally got off the ground.
“Finally,” Al said.
“Let me enjoy the reprieve, Al. things are looking up today. So what’s the business we needed to talk about?”
“Sit. You remember I filed for a dismissal of Penelope’s suit trying to claim the house was part of her estate? Well we got the dismissal. The only problem is her lawyers filed another lawsuit.”
“What? What kind of lawsuit?” She had a bad feeling about this judging from the grim look on Al’s face. She sat back in her chair and felt the muscles in her shoulders tensing.
“She filed a wrongful death claim against you. She’s suing you in civil court for Don’s death. The media already has the story.”
She opened her mouth, but no words came out. All the oxygen escaped instead and she felt lightheaded.
“Don’t worry about the suit—no judge is going to take this seriously.
I’m having another motion to dismiss put together as we speak.
But the press is going to have a field day.
I’m sorry. It would be impossible to put your house on the market right now.
When the suit is dismissed and the story blows over… ”
“How long?” she croaked the words. But before Al could answer, her cell phone rang with Laura’s tone. She answered it.
“Are you sitting down, Rox? I just found out both Brian Dennis and Paul Paris are going to appear at the Children’s Mercy Hospital Christmas party.
Hank Sillman invited them. Since we decided to let them air the party as a TV special, they’ve taken control.
Hank wants them for the ratings. I’m afraid if I tell him they are arch enemies, he’ll just play that angle up to ratchet up the ratings more. ” Laura stopped talking.
Roxanne’s insides clenched at the thought of the two of them in the same room. She rubbed the back of her neck that felt like it was made of steel cable. Or maybe it was the albatross of the house that felt like it was tied around her neck like a noose that made her neck feel so tense.
“Roxanne are you there?” Laura said into the phone.
Al gave her a questioning look.
“I have to go. We’ll deal with it.” Somehow. She looked at Al. “Soldier on. Keep writing those motions.” She thought of Penelope. “I’m not folding.” She stood.
“Some day Penelope will stop trying to get the house and stop lobbying for a murder investigation, then things would be normal again,” she said.
Almost. The battered and bloody image of Donald’s dead body would never be erased from her memory.
But it might be easier for her to figure out how to move past her bad marriage and Don’s death if she weren’t worried about going to jail for murder.
“I’m glad you’re taking it so well. I was worried…” Al said.
“I need to go now.”
“You’ll need to sign some papers first. I have an appointment coming up, with Brian Dennis as a matter of fact. He said you’d mentioned me as a good lawyer. Thanks. He should be here any minute,” Al said.
After her initial surprise, Roxanne decided this was a good thing. “That’s great. I need to see Brian. What does he need a lawyer for?”
“Paul Paris’s lawyers filed suit yesterday to try and secure custody of his daughter Lindy. Didn’t you see it in the papers?”
“Damn. I didn’t see it. I quit reading the paper like most people,” she admitted as she took the copy of the morning Globe that Al pushed toward her.
She read the headline aloud. “Baseball Player Challenges Hoop Star—In Custody Battle.” She could hardly bring herself to read beyond that point, but she did.
Skimming the lines, she felt disgust well up until she felt like ripping the paper to shreds.
“How is it possible for people to get away with printing stuff like this? Do they ever think of the children involved? I’m going to have to call the hospital and make sure Lindy doesn’t see this, and more importantly that no one mentions it to her.”
“It’s a juicy story, Rox. You’re not going to stop people from talking about it.”
“Then I’ll have to make sure Lindy gets my version of the story to arm herself with.”
“Your version? Are you in this fight too? Tell me, whose side are you on? Need I guess?”
“I’m not fighting. And that’s what I have to make Lindy understand—that this is not a fight. It’s a misunderstanding about a difficult situation. And that both her fathers love her very much.”
“I think you’ll have to convince Brian and Paul of that story first.” He gave a derisive chuckle. “You want to know my opinion? I think she’s Paul’s kid. Has been all along and should continue to be.”
That brought a real frown to Roxanne’s face as she tossed the newspaper onto his desk. She pushed the spurt of anger back. “Where are those papers I have to sign?”
“You don’t want to debate the issue with me?” He gave her a smile of mock disappointment.
“You don’t want to debate the issue with me. You wouldn’t represent Brian if that’s what you really thought. It’s just your jealousy talking.” That should end the subject for discussion, although her anger still lingered.
Al went quiet and she saw his neck go pink as he withdrew some papers from a folder placed in the center of his neat desk. “Here you go. Sign all the tagged pages.” He gestured for her to take his seat behind the desk for the procedure.
She did not like Al’s attitude. At least he didn’t dispute that he wouldn’t represent Brian if he really thought he didn’t deserve custody. She’d worry about that later. She went around the desk, sat and signed.
“You never said how long this could all take—how long I might be stuck with the house?” She finished signing and looked at him, feeling her chest tighten.
“Could be up to a year with the way the courts are. But a year will go by in a snap.”
She thought about where she was a year ago. A lot had happened, but she realized, in spite of all her current problems, she was better off being where she was today. On her own. Except for Don’s death. If only he hadn’t been so crazy, he’d be alive today.
Roxanne couldn’t suppress the knowledge that she would be saying “if only” about Don for the rest of her life.
The door opened. Brian walked in.
“Did someone invite you to this party?” Brian looked at her with a lopsided frown.
It was a much less enthusiastic greeting than she’d hoped for.
In spite of them both, or to spite them both, she walked up to Brian, and taking his face in her hands, she planted a full kiss on his lips.
She heard Al suck in a breath while she felt Brian’s hesitation.
She stepped back. “Good luck,” she said, and meant it.
She knew whose side she was on and now both these men knew.
“I was just leaving.” She grabbed her bag and walked past him, but he grabbed her arm.