Chapter Twelve
Ethan wished he could ask Livvy to sit out this interview. She was no doubt still rattled after giving the details for that sketch. Heck, rattled as well because of the gunfire they’d gotten caught up in at New Hope only a few hours ago.
But there was no way Livvy would miss the chance to question one of their key suspects, and Franklin had zoomed to the top of that suspect list by asking Sienna to lie for him.
Ethan thought of the mess he’d seen in Chloe’s office.
Had the brother and sister gotten into an argument there, one that had turned violent after Chloe had followed Franklin into his office?
Maybe. But it was also possible that Franklin had had no part in it and that he had another reason for wanting Sienna to lie for him.
Ethan hoped they would have answers about that soon.
Grace, Livvy and he stepped into the interview room, and Ethan immediately spotted Franklin having a whispered conversation with a brunette woman in a navy business suit.
She was probably only in her early thirties, but she had a no-nonsense, seasoned expression that Ethan had often seen in veteran attorneys.
“My client is grieving the death of his sister,” the lawyer was quick to say. “He’s in shock. I want you to make this fast so he can go home and start making arrangements for her funeral.”
“Things would have gone a lot quicker if we hadn’t had to wait for you to show up,” Grace fired back. “And as for a funeral, that won’t be happening any time soon, so you have plenty of time to plan it. This is a murder investigation, and it can take weeks for the body to be released.”
That clearly didn’t please the lawyer, but Franklin didn’t react. Ethan noted that he didn’t appear to be in shock either.
Grace ignored the woman’s steely look and turned on the recorder. “Sheriff Grace Granger, Deputy Livvy Walsh and Deputy Ethan Oakley in an interview with Dr. Franklin Voss and his attorney. Could you please state your name?” she added, glancing at the brunette.
“Helene Barrett,” she provided, and she rattled off the name of her impressive-sounding law firm.
Grace added the date and time for the sake of the recording, and then the three of them sat across the table from Franklin and his lawyer.
Ethan instantly caught a whiff of something coming off Franklin and recognized it as the soap in the bathroom just up the hall.
It was so strong that it was almost as if Franklin had bathed in the darn stuff.
Or tried to wash away gunshot residue.
Even though Grace was obviously ready to start, Ethan jotted down a note about the soap and jacket, and he passed it to Grace. She nodded when she read it and then pinned her attention to Franklin.
“Dr. Voss, did you happen to scrub your hands in the bathroom?” she asked.
Franklin looked puzzled. Or rather pretended he was anyway. “I’m a doctor. I make a habit of thoroughly washing my hands.”
The lawyer huffed. “Why are you asking that? What does it have to do with why we’re here?”
“It could have everything to do with why we’re here,” Grace admitted, not looking at Helene but rather Franklin. “What about your jacket? Where is it?”
Franklin sat up straighter in the chair. “At New Hope. I took it off before your deputy put me in a cruiser and brought me here.”
The lawyer’s next huff was even louder, and she added an eye roll to it. But Grace ignored it. “Tell us where you put the jacket because it’ll need to be examined,” she remarked. “It’s standard procedure.”
“It is only if you think my client is a killer,” the lawyer piped in with that irritating tone that made Ethan want to curse. “He’s not. He’s a distinguished physician with a stellar reputation.”
“One who was on scene at his sister’s murder,” Ethan reminded her. “Clothing can pick up fibers and trace evidence. The jacket could help ID Chloe’s killer. And we all want that, don’t we?”
There. Ethan had thrown the ball into their court. If Franklin refused to cooperate now, it would show he wasn’t willing to do everything possible to get justice for Chloe.
Franklin didn’t say anything for several seconds, but finally muttered “Yes, we do all want that” through clenched teeth. “That jacket is somewhere in the parlor, I think. I tossed it there on my way out, and that means it’s probably contaminated as far as collecting potential evidence from it.”
That was true, and Ethan had to wonder if the contamination had been intentional on Franklin’s part. Or he could just be reading the doctor wrong. Maybe Franklin hadn’t actually had any part in killing his sister but rather just wasn’t that torn up about her being dead.
“Still, even if someone else has touched the jacket, the CSIs will locate it and examine it,” Grace assured Franklin, and she fired off a text, no doubt to get that process started. “Now, tell us where you were when the shots were fired,” she continued once she’d finished with the message.
Franklin looked annoyed with the request. “Like I already told your two deputies, Chloe and I were supposed to have a video appointment with a client in my office at nine thirty. I was headed there and ran into Sienna when the shots started.” He looked at Ethan and Livvy. “You saw us.”
“Were you with Sienna the whole time shots were going off?” Livvy jumped in to ask.
For a moment Franklin got a deer-in-the-headlights look, and he studied the three of them, maybe trying to see if they knew about him telling Sienna to lie for him.
With his jaw tightening even more, Franklin leaned in closer to his lawyer, cupping his hands around his mouth, and they had a brief whispered conversation.
When they were done, it was the lawyer who answered.
“My client was with Sienna for part of the time,” Helene stated.
“Part,” Grace repeated, sounding all cop. “Had the shots actually stopped by the time you joined Sienna on the stairs?”
That prompted another muffled conversation between Franklin and his lawyer. While they chatted, Grace took out her phone again. “I’m sure I have Sienna’s statement here to check to see what she has to say about that. You know, to make sure it meshes with what you’re about to say.”
If looks could have killed, both Helene and Franklin would have ended all three of them then and there.
“My client doesn’t know if the shots had stopped when he joined Sienna on the stairs.
He was in shock, terrified for his life and his client’s.
By then, he’d put his hands over his ears to block out the horrific sounds. ”
Ethan raised an eyebrow and stared at Franklin and her. He made sure they saw that he knew that was a lie.
“You know, telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is a big deal in interview,” Ethan reminded him.
“Facts and honesty will help us find the killer. And the sooner we do that, the sooner the media will back off covering the story. It can’t be good for business to have headlines like Murder at New Hope splashed all around. ”
“My client is telling the truth,” Helene snapped.
Ethan shrugged and shifted his gaze to Franklin. “Give us your movements for the morning, prior to the shooting,” he insisted.
Franklin didn’t seem relieved by the slight shift in questioning. “I got up at six as I always do, worked out on the treadmill and had breakfast. Then, at about seven thirty, I got ready for work and went downstairs to my office.”
“Did you see Chloe?” Livvy asked.
“Yes. She was going into her office with the woman I told you about. The one with salt-and-pepper hair.”
“Where exactly were you when you heard the first shot?” Ethan wanted to know.
That brought another of those blasted whispered conversations with his lawyer before Franklin answered.
“On the third floor. I’d gone up to check and see if the new client quarters were ready.
We’ve had some issues with our housekeeping services.
When I heard the shot, I was already on my way downstairs for my meeting, and that’s when I saw Sienna. ”
Considering there were two other sets of stairs in the house, Franklin could have fired those shots and then created an alibi of sorts for himself by joining Sienna. Of course, there was no evidence to back that up.
Not yet anyway.
“Do you know who ransacked your sister’s office?” Grace continued.
He gave a quick shake of his head, followed by a lift of his shoulder. “Maybe that woman who visited her this morning. Is she the one who killed Chloe?” he asked, as if the idea had just occurred to him.
Grace used her phone to pull up Vernice’s picture. “Was it this woman?” she asked.
“Yes, that’s her all right. Did she kill my sister?” he pressed.
“We’re looking into that along with some other persons of interest,” Grace assured him. “Had you seen her before?”
Franklin’s forehead bunched up while he gave that some thought. “Yes. I recall her coming to New Hope on at least one other occasion. I assumed she was a friend of Chloe’s.”
“Or she could have killed her,” the lawyer piped in. “I hope you’re grilling her the way you are my client.”
Grace made a sound that could have meant anything. “Dr. Voss, could you please tell me about the house where Zadie’s body was found?” she said, obviously switching things up again.
“The house?” he questioned, clearly surprised. “I don’t know what you mean. I don’t know anything about it.”
“That’s odd.” Grace pulled up something on her phone. “Because New Hope once owned it.”
The lawyer and Franklin exchanged a glance. “I wasn’t aware of that,” he said just as Helene snarled, “What does this have to do with the shooting today?”
Grace gave her a flat look. “You really have to ask?” And she didn’t wait for the lawyer to respond.
“Two women, both connected to New Hope, have been murdered. A third, Sunny Covington, was attacked, and someone attempted to murder her. Everything regarding New Hope needs to be scrutinized. Including the property where Zadie’s body was found. ”
“Zadie,” Franklin murmured, and he squeezed his eyes shut a moment. For the first time since the interview started, the man showed what Ethan thought might be actual grief. “Such a loss. But you have her killer, right? It’s the same man who tried to attack Sunny at the hospital?”
Grace made another of those sounds that gave away nothing of what she was actually thinking. “Did you know Hank Stover, the man who tried to kill Sunny?”
“No,” Franklin replied without hesitation.
“Strange,” she commented. “His sister used to work for you, and he visited New Hope.”
He sighed. “We’ve had a lot of employees and visitors over the years, and I don’t recall ever seeing that man.” He paused a moment. “How is Sunny?” he asked. “When will I be able to visit her?”
“We’re restricting visitors for the time being,” Grace said, obviously not addressing the doctor’s first question.
Franklin’s mouth went into a tight line, his lips pinching together for several moments. “Sunny will want to see me,” he insisted.
Grace ignored that, too, and checked something else on her phone. “Dr. Voss, there’s a rumor that you’ve fathered some of the babies born via surrogates at New Hope.”
“What?” Franklin howled.
His lawyer gave his arm a quick squeeze. Clearly a signal for him to hush. Franklin did, but Helene sure didn’t.
“That is just a rumor, nothing more, and has nothing to do with his sister’s death,” she insisted.
“It could,” Livvy supplied. “Someone ransacked Chloe’s office, maybe looking for something incriminating. That could have included allegations about the paternity of some of the babies conceived at New Hope.”
“And you’re on a fishing expedition,” Helene spat out, and her voice was ice cold. Ditto for the glare she shot Livvy.
Livvy made an odd sound, and Ethan glanced at her. Something was wrong. She had gone pale. Hell. What had happened? Was something wrong with the baby? Maybe she was in pain. Ethan reached out his hand to her, but Livvy shook her head.
Obviously, Grace didn’t notice, though, because she pulled up something else on her phone. “Take a look at this,” she said, showing it to Franklin. It was the sketch Nova had created. “Does she look familiar?”
Something went through Franklin’s eyes. Not the fury he’d been tossing at them. But some emotion that Ethan couldn’t quite put his finger on. He wanted to know what, but more than that, he needed to know if Livvy was okay.
“Uh, I need a moment with my lawyer,” Franklin said. “Could you give us some privacy?”
“Interview paused,” Grace replied for the sake of the recording.
She switched off the recorder, and Ethan walked out behind Livvy and Grace. The moment the door was shut, he stepped in front of Livvy.
“What happened in there? What’s wrong?” Ethan demanded. “Is it the baby?”
Grace looked at Livvy, too, and she muttered some profanity under her breath. “Are you all right?” she blurted, obviously seeing how little color there was in Livvy’s face.
“It’s not the baby,” Livvy assured them, and she swallowed hard. “When Franklin was talking, something flashed in my mind. Nothing having to do with the investigation or the nightmare,” she added. “I think it was an actual memory.”
That got Ethan’s attention. Grace’s, too. “Of what?” Grace asked.
“From when I was a child.” Livvy’s voice was trembling now, and Ethan slid his arm around her. “I was at New Hope. I was on those stairs where we saw Franklin and Sienna.”
Ethan had heard her go over every single detail of the nightmare and her childhood, but he’d never once heard her mention anything about being at New Hope. Or recognizing those stairs.
“I wasn’t alone,” Livvy continued after pulling in a long breath. “There was someone with me.” She lifted her head, her gaze locking with Ethan’s. “The woman from the sketch. The dead woman who I saw in the bathtub.” Her voice broke. “God, Ethan. I think I stabbed her.”