Chapter 24
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Doreen continued. “As far as I’m concerned, Detective Sherwood, you shouldn’t be speaking to anybody about this case at all,” she reiterated as she crossed her arms.
“It doesn’t matter what you think,” Daniel spat in a hard tone.
“You’re the one who was at Nancy’s apartment just minutes before we were, and she’s now in the hospital from an overdose. The question is whether you had anything to do with her getting those drugs.”
“What?” he asked in astonishment.
“Think about it, Detective. You were there. You knocked at her door. Yet, when I knocked on her door, it swung open. Did you finally find out that she was connected to the two deaths at Mathew’s home or that her name was on Mathew’s short list of former employees?
How did you find her connection amid whatever your investigation included?
Plus, you knew her. You just told us all yourself that you went there to talk to her privately. ”
“Yeah, I did. I wanted to make sure she knew what was happening.”
Detective Davis looked shocked. “Jesus, Daniel, that’s complete BS.”
“I knew she didn’t have anything to do with it,” he muttered. “I mean, she’s told me all about how bad he was to her.”
“How bad who was?” Davis asked Daniel.
“How bad her husband was,” he clarified, pointed at Doreen as if she were the reason for everything wrong in his life.
Doreen snorted. “I see. So you’ve been harassing me because of something my husband did, long after he kicked me out of the home?
” She watched as Davis took notes. So did Daniel.
Doreen asked Daniel, “What did my husband do to Nancy?” she asked, staring him down.
“Not to mention this contradicts what you just said about not knowing if Nancy knew Mathew.”
Mack reached out a gentle hand in warning but still a warning.
She refused to look away from Daniel and took a deep breath.
“Let’s get one thing straight, Detective.
I have absolutely no problem seeing my late husband for the man he was.
He was not a nice person, and he hurt a lot of people.
He handled his business like the hard character he was, but I am unaware of anything he did to Nancy, so enlighten me. ”
“She told me how she worked there for ten years, and he never even paid her the last of her wages.”
“I see,” she noted primly, raising one eyebrow, instantly knowing that wasn’t true. “And what is it that she did for Mathew?”
“She was all over the house, doing everything that he needed. After all, you weren’t there.” Then he stopped and frowned.
She smirked. “Yeah, you caught yourself in your own lie there, didn’t you, Daniel?
What do you mean, I wasn’t there? I was married to the man.
I lived in his house for many years—up until a little over one year ago.
Therefore, I can assure you, if Nancy had been working here for ten years and all over the house, as you say, I would have known her, and I do not.
After seeing her nearly dying earlier today, I can confirm that I’ve never seen her before either. ”
Daniel repeated, “She was working here.”
“Not when I was still living here, she was not,” Doreen declared. “She might have worked for him during the thirteen months or so after I was gone from his home, but that is definitely not the same thing as working for Mathew for ten years.”
Daniel didn’t like hearing that.
Doreen nodded. “So, the question really is, if you thought Mathew had promised her something, and she didn’t get it, did you do something to remedy the situation for her?”
He glared at her and spat, “I had nothing to do with anything happening here.”
“That’s not what I asked you. If you really truly thought that my late husband had missed paying wages to Nancy, and she had been suffering over something that Mathew had supposedly done, what might you have done to redress that oversight?”
He just flushed and glared at her.
“Please tell me that you didn’t,” Detective Davis began, standing beside Daniel now. “Please tell me that you didn’t do anything unlawful and get involved in this.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Daniel muttered, “at least nothing bad.”
Detective Davis groaned, and she glared at them both.
“Yeah, we need to define bad. Because Nancy wasn’t working for Mathew even one full year, much less ten years.
You can contact Mathew’s probate attorney, who has employment info documenting the exact months Nancy worked for and was paid in full for by Mathew.
Yet Nancy called Mathew’s probate attorney, asking if she was in his will.
The probate attorney confirmed to Nancy and later to us that she has nothing to do with Mathew’s estate, so Nancy’s making all that up.
And, if she made that up, what else did she make up?
What lies did she tell you, Daniel? I know that some locks had to be changed at Mathew’s home as soon as he fired her, and we have that from the probate attorney, who was also Mathew’s estate planner, as confirmed by my personal lawyer as well,” she shared as she pointed at Nick.
“So, Nancy may have given you a completely fabricated story, Daniel.”
He stared at her, then at Nick, back to Mack. “That’s not fair. Nancy can’t defend herself.”
“Oh, I’m looking forward to talking to her,” Doreen stated, “because I highly suspect that she’s taken a whole bunch of people for a ride.
The question is, what did you do in the name of love?
” she asked Daniel, trying hard to keep her voice in control.
All she really wanted to do was rail at him and let Mugs have a go at him.
As if reading her thoughts, he looked around to see where Mugs was, and found him lurking just a few steps behind Daniel.
Daniel took a few deep breaths, his shoulders slumping now. “Are you sure she didn’t work here all that time?” he whispered.
Nick interjected, “Yes, we’re sure. She was here for a few months at most, and then she was fired. She inserted herself in things well beyond her assigned duties. Apparently she was also a bit too forward or familiar with Mathew, to the point of pissing off Robin, who was—”
“My replacement,” Doreen cut in.
“Right,” Daniel muttered, staring off in the distance. “Look. I didn’t do anything.”
“Did she tell you where the money was in the house?” Doreen asked, her tone pensive. “Did she tell you about any of that?” When he glared at her, she nodded. “Oh, I’m fully aware of what’s here. Mathew’s home was my home too for many long years.”
“Yes, but he got rid of you.”
She stared at him and nodded. “Yes, he did, and that’s the kind of man he was, but that doesn’t change the fact that everything in this house is now mine, per Mathew’s Last Will and Testament, already court-approved and legally transferred solely into my name.
So your girlfriend, or your wannabe girlfriend, has a reason for being in the hospital. ”
“Nancy didn’t do anything,” he yelled, glaring at her, then groaned. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I need to talk to her.”
“We all need to talk to her,” Detective Davis corrected, “not you, Daniel. You stay away from her, or I will arrest you for interfering with an official police investigation, with Detective Clark already designated as the new lead detective on these cases, along with me reporting directly to Captain Hawkins as needed. Do you understand me, Detective Sherwood?”
Daniel gave a short clip of his head and lowered his head.
Nick and Mack both nodded. “That would be appreciated, considering we have had threats to this property, threats to ourselves, and two murdered men found on the premises.”
“I had nothing to do with that,” Daniel protested.
Doreen snapped, “That’s a good thing. You might keep your badge at the end of all this, but I really wouldn’t count on it.”
He glared at her. “I didn’t do anything.”
“That’s not what I’m hearing though,” she replied, still staring him down. “You’re trying to defend your position, but you aren’t being very successful at it.”
“It’s got nothing to do with you,” he snapped.
She looked at him and snorted. “And I get that you want us to believe that. I really do. But the reality is, you have crossed a line. You’ve been harassing me from day one regarding the Pete Singer death, and it continues to this day.
The question is, where did you cross that line?
So I don’t know what the results of all this will be for you. ”
“Nothing,” he muttered, “because I didn’t do anything.”
“I can agree that you didn’t do anything constructive as far as your investigation.
” She stared at him for a long minute, turned to Detective Davis, and added, “I don’t particularly believe him at all, but there are still things I need to know.
” With that, she focused on Daniel. “You did search Mathew’s house for cash and cash bonds that Nancy told you were here, didn’t you? ”
He flushed at that.
She nodded. “I’ll take that as a yes. That would make more sense because you had access to the house.”
“But I would need a key to gain access,” he pointed out.
“Not when you first appeared as the detective on the case, coming here alone to investigate the first murder. Even before the second murder, we were already questioning your ethics, escorting you around the property at that time, meanwhile communicating with your Captain Hawkins, unbeknownst to you. Whether you were supposed to be on that initial investigative team to begin with remains to be seen. Captain Hawkins already removed you from all investigations regarding this property, due to your obvious harassment of me and your blind loyalty to Nancy.”
“There’s no reason I shouldn’t be on the team.”