Death's Half Acre

“For services rendered?” Dwight asked.

Creedmore shrugged and again denied any knowledge.

“According to her phone records, Dee Bradshaw called you a little after eight.”

“Yeah.”

“What was that about?”

“To be honest with you, Bryant, I’m not real sure. She didn’t make a whole lot of sense. I couldn’t tell if she was drunk or just mad.”

“Mad about what?”

“Who knows? She accused me of using Candace and said she could prove it. Before I could ask her what the hell she was talking about, she said the doorbell was ringing and just hung up on me.”

Dwight did not find it needful to warn Creedmore that the SBI would soon be asking permission to subpoena his financial records. Triple C had poured all the concrete for the development where Candace lived and they had picked up hints that he had negotiated a lower price for her with the developer, who was a former board member.

One hand scratching the back of somebody who was scratching someone else’s. So what else was new? They’d have to wait for the Ginsburg twins to sort it all out. In the meantime, their own DA was trying to stay out of it.

“You bring me some solid evidence, and I’ll indict,” Doug Woodall told Bo when the sheriff caught him heading out to give a speech in Raleigh, “but this is a tricky time for me.”

“You saying we should lay off Danny Creedmore?”

“No, I’m saying I can’t afford to go on any fishing expeditions right now. You can understand that, right?”

“Right,” said Bo and tried to keep the distaste from his face.

“Don’t get so high and mighty with me, Bo Poole. You don’t know what it takes to run for statewide office. Yeah, you may think Creedmore’s crooked as a snake. Hell, I’m not all that crazy about him myself, but he’s got a lot of clout in this part of the state.”

“And how’d he get that clout, Doug?”

“At the moment, that’s not my concern. The reality is that here and now, he’s got it and he’s willing to swing some votes my way. We may not need the open endorsement of Republicans, but we sure as hell don’t need their active opposition. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go make a speech.”

“On law and order and the need for clean local government?” Bo asked sardonically.

“Fuck you and the mule you rode in on,” said the Colleton County district attorney.

Roger Flackman was not only a CPA, he was also on the board of commissioners. When asked to come to Dwight’s office, he initially resisted.

“Or we can come to your office,” Dwight said mildly. “My colleagues from the State Bureau of Investigation are looking into Mrs. Bradshaw’s financial dealings and they have some questions, too.”

At the thought of the gossip that could ensue from a visit by state agents and sheriff’s deputies, Flackman decided he could, after all, make time to come to Dwight’s office that afternoon. A thin man with large ears and a prominent Adam’s apple, he nervously smoothed his thick brown hair with his long bony fingers and straightened his tie and glasses upon his taking a seat across from the desk between them. He seemed rattled by their questions and twirled a white ballpoint pen around and around between his thumb, index, and middle fingers as they thanked him for coming in and questions got under way.

“Who paid you to audit the books at Bradshaw Management?”

“Mr. Bradshaw. It was purely a formality though. Part of their original divorce agreement.”

“Only they weren’t divorced,” Terry Wilson observed.

“True, true,” said Flackman, as that pen turned faster, “but he decided it would be to his advantage to keep the arrangement in place. It’s not at all unusual in these circumstances.”

“So he didn’t really suspect his wife of holding back on him?” asked Dwight.

“Not really. There may have been a little distrust in the beginning. I mean he did hire me, didn’t he? But they’ve actually been quite friendly these last few years.”

“The business was doing well?”

“Extremely well. All the growth in the county has given rise to new apartments to rent and new businesses that need cleaning, but the company was stagnating under Mr. Bradshaw’s leadership. Mrs. Bradshaw grew their business a good thirty percent after she took over. I’ve heard that you suspect her of wrongdoing, of using her position on the board to benefit herself, but I assure you, it was not the case.” The pen was almost a blur now as it spun around and under those long thin fingers. “She was a smart businesswoman and it was not unethical to avail herself of opportunities for more work when new businesses expressed a desire to locate here.”

“That how she could pay for her new house with cash?” asked Dwight.

“And buy a new car?” Terry Wilson added.

“I had no access to her private accounts,” Flackman said primly. “If she saved and invested prudently—”

He shrugged and let the suggestion die on its own. The pen slowed to a leisurely twirl and it did not quicken when Dwight said, “Dee Bradshaw told us she thought Candace was skimming from the company.”

“Certainly not. The company books balance out to the penny. Sorry, Bryant, Agent Wilson. If Candace Bradshaw had more money in her bank account than she could account for, it didn’t come out of the company. You can bring in your own auditors, if you want.”