Cleo. All Cleo gets is prenup money and that wouldn’t make a dent in what I need.”
“What about the proceeds from the key man insurance?”
Richard looked puzzled. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Max spoke softly. “Somehow I thought you might know. The firm took out insurance payable on Glen’s death. Cleo might be able to find what you need out of the two and a half million she’ll receive.”
Richard appeared stunned. “Two and a half million?”
Max saw Annie’s theory—Richard deciding to kill Glen both for his wife and the money she would receive— dissolve like a sand castle with the tide running in.
Richard swung around and left without another word.
Max wondered: Was Richard a shocked and bewildered man, or was he a very fine actor?
Chapter Thirteen
Annie pulled in to the curb in front of the Broward’s Rock police station. She scanned the street for Kit’s VW. As she climbed the front steps, she checked the parking lot to the north. No little black car. She opened the front door and stepped into the narrow space in front of the counter.
Mavis Cameron’s angular face looked tired, but she managed a smile. “Billy’s not here, Annie. He went to the mainland.”
Annie didn’t take that calm statement as a good sign for Elaine Jamison. Very likely, Billy had gone to Chastain for a conference with Circuit Solicitor Brice Posey, who was not and never had been a favorite of Max and Annie’s. However, Annie felt certain Mavis would not volunteer any information in regard to the status of Elaine Jamison, either as a suspect or as a prisoner. “Actually, I’m looking for Laura Jamison. She and her sister and brother came here to see about their aunt.”
Mavis pushed back a strand of auburn hair. “They left a little while ago.”
Annie nodded her thanks. As she turned to go, Mavis added, “I’ll tell Billy you dropped by.”
Outside, Annie pulled her cell from her purse and called Elaine’s cottage. No answer. She called the Jamison house. “Is Laura there?” It might be better not to identify herself unless asked to do so. She listened. “No thanks, I won’t leave a message.”
In the car, she made a U-turn. In a way, she wasn’t surprised to learn that Laura had gone to the beach. Was she taking solace from the sweep of the water to the horizon or was she simply trying to escape the worry and fear at home?
Annie found a parking space without a vestige of shade at Blackbeard Beach. She hurried to the boardwalk. She wished she could be there for pleasure, enjoying the scent of coconut oil and sea salt. Waves crested in lines of silver foam atop the green water. Just like yesterday, dolphins arched above the waves, graceful as ballerinas. Annie picked her way around umbrellas and among sun worshippers stretched on towels. At the third lifeguard stand, she again looked up at a thin face masked by sunglasses.
“Laura.”
Laura looked down. “Kit was going to call you. Thanks for helping us. We contacted that lawyer. He’s coming over tomorrow. They let Elaine come home. They’re going to talk to her when Handler Jones is here.”
So Billy had permitted Elaine to leave the station. Annie knew her name popped up on Elaine’s caller ID when Elaine used her cell. If she was in the cottage when Annie called, she’d chosen not to answer. However, Laura had no way of knowing that Elaine didn’t want to talk to Annie, and Laura clearly felt indebted to Annie for the connection to Handler Jones.
Annie strove to appear relaxed, as if in no way she and Laura were at odds. “That’s wonderful news. He will certainly be helpful. As I said when I talked to Elaine”—if Laura assumed this conversation was recent, that was her privilege—“it’s important to come up with the most complete information possible. Now that Elaine has cleared up the confusion about the gun, we’re counting on you for absolutely critical information.”
“Me?” Laura sat rigid.
Annie nodded energetically. “You were on the upper verandah. You saw Darwyn.”
“Oh.” Laura relaxed. “Yeah. I wasn’t paying a lot of attention. He was blowing pine straw. Then I lost sight of him. He must have come up close to the terrace.”
With the toe of one shoe, Annie drew a line in the sand. “Okay. That’s the edge of the terrace.” She walked a few feet and dragged her heel to make a line perpendicular to the first. “Here are the pine trees.” Annie turned and walked several feet toward the water. She stamped her feet twice. “Let’s say this is the cottage.” She returned to the first line. “If you looked down, you could see the pine trees and flower beds and Darwyn. If you looked straight, you saw the cottage.”
“Not exactly. There’s a willow in front of the cottage.”
Annie was impatient. “But you would see anyone coming from the cottage to the house once you were past the willow.”
“Yes.” Laura sounded reluctant. This line of questioning was clearly making her nervous and wary.
“When did Elaine come up to the house?” Annie had seen Elaine leave her cottage and hurry toward the marsh around ten. It would help narrow the time frame for Glen’s murder if Laura knew when Elaine had walked to the house.
Laura looked relieved. “I didn’t see Elaine.”
Annie was puzzled. “Yesterday you said you were on the verandah the whole time. You should have seen her.”
Laura shifted uneasily in the high seat. “Oh. I guess I wasn’t there the whole time. I went inside for a few
