him. Gregory Gallery has lots of cash in the bank. She’s a great supporter of the art department at Goddard, often exhibiting student work. She’s thick with one of the full-time faculty, Leonard Walker. Some people think they are very close.”
“How did Jack react to your report?”
“He thanked me, said that seemed like good news.”
“And Laverne and Ronald Phillips?”
Paul looked amused. “A different breed of cat altogether. I confirmed Jack’s suspicions. Laverne Phillips had a shabby little office in a strip shopping mall in Gainesville. You know the sort of thing: ‘Psychic Readings, Private Consultations.’ When I see that kind of setup, I wonder how anyone can be sucked in. If the ‘psychic’”—his tone put the noun in quote marks—“knows so much, why isn’t the office upscale? You’d think applying a little of that savvy to the futures market would make a hacienda in Acapulco small change. Of course, any rational person knows the answer. It’s bogus. Certainly, Laverne Phillips is bogus, but Diane is convinced that Laverne is her personal portal to the afterlife. Not long after James died, Diane was on her way to Dallas and she saw the sign and stopped.” Paul looked sardonic. “I can imagine the scene, Laverne delicately probing, ‘You are clearly suffering. Perhaps the spirits can bring you comfort,’ and Diane prattling about James and The Castle and how lonely she was. Diane wasn’t Laverne’s first victim. A Gainesville woman’s daughter filed a lawsuit, claiming her mother had been swindled. Laverne paid back some money and the suit was dropped. Who knows how many others she’s fleeced.”
Kay’s hand was poised above her notepad. “Do you have the Gainesville victim’s name?”
His eyes narrowed. “I thought you were trying to round up information on Jack’s last days.”
Kay was bland. “I want to see if he contacted the Gainesville woman. If he did, that conversation will give readers a wonderful example of his determination to protect the family.”
Paul slowly nodded. He thumbed through some papers. “Helen Cramer.” He added the address and phone.
Kay wrote rapidly. “Anything else?”
“I gave Jack plenty of ammunition to use against the Phillipses. Basically, Diane rescued Laverne and Ronald. He’s a ne’er-do-well with a checkered work career—car salesman, insurance agent, radio DJ. He’d lost his latest job selling vacuum cleaners and was on his last week of unemployment. They were behind in their house and car payments. Now they’re on easy street with more than a hundred thousand in the bank.” He grinned. “You can take that as an educated guess.”
Later I could explain that enigmatic statement to Kay. It’s a good-old-boy world in Adelaide. I was confident that Paul, as a high school football hero, had faced no difficulty in getting an unofficial report on Laverne and Ronald’s bank account.
“Did Jack confront the Phillipses?”
“I don’t know.”
Kay was brisk. “I’ll find out.”
He looked skeptical. “I doubt you’ll get much out of them.”
Kay was confident. “People like to offer their side of a disagreement. That will be my approach. Inclusion in a book may be tempting. What I discover may or may not be useful. I never know where I may find an important fact or impression that will give life to a piece. That’s why I explore every possible source.” Kay glanced at her notebook. “When did you last talk to Jack?”
“The day he died. He wanted to see me, but I was on my way to the City for a golf foursome. I stayed for dinner. Jack and I planned to get together the next day. I found out about his accident when I got home. The dinner ran late, and I didn’t get in until almost eleven. There was a message on my phone from Evelyn.”
“How would you describe Jack’s mood when he talked to you Saturday morning?”
“Not good.” Paul sounded regretful. “He told me he had some unpleasant tasks facing him and he intended to deal with them as soon as possible.” The lawyer kneaded a cheek with knuckles. “Maybe that’s why I wasn’t surprised that he’d died. I thought maybe he was furious with someone and saw that person in the garden and started down the steps too fast.”
His words evoked a picture of a man caught up in powerful emotion.
“When he came to your office, did he say anything about a serious disagreement with someone?”
“He was disgusted by Laverne and Ronald’s free rein at The Castle and upset when I told him I didn’t think there was any legal approach that could be taken. Otherwise, he confined our discussion to obtaining information.”
If I had been a cartoonist, I would have drawn a balloon above the lawyer’s head with this message:
Kay wrote swiftly in her notebook, then looked up. “I don’t want to overlook anyone who might have spoken with Jack those last few days. I understand the Dunhams, next-door neighbors, were at dinner the night Jack died. What can you tell me about them?”
Paul’s expression didn’t change. He placed his fingertips together in a careful, precise tepee. “Native Adeladians. Clint has an insurance agency. Gwen is active in AAUW and League of Women Voters. She and my wife worked on a bunch of committees together. You might ask Diane. Gwen is her good friend. I believe they go back a long way. I don’t know if Clint and Jack had ever met. Diane would know.”
“I’ll do that.” Kay closed her notebook. “Did Jack mention anything else to you?”
I watched the lawyer carefully.
He didn’t hesitate. He’d been practicing law for a long time and he knew how to play a hand. “I wish I knew something more that I thought would be helpful.” He sounded sincere. He placed the closed folder on his desk.
I studied him with great attention. The card in the folder had also contained the names of Gwen and Clint Dunham. Surely that indicated they also had been the subject of an inquiry by Jack. If so, the lawyer had not shared that information with Kay.
She stood, held out her hand. “I appreciate the information you’ve given me.”
