“Oh boy.” I shook my head.
“He’ll be fine,” Fern reassured. “Let’s go home.”
That afternoon, Fern and I brushed alpacas in the backyard as I filled her in on what she’d missed in the last twenty-four hours. In my mind, the most pressing matter was finding who killed Earl, but Fern was still stuck on my evening with Kenny and Cole. She continued to begrudge the fact that she’d missed the chance to eavesdrop on my dramatic love life, when the truth of the matter was that they only came over because I was alone.
“If I were you, I would have kissed Cole,” she said. “That man is…” she whistled a cat call.
Oh my.
I shook my head, focusing my attention on Havarti, one of the light fawn colored alpacas. I refused to imagine what Fern implied, as it wasn’t going to get me anywhere good. “I don’t think that’s what he wants.”
My aunt’s brows pinched, as a smug smile formed on her face. “Of course he did. Why do you think he came over?”
“To make sure I was okay, and warn me not to do anything stupid,” I repeated for at least the third time in the last twenty minutes.
She harrumphed. “If you say so.”
“Okay, back to the suspects. Who do you think we should look into further?” I asked seriously.
Fern paused her brushing. “I think there’s more going on with Floyd and that Sting Ray sleazeball. You need to promise me you will never go back to The Black Oyster again.”
“I promise,” I agreed immediately.
“You probably picked up hepatitis at that scummy dive.” Fern raised an interesting point, although I was pretty sure you could only contract hepatitis through blood.
“I think you should leave that up to the police,” she continued. “Everyone knows Floyd’s up to no good, so we need to let them figure it out. However, Phyllis Weinberger could be worth looking into further. Surely, Russell knows more about her. He should, if it’s true that Phyllis sued him as well.”
“I think you’re right. And that’ll give me another chance to feel Russell out, too. I don’t know what it is, but something isn’t right there, either.”
Chapter Eighteen
W ith a quick call to the insurance office, the receptionist confirmed Russell was there and available until five. I decided to drop in instead of making an appointment because I wasn’t sure if he would be willing to talk with me again. To my surprise, when the receptionist told him I was there, I didn’t even have to wait.
“Charlee.” Russell stood when I entered his sparsely furnished office. “Come in, I’m glad you’re here.”
Definitely not the welcome I was expecting.
“Please, have a seat,” he gestured, then returned to his own.
I obliged, sitting on one of the uncomfortable chairs in front of his desk. “Thank you for seeing me again. Did you learn something new?”
“Yes,” he said, handing me a plain manila folder.
I opened it and skimmed what appeared to be an insurance policy. “Is this Earl’s?” My head popped up.
“Yes, it is,” he nodded, a smile on his face. “I did a little digging in some old files and found it. It is a decreasing term life policy. Like I said, Earl was cheap. But I did the math, and Patty would still get around seventy-five thousand, which is nothing to sneeze at.”
“Hmm.” I studied the policy again. That wasn’t a million like Phyllis Weinberger, but it wasn’t chump change either. “This isn’t a ton of money though. I’m not sure that would be enough motive to kill over, do you?”
“It’s seventy-five thousand more motive than nothing if you ask me.” Russell crossed his arms over his chest.
“True. And it doesn’t look good that she lied about it,” I thought aloud.
“No, it doesn’t. I’m sure she thought it would make her look guilty, and she didn’t want to cast suspicion on herself,” he said.
“Except for now it looks worse since she wasn’t forthcoming.”
“Exactly,” he agreed.
His behavior caught my attention. Why was he so eager to throw Patty under the bus? Unlike last time I was here, where he’d been a bit on edge, this afternoon he was all smiles and Mr. Cooperative. Overly so. “Do you mind if I take this?” I asked.
“Yes, go ahead, it’s just a copy, and I have another.”
“Thanks. I’d like to have some proof next time I talk with Patty in case she tries to deny it again.” I tucked the policy into my purse. “I was hoping to speak with you about a woman named Phyllis Weinberger. She was a client of yours, I believe.”
He grimaced. “Not mine. She and her husband were longtime clients of Earl’s.”
I couldn’t verify the truth of that since all I had to go on was Walter’s hearsay and what Phyllis had said, but she’d specifically mentioned Russell. “I spoke with her recently, and she said she sued you and Earl.”
“She did. She sued the business and named us both in the complaint. Unfortunately, I was roped into that mess.” He shuffled some papers around on his desk. Either he was actually looking for something, or he was uncomfortable and using this as a distraction. His demeanor had become somewhat anxious when I started talking about Phyllis.
“What happened?” I asked innocently.
He looked up from the papers he was shuffling. “She didn’t tell you?”
“Well, she told me her side of what happened, but I’d like to hear yours. I’m thinking she had a motive to kill Earl, and I’d like to get your perspective.”
His shoulders visibly relaxed. “Well, from what I remember, her husband passed away, and it was then we discovered that she hadn’t been paying the correct premiums and the policy had lapsed.”
“How does something like that happen? Wouldn’t you know that they weren’t paying the correct amount?”
“Like I said, she was Earl’s client, so I don’t know exactly what happened.” The tone of his voice changed slightly as he spoke, revealing