Inside the small reception area, the secretary barely spared me a glance. “He’s busy. You’ll need to make an appointment.”
I stepped up to the desk. “I just need a few minutes.”
She looked up from her computer screen, where she was playing solitaire. “He’s leaving soon and doesn’t want to be interrupted.”
“Tell him that I know about the payments to Earl.”
The secretary picked up the phone and relayed the information. Her eyes drifted back to mine. “All right, go on back.”
“Thanks.” I brushed by her, knocking briefly before entering. Russell stood behind his desk and was putting files into a briefcase.
“Hello, Charlee, what can I do for you?” His tone was sharp.
I wasn’t put off by his vague question. It seemed he was trying to gauge what I knew, which told me I was close to the mark. “You made monthly deposits to Earl’s personal bank account for over a year. Then three months ago, the payments stopped.”
Other than the narrowing of his eyes, he gave no outward reaction. But it was enough to tell that he was upset.
“Why?” I continued. “What reason could you have had to pay Earl such a large sum every month, when you’d already paid him for the business the previous year?”
Russell’s fist clenched at his side, then relaxed. “Bravo, Miss King. You must think you’re so smart,” he glowered.
I smiled, in spite of his sarcasm. “Earl was blackmailing you for something, wasn’t he? The insurance fraud, perhaps? You blamed Earl for the lawsuit with Phyllis Weinberger, but she thinks the two of you were in on it together. And I would have to agree with her. But…” I paused for a second.
“Something doesn’t add up there. It doesn’t make sense that those payments would have been made so long after the initial buyout. And with Earl being involved in the fraud as well, he wouldn’t have much leverage. So, I think it was something else.”
Russell snapped his briefcase shut, his lethal glare trained on me.
“If you cheated your clients, maybe you’d cheated your partner. And I bet when he found out, he wasn’t real happy,” I proposed, watching him closely.
Russell’s face began to turn red.
Bingo. “You cooked the books, didn’t you?” I accused.
Russell slammed his fist on the desk. “Earl was an idiot. Couldn’t even use a computer.”
“Then he made it easy for you.”
“Darn right he did.”
“How did he find out?”
Russell sneered. “He came by one day looking for some old insurance policy when I wasn’t here. He ended up snooping through my file cabinet.” I noticed that it was locked now. Apparently, he’d learned his lesson.
“And he stumbled upon the actual copy of the business records, didn’t he?”
“Yes, of all the blind luck…”
“What did he threaten you with?” I asked.
“Said he was going to turn me in to the state insurance board. There would have been an investigation, and I would have lost everything.” He threw up his hands.
“And gone to prison,” I added. “For insurance fraud.” Among other things, I’m sure. “So, you paid him. Then what? Why’d you stop?”
He snickered. “Got sick of paying that slimy good-for-nothing piece of garbage, and I started following him.”
Well, that was the pot calling the kettle black.
“Turns out Earl was dealing drugs. Stupid. The fool would make deliveries in the middle of the day, completely clueless that someone might be watching,” he said with disdain.
“You threatened him.” The tables had turned, and then it all made sense. Russell had killed Earl. “You wanted your money back, and you knew that Earl would be paid in cash. I’m assuming he wouldn’t pay you since he could still turn you in, and figured you wouldn’t do that with him because then you’d never get your money.
“So, you followed him to Fern’s barn that night, hoping he would unknowingly lead you to his stash. And you were close. If you wouldn’t have killed him, he probably would have given it to you.”
Russell burned with rage. “Yeah, I followed him there, and he pulled a gun on me.”
“So, you beat him over the head with a shovel?” If he was trying to claim self-defense, I’d say good luck getting a jury to believe that.
“He didn’t give me a choice. The gun misfired, and I wasn’t going to give him an opportunity to shoot me again. Earl deserved what he got,” he spat.
Wait, there wasn’t a gun in the barn when I found Earl, nor did the police find anything. Which meant that Russell must have…
“Took you a while to figure that out,” Russell opened the top drawer of his desk, pulled out a revolver, and pointed it at my chest.
I started to back up.
“Stop right there!” he barked. “You’re not going anywhere. Did you really think that I’d just let you walk out of here after we finished our little chat? I know you think you’re something special being a King and all, with your daddy being the mayor. But you’re not. You’re a nosy busybody who should have minded her own business.”
I swallowed. While I knew that things might go bad, I hadn’t imagined it going quite this badly. I would have never come here had I known the stakes, and I hoped that Fern could hear this and was calling the police.
Russell tugged what looked like a burner cell phone from his pocket and dialed quickly. “Get over to my office now. There’s a loose end you need to take care of.” He slid the phone back in his pocket, never taking his gaze from me.
If he was asking someone else to “take care of me,” so to speak, maybe he didn’t plan to kill me? I had no desire to be shot, although the fate that awaited me didn’t appear to be any better. Unfortunately, having a gun pointed at my heart had paralyzed me, and I was afraid to move. My best chance was that help would arrive. And soon.
“You framed Patty, didn’t
