I was guessing that someone had tipped Cal Parker off as to what was going on with his developer friend—Scooter was fairly recognizable—and that was why he pulled the funding. If Parker wouldn't move the project forward, Dempsey's house of cards would all fall down. And if it was Kirsten Anderson's book that tipped Parker off to Dempsey's problems, then Dempsey would certainly have a bone to pick with the author. His office was right down the street from her hotel. He would have seen Ted leaving... and been able to head up and do the deed before he came back with dinner.
I sat back in Dempsey's leather chair, piecing everything together. Dempsey must have been desperate for the money from the development project to pay off the contractors on his other projects... and feed his gambling habit. The text message made sense now; Dempsey had contacted Parker to see if he could sweet-talk him into changing his mind.
With the book dedicated to Scooter and a picture of the letter from Coastline Recreational Development—not to mention the racing stubs—I hoped I had enough to convince the police to at least get a search warrant.
But first I had to get out of Dempsey's office.
I peeked out the door into the hallway, looking for a back door. I didn't want to walk through the front office, announcing my presence to Rupert, if I could help it. I tiptoed across the hall and peeked into the conference room. No door. I was about to head up the hall and brazenly walk out the front door when a familiar voice drifted down the hall.
It was Agatha Satterthwaite.
"I'm here for my ten o'clock with Mr. Dempsey," she said.
"He'll be here any minute, I'm sure," Rupert said. "You can wait in one of the chairs."
She didn't respond, but I assumed she took him up on his offer. I debated what to do; should I walk out the front door blithely? Or wait to see if I could find out what she and Dempsey had cooked up to get me out of my shop?
The question was almost immediately rendered moot.
I heard the outer door of the office open.
"Good morning, Mr. Dempsey," came Rupert's syrupy greeting.
"Good morning, Rupert," Scooter replied, followed by, "Agatha! So good to see you. I'll be with you in just a moment." I ducked into the conference room as he marched down the hall to his office. Had I left everything in order? I fretted. Would he know someone had been in his office?
It didn't matter now, I reflected. I would wait until they were cozied away in his office, and then I would walk out the front door and go straight to the police.
But that wasn't how it worked out, of course.
24
As I tried to stay calm and wait for my opportunity, footsteps sounded in the hallway. "Are you ready, Agatha? Let's get started. Come on down to the conference room."
The conference room?
I whirled around, looking for a place to hide. There was a shelf with construction trophies on it (at least that was what I guessed they were; they had buildings on them) and a closet with a small set of folding doors at the far end of the room. I scurried over to the closet and yanked the doors open. The closet was filled with file cabinets. The only place to hide was on top of them.
As their voices approached, I hoisted myself up onto the nearest cabinet, squatted, and spun around to close the doors behind me. I got them almost closed when Agatha walked in; holding my breath, I released the doors and tried to melt back into the shadows.
"Glad to see you," he said, closing the conference room door behind him. "I've been meaning to talk to you; have you had any luck getting your hands on that copy of the contract?" As he spoke, I turned my phone to camera and hit "record." It couldn't hurt, after all.
"No," she said. "I looked, but I can't find it anywhere. I don't know where she could have put it!"
"We need to find it if we're going to go forward," he said. "The last thing we need is litigation down the line."
"I know," she said. "What if I can't find it? Will you still buy it from me?"
"Yes... but at a reduced price," he said.
"How reduced?"
"At least fifty percent," he said. "The cost of litigation would be huge. If someone finds that contract stating that you sold your share to Loretta, then there could be consequences; you'd owe Sayers the money you got from the sale, and she could sue both of us for damages. "
"Do you think she'd really do that?"
"I would," he said.
"But if you tear down the house, all the evidence would be gone."
"It's still a risk that it could turn up. Did you look in the basement?"
"No," she said. "Why would she hide something in the basement?"
"You know that house used to be a rum runner's stash. I'm sure there's a good hiding place down there; if I were going to keep documents, I'd see what I could find down there."
"I'll look tonight," she said.
"I heard you almost got caught," he commented.
"I did," she said. "But I'll be more careful this time. You'll still buy it even if I don't find the contract?"
"I will," he said. "As long as we can convince Sayers that it's time to sell."
"I know how to do it," Agatha said in a tone of voice that sent chills up my spine. "It will solve
