She looked away, pondering.
“Claudia, I’d simply request that you open yourself up to the possibility that someone other than your daughters might have killed your husband.”
There was a long period of silence.
“Please,” Gage pleaded.
When she turned her eyes back to Gage, they were brimming with tears. She opened her mouth to speak but seemed to change her mind.
Gage continued. “And I’ve been here long enough to see the damaged relationship between you and your daughters. I realize there are things from your collective past that I don’t know. But I’ve yet to learn of anything that would help me understand why either of them would kill their father.”
Claudia maintained her silence. She stopped petting Sheriff. When she finally replied, her voice was a brittle whisper. “I have a dark side, Gage.”
It was a comment from left field and it took Gage by surprise. He attempted to reply to it as most people would.
“As do I. We talked about this on my first day.”
“Not like this—a true dark side. I have one; Karl had one, too.”
Gage was silent.
“My girls have it, too. I’ve spared you of many details, so you’ll trust me when I say that each of them is capable of killing their father.”
Gage clasped his hands and leaned forward. “I don’t doubt that at all—in this family, or any family. Anyone is capable of murder—but capable and actual guilt are oceans apart. What motive would one of your daughters have in killing your husband?”
“Money is one reason. It’s why I cut them out of their inheritance, and why I hired you.”
“That makes little sense, because he was already in poor health and they didn’t know you have cancer. You would have been the better target. We’ve talked about this.”
“Killing him got them halfway there.”
“Yes, but I still don’t think it makes much sense.”
“There are other reasons.”
“Tell me.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Trust me when I tell you there are other reasons.” She crossed her arms. “That’s all I’m saying about it.”
Exasperated, Gage sat forward. “I beg of you, please let me hire a discreet investigative team to look into who might have killed your husband. We need to do everything from investigating who might have cut that pipe to looking into your husband’s business dealings to examining the autopsy. Will you allow me to do this?”
Claudia was silent and didn’t budge. She shut her eyes.
“Think about the person who cut that pipe. The road outside the northern fence has a number of homes. I bet some of those people have security cameras. We might be able to see the vehicle driven by the person who cut the grate on the night of Karl’s death.”
No response.
Gage slumped. “Claudia, please. Your daughters deserve more from you. I know you don’t want to, but imagine for one moment that they’re both innocent. Forget what bad they’ve done…just imagine.”
Eyes snapping open, Claudia seemed to want to lash out at that comment but she held her tongue. “I will not open this up to anyone else, Gage Nils Hartline. Do you understand me?”
Gage crossed his arms and waited. He didn’t want to be rash, but he couldn’t help but pondering resigning his position. The situation here was untenable.
Claudia’s following statement changed things, just a bit.
“But, I will allow you to look into the possibility that the killer came from outside the family…provided you’re supremely tactful.” She narrowed her eyes. “Supremely tactful.”
“Before you go there, as I’ve said before, I don’t have the background or the resources to do this. This is a job for professional investigators.”
“You have every resource, because I’ll open my checkbook. And I’m not worried about your background. You don’t give yourself enough credit for your intelligence.” She lifted her index finger. “But you must adhere to my two conditions: tact and solitude, meaning you and you only.”
“So, you’re open to the possibility that someone else may have done this?”
“I’m open to considering anything relevant you might discover. You discovered the drainpipe, and I believe you, so I’m allowing you to investigate further.” She clasped her hands. “You see, I’m not made of stone.”
“Can I question others?”
“If you’re delicate and keep the reason to yourself. Also, don’t go asking everyone on earth.”
“You know I won’t.” Gage shifted and cleared his throat. “In the meantime, would you be willing to amend your will and include your daughters again?”
She closed her eyes again, shaking her head. “No, Gage. One of them did it.”
“But, Claudia, if one of them didn’t do it, and I don’t find out who did before…before…”
“Before I die?”
“Yes,” he whispered.
She smiled and leaned forward, patting his hand. “Then I guess you’d better hurry.”
They chatted for a half-hour more. Gage scrawled two pages of notes. Once Claudia was off to bed, he texted the nurse, making arrangements for her to sit with Claudia the following day.
Gage intended to throw gasoline on his private investigation. The Die Wahrheit article liberally mentioned organized crime. Because of that, he knew exactly where to begin.
CHAPTER SEVEN
It was 9 A.M. the following morning before Gage finally departed the Vogel estate. Though he’d wanted to leave earlier, it had snowed throughout the night. He delayed his departure to allow the sun to come up. Today’s high temperature was supposed to be slightly above freezing. Unfortunately, the temperatures were due to be short-lived. In two days, an abnormally harsh cold front was forecast for central Europe. A Siberian chill was predicted to move in and stay for a week, bringing with it bitter cold. Meaning, the remaining snow would ice over and stick around for a while.
It was setting up to be a harsh winter in central Germany.
For a variety of reasons, today’s
