I frowned. “Why did she risk it?”
Madeline nodded hello at a passing coworker, then shrugged. “She wanted justice for her husband.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Though if you ask me, the potions actually did her a favor from the way she describes him before.”
I’d spoken to the guy and had to agree.
“How’d you hear about her then?” Peter folded his arms. “Did she contact you?”
“Heh. Nice try.” Madeline pointed a finger at Peter, her dark eyes twinkling. “Can’t reveal my contacts.”
Peter leveled her a hard look. “You know how this works. I can come back with a court order for your records and contacts—it may even delay publication.” He raised his brows. “Who knows? Someone else may even swoop in and cover the story before you do.”
Her expression fell. “Fine.” She beckoned us closer and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Peyton Thornsbury, a top consultant at Potent Potions, tipped me off about Maria Wu.”
Peter and I exchanged looks. We’d interviewed Peyton at the summit the night Pearl died.
Madeline’s lip curled with delight. “Here I am, already wading into this story about Potent Potions committing fraud and all their scandals, when their founder turns up murdered.” She scoffed, eyes dancing. “This just keeps getting juicier.”
“Fraud?” Peter narrowed his eyes.
Madeline rolled a wrist. “Oh, these people are a mess.” She ticked the facts off on her fingers. “First, they don’t pay their manufacturer, who’s now suing them. Then they go with a third-rate manufacturer and their potions are contaminated, leading to things like men turning into lizards. Add to that, pressuring consultants to make bogus claims about what their little vials can do, lying about income opportunities, being a pyramid scheme, and I just discovered that they’ve filed paperwork for bankruptcy.” She wiggled her brows.
Wow. It was even worse than I’d guessed. “So Peyton tipped you off to all this?”
Madeline shook her head. “I got an anonymous tip that told me to contact Peyton.”
Peter and I exchanged looks again. More anonymous tips?
We thanked Madeline and headed back out into the chilly night. Peter paced in the dark alleyway between warehouses.
I clicked my tongue. “So maybe Peyton was a little angrier than she let on the other night if she was talking with Madeline and helping take down the company through this exposé she’s writing.”
Peter nodded, his thinking crease between his brows. “If Peyton knew that talking to Madeline would take down the company, then her excuse is bogus.”
I lifted a brow and toed an empty bottle. “How so?”
Peter splayed his hands, his footsteps scuffing off the cobblestones. “Peyton told us she was losing money, but that she wouldn’t have killed Pearl because that would hurt the company and she needed the company to succeed for her to recoup her losses.”
I smirked. “Good point. That doesn’t stand, if she herself was actively working to undermine Potent Potions by speaking with Madeline L’Orange.” I shrugged. “She had motive—she was angry and is losing everything, including her house. She already knew the company was going down—what did she have to lose by killing Pearl?”
Peter gave me a tight grin. “I’ll call the station and get Peyton’s address.”
27
NEW EVIDENCE
“Okay, yeah, I spilled the sand about the company!” Peyton threw her hands up and leapt to her feet. She paced behind her couch as she dragged both hands through her red hair.
Peter and I, sitting on opposite sides of the coffee table, exchanged looks. Well, that had been easy—all we’d had to do was ask if she knew Madeline L’Orange.
She whirled on us, eyes wild. “But no one can know!” She shook her head, eyes weary. “They’d all turn against me, and I have thousands of merkles’ of merch I still need to sell.” She gripped the back of the couch, face pinched. “I need to stay in the company. If they find out I was talking to that reporter….” She pressed a hand to her stomach and looked like she was going to be sick.
I frowned. “So even though you’re working to take Potent Potions down, you want to stay working for them?”
“Yes! Urg!” She paced again, zigzagging between stacked moving boxes and crates. It looked like she was indeed getting ready to move. I looked around at the comfortable home, situated on a middle tier of the island. It was a nice place—she must have been upset about losing it.
“They’re horrible! This is what they do to you. Once you’re in, it’s so hard to get out!”
I thought of Will and Heidi, and my stomach clenched. Snakes! I hoped they wouldn’t lose it all when Madeline’s piece came out in The Conch.
Peter lifted a brow. “But that’s all you did? Speak with Madeline? You didn’t kill Pearl?”
“No!” Peyton looked aghast, and Daisy wagged her tail.
Truth.
“Any idea who tipped Madeline off about you?” I raised a brow.
Peyton pressed her lips together and looked off, thinking. “I have no idea. It was no secret to my downline that lots of sellers were leaving, and I confided to a few friends how I was feeling, but I doubt any of them would’ve gone to the press.” She shrugged. “Besides that, the only higher-up at Potent Potions that I spoke with was Pearl herself.”
I frowned. And I doubted a dead woman had alerted the press. Of course, she could have let Madeline know before her death, but why would she want to take down her own company?
Peter startled and pressed a finger to the communication device in his ear. “What?” His bloodshot eyes widened. “Okay.” He nodded. “We’re on it.”
He shot to his feet. “Thank
