“Got it,” Vicki said with a nod.
“I would love some fresh air,” AJ sighed as she rose and popped her back.
“I’ll place the coffee orders online,” Vicki told AJ. “Just pick them up, and we’ll have dinner delivered.”
“Cool.” AJ grabbed her purse and left.
Vicki popped into the conference room and took coffee orders, and I went to my desk and typed up the conversations I’d just had with Eva and Julie. I still couldn’t find any real answers. Eva had implied Jerry was guilty of sexual assault, and Julie said Jerry blackmailed Ollie for money for Allen.
We needed to talk to Allen.
“Did we ever get contact information on Allen Wagenshutz?” I asked Vicki.
She’d returned to her computer and was entering coffee orders. Poor Jitters was about to be overwhelmed.
“The loan shark?” she asked without glancing up. “I don’t think we ever got to that lead.”
“Well, I think I’m there,” I mused.
“Really?” she asked and finally lifted her head from the computer. “How did it go with Morales?”
I sighed. “It goes deep. She’s saying Ollie killed himself.”
“What?” Vicki blinked in surprise. “Suicide?”
I glanced back at the conference room and lowered my voice. “Careful. Alex is the guy’s brother in law, remember?”
“Oh, right,” she whispered and cringed. “But why does Julie say that?”
“Apparently,” I said, “Ollie was a pretty savage criminal back in the day. It’s what led him to prison in the first place.”
“Right,” Vicki nodded, “Wright Way hired those kind of guys.”
“Exactly,” I replied. “So, Ollie gets into the men’s center, cleans up. Paul gives him a job, everything’s hunky dory. In the meantime, Jerry borrows a couple mill from Allen for a really shitty film.”
“That’s what the e-mails were about,” she realized as she snapped her fingers.
“Yep,” I said. “So, surprise, surprise, Jerry can’t pay the money back. Meanwhile, Ollie falls off the scaffolding, and Jerry, ever the muckracking reporter, sees an opportunity.”
“Holy shit,” Vicki breathed, and her eyes widened. “But why would Ollie’s lawsuit affect Jerry?”
“Because,” I explained, “apparently, Allen told Jerry some savory secrets about Ollie’s past. And it’s enough to scare the man and his whole family shitless. From what Julie said, he was involved with those real criminals who go after your family.”
“Blackmail,” Vicki gasped.
I shook my head in shock. “The depravity of this guy. But here’s where the trail ends. The Wrights were cleaned out, and Jerry got enough money to pay Allen back. But Ollie runs away to Phoenix and lives out his final days in guilt, consumed with misery, until he takes his own life.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” she remarked with a frown. “What would be the catalyst to take his life?”
“Julie didn’t say,” I shrugged, “but we need Allen for that.”
Vicki clicked around on her computer, and I continued to peruse the listening room notes to find any connections. There was nothing on these tapes so far, though.
So, I called Officer Durant.
“Officer Durant,” he answered with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
I silently snickered. I went over his head, just like he’d said, and I won.
“Durant, Henry Irving,” I told him.
“Uh-huh,” he grunted but didn’t say anything more.
“I just wanted to find out how we’re doing on your end with those tapes,” I replied cordially.
“We’re finding a whole lotta nothing,” he snarled, “but we’re on it, boss.”
“Officer, I don’t want to be adversaries here,” I said simply. “My investigation is showing Jerry Steele was the most hated man in Sedona, and we’ve got a laundry list of people who could have taken out a hit on him. I’m only asking for a good, honest investigation. I know the last thing you want is another false murder charge on your watch, and we got a lot of years ahead of us working together in this city. Let’s be on the same team here.”
The police chief was quiet for a moment and then said, “I’ll let you know if I find anything else.”
“Thanks,” I responded.
Durant and I said our goodbyes and ended the call.
“We never did find Allen,” Vicki said from where she was hunched over her computer, “but I’ve been looking into the Clare angle.”
“I think we’ve played that one out, haven’t we?” I asked with a frown.
“For the most part,” she replied, “but I just spent the last several hours finding out anything we can about Jim Hurley.”
“Architect turned insurance-fraud-accomplice,” I snorted. “I think we’ve got him pegged pretty well.”
“I just wondered if there was any more to the story,” she shrugged, “anything he’s not telling us.”
“I doubt it,” I mutter. “What he told us was bad enough.”
“Well, you know he designed Harmony’s school?” Vicki asked.
“Horizons?” I questioned in surprise. “It’s a decent building. Good layout, it seemed. Sensible.”
“Check out this other stuff he did,” Vicki instructed as she turned her laptop toward me. “He did Jitters, too.”
“Wait?” I leaned forward. “Clare Clearmont’s insurance fraud husband designed Jitters?”
“Yup,” Vicki nodded, “and he did a good job. It’s modern and chic, but not too kooky. A lot of light, and it seems like it’s techno friendly. Although, I don’t know if he built that in or not.”
“Right,” I muttered absentmindedly as I searched Jim’s name and pulled up his website. Then I clicked on his portfolio and looked at his stuff.
“He’s perfect,” Vicki commented as she glanced over my shoulder.
She was right. Everything he designed was traditional enough to be normal, but modern enough to be … us.
“Too bad he’s a felon,” I sighed.
“He’s not a felon yet,” she argued. “And besides, he was only an accomplice.”
“Right,” I chuckled as I clicked through the photos
