Taylor knew that was obfuscation at best. They had nothing but Taylor’s gut at the moment to suggest the two events were connected.
“I see. Mr. Taylor, I will say both personally and as a spokesman for the family trust, we are aghast at Frieda’s senseless murder. As we’ve told the police, we are committed to helping find her justice. What I can tell you, however, is it is doubtful that the two events are connected. I’m not sure if you are aware, but Frederick had started suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. As I understand it, his sudden death was not out of character for someone suffering from that disease.”
“You are correct, but the suddenness of his departure did seem unusual to Frieda.”
“I’m aware of her concerns. You are, however, under some misinterpretations of the events. We did not suddenly let Frederick go. Not only was he a member of the family, but he’d worked here at the Trust for decades, and we were dedicated to taking care of him. His dementia started several years ago, although we didn’t know it was an actual illness at the time. Frederick was getting fairly old but was resistant to retiring at a more standard age. We did not have the heart to let him go, even as his work began to slip and errors started getting made. Instead, we moved him to lesser positions in the Trust, trying to minimize the damage he could do. We only forced his retirement once it became clear his condition had become completely unmanageable. Even then, the couple was well provided for, including the paying off of the mortgage on their apartment and allotting them a generous monthly allowance. There was nothing sudden about Frederick’s separation from the Trust.”
“Then why did Frieda feel the need to bring in an outside investigator, if she was so well taken care of by the family?”
“She was grief-stricken. She’s lost her husband of more than fifty years and was looking for answers in a situation where there were none. I feel for her, I really do, but that’s all it was. I am aware she brought in someone to look into Frederick’s death, and I’m also aware that this person found nothing to suggest his death was anything untoward.”
“So then why do you think Frieda was murdered?”
“That’s a question we are relying on the police to answer. The most likely answer, to me, was someone thought Frieda was the victim of the crime that plagues our city. While Frieda and Frederick were not wealthy, they maintained the tapestries of wealth thanks to the family trust. It seems that lifestyle and the fact that Frieda was an elderly woman living by herself made her an easy target for someone who believed that lifestyle meant she had something worth taking. The idea that she was killed for some other reason seems farfetched. To believe she was killed to hide something about her husband’s death, you’d first have to show that she found something to suggest his death was anything out of the ordinary, which hasn’t happened.”
“What happens to the couple's possessions and holdings now?”
“Frieda and Frederick had no children. Their estate will be sold, and the proceeds of it will be used to fund several public endowments as they requested in their wills. As you see, they left nothing to anyone making it unlikely they were killed for financial reasons beyond simple robbery. Unless you believe a charity had them murdered to get access to their modest but not extravagant bequeathments?”
“I’m just suggesting the timing is more than a little coincidental.”
“To what, Mr. Taylor? If there is no evidence that Frederick’s death was anything other than what’s stated, then what is the coincidence of her death.”
Taylor could see he was getting nowhere. What’s worse, he was right, so far Taylor had found nothing to back up his belief that there was more to this beyond Whitaker’s actions after her aunt was murdered. If this was nothing, then Whitaker would have stayed and talked to the police. She was too by the book to do anything else, and there was no chance she was actually involved in Frieda’s death. The only thing that left was there being more to Frieda’s death than just random violence, which would mean there was more to Frederick’s death than natural causes.
None of that was based on anything other than his knowing Whitaker, which wasn’t something he could offer up to anyone else. He was just spinning his wheels here. Either the family trust wasn’t connected to their death, or they were, and Taylor had nothing to prove they did or provoke some kind of response. Which meant he was wasting his time.
“Well, I appreciate your time,” Taylor said, standing up.
“We’re happy to help a friend of Senator Caldwell. We appreciate you taking the time to look into Frieda and Frederick’s deaths, and I’m sorry I couldn’t be any further help.”
Of course, Taylor knew that was a lie. They’d be happy to put this behind them and get on with making money. They were most definitely not happy to offer further help. Even with another call from Caldwell, Taylor was pretty sure he wouldn’t get another interview with them. Although considering how unhelpful this one had been, that probably wasn’t going to be an issue.
Taylor was escorted out, hailing a cab back to his hotel so he could think.
In the years since leaving the army, Taylor had been involved in a lot of cases, and none of them more frustrating. Usually, if there was enough for him to get involved, there was something for him to look into, which, if he was persistent enough, always led to the next clue.
This was the first time where he started a case where he doubted himself. If it wasn’t for Whitaker’s
