Her Best Defense. Jackie/Lori Merritt/Myles

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ the phone and ran back to the bathroom. She was seething on the inside and shivering on the outside.

      Damn Sandoval and all married men who thought they were so damned cute that they could get away with anything, she thought resentfully as she turned on the hot water again.

      Because it was a Saturday and everyone who had to go in to the firm on a weekend dressed casually, Lisa put on a pair of freshly cleaned and pressed jeans and an ivory-colored cotton sweater. High-heeled light tan leather boots, for which she’d paid a small fortune, and a luscious pink suede jacket completed her ensemble for the day.

      But she didn’t waste time in admiring herself, and she gathered her purse and briefcase—in which she’d stashed the newspaper—and left the house to hurry to the nearest bus stop to catch a downtown bus.

      The ride was about thirty minutes long and she noticed at least a dozen newspapers in the hands of wide-eyed passengers. Wishing she’d thought to put on a hat with a brim she could pull down over her face, she settled for her dark glasses and dug them out of her purse.

      Then she thought of the case and the discomfort of unwanted publicity. Why in God’s name would anyone deliberately seek the public’s eye, she wondered uneasily. Obviously Sandoval had believed that was precisely what she’d done. He might flirt with her and even leer at her at times, but he sure as hell didn’t know her!

      “And he never will,” she vowed, renewing her postdivorce pledge to never take up with a married man because of the pain it would cause his wife, which she’d felt firsthand with Bobby’s sexual escapades.

      Lisa was at her desk, trying to better organize the notes she was amassing on Glory’s case. She also had a copy of the coroner’s autopsy report, and she studied again the few lines citing the cause of death. A .32 caliber slug had been removed from the body. The bullet had lodged in the upper torso and entered through the victim’s back.

      Sitting there pondering the coroner’s learned opinion, it was clear that if Glory was as innocent as she proclaimed, then someone else had been at the Witherington home that night. It was time she visited the crime scene and met the household staff.

      She pushed away from her desk and began returning items to her briefcase. Her intercom line buzzed and she picked up the phone. “Lisa here.”

      “Larry here. How are you?”

      “I’m fine, Larry, just miles away when the phone rang. Did you call for a reason? Oh, I just realized that you’re here at work.”

      “Saturday is just another workday in this business, Lisa.”

      “How true. So, are you on the trail of something interesting?”

      “If you’ve got a few minutes, come on by Research, okay?”

      “Will do. I have a phone call to make then I’ll be along. See ya.”

      Lisa pushed Larry—along with his “questionable history” remarks about the Witheringtons, plus her avid curiosity about what gains he might have made—to the back burner and dialed the Witherington home. Waiting for someone to answer her call, she thought of how much more she would rather talk to Larry than to Glory. Oh, well.

      A woman answered; Lisa identified herself and asked for Mrs. Witherington. In a minute, Glory’s voice said, “So, what’s up, kiddo?”

      “Well, you sound in a good mood,” Lisa said.

      “And you sound as though you disapprove.”

      “Sorry, that wasn’t my intention. Glory, I’m leaving in a minute or two to pay you a visit. I would like to interview your household staff, view the crime scene and clear up a few more details with you.”

      “Not today, Lisa. I have a tennis afternoon all planned for the country club.”

      Lisa sucked in an irritated breath. “What time are you leaving? I can be there in twenty minutes.” A definite exaggeration. She couldn’t possibly get across the city in twenty minutes.

      “Well, honestly,” Glory said impatiently, as though no one had ever opposed her on anything before. “I’m not leaving for another hour or so, but this whole thing is a terrible bother and an intrusion on my life. I’m already so tired of it I could spit.”

      “Spit a bucketful if it makes you feel better, but I’ll be at your house very shortly.”

      “Couldn’t you interview Maria at her home and then talk to whichever part-time maids she digs up for you to question without my being present?”

      “No, Glory, it doesn’t work that way. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye.”

      Unnerved and perplexed by Glory’s head-in-the-sand attitude, Lisa left her office and headed for the research department. She walked into the place and saw that Larry was the only employee working at a computer today.

      He got up when she approached and moved a chair close to his desk. “Have a seat. Is that steam I see coming out of your ears?”

      “I wouldn’t be surprised.” Lisa plopped down. “Glory Witherington just may be the death of me. I can’t tell if she’s simply stupid or so damned spoiled that no one has ever said no to her.”

      “How about a soft drink or some coffee? Maybe some nice herbal tea?”

      “If you had a tranquilizer, would you offer that?” Lisa drawled. “It would probably do me more good than all the tea in China.”

      “No drugs in here.”

      “I know, I’m just kidding. Okay, whiz kid, what did you dig up?”

      “You know I’ve been coming up with bits of information that I hadn’t wanted to pass on without confirmation, but what I’ve found is some very interesting data on criminal connections to Chandler Witherington Sr. The apple doesn’t usually fall far from the tree, and maybe that murder had more to do with Chandler’s activities than with Glory’s.”

      Lisa sat very still and absorbed the implications. If Chandler were connected to mob activities—hiding behind a legitimate import-export business—maybe he’d been the intended victim that night instead of poor Mateo Ruiz.

      But wasn’t that theory just a little too farfetched to even consider? Chandler Witherington might be a total jerk in person, but around Chicago he was regarded as an upstanding member of society.

      “Larry, I think that’s really reaching,” she said.

      “Yes, I know it is. But it’s not impossible, either, Lisa.”

      “No, nothing’s impossible. But have you found one single thing that links Chandler to the wrong side of the law?”

      “No, but I have this gut feeling…”

      Lisa got up from her chair. “Sometimes gut feelings are nothing but gas, my friend. But you’ve definitely piqued my curiosity…and my imagination. Dare I request that you continue searching and keep me informed? I have to run, Larry. I told Glory Witherington that I was on my way to her house, and I don’t want to disappoint her by being late.” Lisa smiled wryly. “I’m sure she would much rather that I disappear from the face СКАЧАТЬ