by Gilian Baker
“Looks like Phyllis was being blackmailed by Connie. I’m not sure I can deny it, but it’s still a long way from deciding she’s the culprit.”
“Yes. We still have a lot of ground to cover before we can go to Ross with the names of suspects.”
“What do you think it means that they were each paying a different amount? In my opinion, the amounts rose per the delicacy of the secret, but what do I know about blackmail?”
“You know what I think? I think Connie knew each of their financial situations and gauged what she could get based on that and how detrimental the secret would be if it got out.”
Taking that idea in, I nodded my head and pursed my lips in contemplation. “That sounds about right. But we still haven’t come to any conclusion about how Connie found out about their secrets to begin with. It’s not like they would discuss their shameful deeds in the company break room.”
“I wonder if it doesn’t all come back to the hacking she’s so good at. Dr. Lynch said he knew there were others she’d cyber-stalked before Liz, though the situation hadn’t progressed as far. What if she’s been honing her skills and could hack her coworker’s online accounts? When she hit the mother lode, she blackmailed them.” She paused to uncross her long legs and pull her desk chair closer to the desk. “Maybe she started out trying to dig up dirt on Liz, but found she could take over her life instead and it escalated. From hacking for entertainment, to hacking for profit and finally, to hacking for theft.”
“That seems like the most plausible way. Think of everything available online now. Everyone does their banking, shopping, and accounting, everything online. And many people don’t realize that even if you delete something, it’s still there on the hard drive for someone with the know-how to find.”
“Yes, let’s go with that supposition until we find out more. It seems the most likely.”
I scrunched up my face. “So what do we do next?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.
“First thing tomorrow morning, you’ll re-interview Mr. Taylor and Ms. Billingham.”
“I bet Mr. Charles Gallagher was excited to hear that.” The thought of his irritation at more billable hours being disrupted made me smile.
“Not in the least, but I insinuated it would be the last time we would need to disrupt his business. If one of his employees gets arrested, it will disrupt his business, but we won’t be doing that.”
She shared an elfish little grin with me. It was sweet to see how excited she’d become about this case. She’d fought taking it on, but seemed to be in her natural element. Maybe she hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed the thrill of the chase.
“I’d like to go back and talk to Dr. Lynch to see if he can give us some insight on the blackmail.”
“Sure. Set up the appointment for as soon as you can. We need to get something solid to Ross soon so that Liz doesn’t end up on trial.”
Chapter Sixteen
The only time I could get an appointment to talk with Dr. Lynch was before his patients came in at eight a.m. I rose with the dawn to get to Chesterton in time. After that, I would head back over to Gallagher’s law firm to have a friendly chat with the two blackmail victims.
As I got close to Lynch’s office, I gave myself a stern warning about not getting defensive again. His belief that Connie was mentally ill and therefore wasn’t fully responsible for what she had done to Liz and countless others was taking it too far, in my opinion. But I needed to keep a level head, so he’d continue being at our disposal.
The door to his office was wide open, so I tapped on the doorframe to let him know I had arrived. He looked up from the plant he was watering, took off his glasses and smiled. “It’s nice to see you again, Ms. Blackwell. Please, come in.”
We skipped the formalities of coffee since we didn’t have long. I was fine with that. I wanted to minimize the time I spent with him. He seemed too smooth for my liking. Plus, I knew I had a long day of interviewing ahead.
“Thanks for allowing me to take more of your time, Dr. Lynch. I know we only have a few minutes, so I’ll get right to the point.” I cleared my throat and forced myself to look him straight in the eye so I could observe his body language.
“We’ve discovered that Connie, ah, Ms. Payne, was blackmailing some of her coworkers and perhaps other people in her life.” I gave him time to respond. I only got a simpering grin as he continued to rock in his office chair. At a stalemate. “What can you tell me about that?”
“Ah…yes. That was something we were working on, though Ms. Payne wasn’t interested in giving up that behavior.” He put his glasses back on. “But I assure you I was not ready to give up, and I believe in time she would have yielded to the treatment and given up that activity.”
“You mean you knew about it? And you didn’t think it important enough to tell us the last time we were here? Do you know how much time we’ve wasted learning about it?”
“I understand you are upset, but I have a continuing responsibility to my patient. She was a wounded soul who had little control over her conduct. I was hardly going to give you information to sully her name when, in all likelihood, it had nothing to do with her murder.”
“Really? You think blackmail couldn’t be the least bit involved in it?” I could hear Gabby’s voice in my head, telling me to cool it or I would alienate him. Clinching my hand so that my nails dug into my palm, I continued in a calm voice. “It would have been nice for you to tell us so we could have determined how important it was, Dr. Lynch.”
He gave a sardonic little laugh, his merriment at my attempt to reign in my anger showing in the brightness of his eyes. “I wasn’t going to allow you to put her, the victim, on trial, Ms. Blackwell. I’m unaccustomed to talking about my patients, and I would not surrender information that could lead you on a witch hunt if you didn’t already know about it.” He picked up a gold-plated ballpoint pen and clicked it on and off. “Of course, had you asked me about it, I would have been forthcoming.”
“How could we,” I modulated my voice to a lighter tone and volume, “ask you about it when we didn’t know about it?”
He looked at me as he continued to play with the ink pen. “As I said, I wasn’t going to give you ammunition to harm my patient’s reputation posthumously. Besides, it’s the suspects’ secrets you need to be flushing out, not the victim’s.”
“You might think that, but all good investigators know they must always return to the victim. To learn about their personality and behavior.” He didn’t need to know I’d heard my mentor, Hercule Poirot, give that advice to his dimwitted, but loveable sidekick, Hastings.
My self-satisfaction was short lived when I caught sight of the clock. I was running out of time. “So, I assume, Dr. Lynch that blackmail would have been in line with Ms. Payne’s personality. Can you give us any further details, perhaps? Names that Ms. Payne mentioned, for example.”
He stopped the irritating pen clicking and thought about it. “No, I don’t believe she ever mentioned any names, though based on what she said, I gathered there were several of them now paying her to keep their dirty little secrets safe. And, I would imagine that the total came to a tidy sum. She seemed pleased about how her income had increased.”
Income? That’s what he called it? For an educated, professional man, he had a laissez faire attitude about crime. I guess if it wasn’t life or death, it didn’t count in his profession. I didn’t know how he could sleep at night. He must’ve never had a secret he’d like to keep hidden. How very nice for him.
I couldn’t wait to get out of there. “Is there anything else that you could tell us about the blackmail or any other criminal behavior of Ms. Payne? I understand you have a responsibility to your patient, although she is beyond caring at this point, but we’re trying to save an innocent victim from being sentenced for her murder.”
“Are you sure she is innocent? Perhaps your friendship with her is clouding your judgement, Ms. Blackwell.”
Th
at was it. I was out of there. He wasn’t going to give me any more information, and I was unwilling to be his morning’s entertainment any longer. I sprang out of my chair and headed towards the door, hoping to escape before I told him what I thought of him. “Well, thank you for your time.”
“Yes, it has been a pleasure. Feel free to contact me again if you have further questions.”
Fat chance.
***
I used the short drive to the law offices to calm down. What was it about that guy that got me so upset? I could usually keep `my emotions in check when talking with someone I didn’t care for. Or at least, I had been, back in the day. Maybe I was alone too much. I’m not the first solopreneur who’s turned hermit-ish when working from home. Now that Ellie was out of the house most of the time, I didn’t get out as much. Maybe I needed to boost back up my social skills by being around people more.
I was pondering taking up a hobby when I walked into the building and up to the reception desk of the law firm. The same bored-looking young woman behind the desk handed me a visitor’s badge and checked a clipboard. She informed me—in an apathetic voice— that the first interviewee would be in the same conference room I’d used before, in a few minutes.
Since I had a few minutes, I availed myself of the facilities and then refilled my Nalgene bottle at a water cooler. I’d had way too much coffee the last time I was here and had been wired well into the evening. That wasn’t to say I’d turn down a cup of Missy’s excellent potion, if she offered.
I was getting set up in the conference room when I wondered if it was wise to interview people in a room made of glass. It would afford us no real privacy. The people I was here to chat with were already reluctant to talk and being on display while being interviewed a second time didn’t seem like the best way to gain their confidence. I took a quick walk down the hallway and found a small conference room that was much more private.
Proud that I’d thought of it, I went back and stuck a note to the door of the former meeting place, telling them to come to the new location. I grabbed up my stuff and moved it all to the other room and then settled in to wait. Maybe I was starting to think like an investigator after all.
Soon after, Jack Taylor trudged in. Without a word, he sat down in the chair opposite me, slouching down to make himself as small a target as possible.
“Good morning, Mr. Taylor. I won’t keep you long today.”
I think I heard a grunt. It was hard to know if I had his attention because he wouldn’t meet my eyes. Trying to put him more at ease, I got up and closed the door.
Nothing would make this easier for him, so I decided to just rip the Band-Aid right off. “We’ve found substantial proof that Connie Payne was blackmailing you, Mr. Taylor. Would you like to tell me about that?”
He shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant way. “What’s there to tell? The crone was bleeding me dry. I’m glad she’s dead.”
“Have you ever been to her home, Mr. Taylor? Do you know where she lived?”
“Why would I wanna go to her house? I couldn’t stand to be anywhere near her. She was always sneering at me and threatening to tell everyone about… tell everyone.”
“We know about the gambling, Mr. Taylor. There’s no need to worry about us telling your secret. Your personal life is only of interest to us as far as it relates to the case.”
He howled. “You think I murdered her? If I was gonna do that, I woulda done it years ago! Why wait till now when I’m so far in the hole I can’t see a way out?”
“I don’t know. You tell me, Mr. Taylor.”
“If I woulda had the guts, I woulda done it. I’ve dreamed about it. But I didn’t do it. Too much of a wimp, I guess.” His mirth spent, he studied his cuticles with a self-loathing frown on his face.
“Were you here at work the day of Ms. Payne’s death, Mr. Taylor?”
“’Course. Where else would I be but here?”
“You haven’t taken any days off or gone out at dinnertime?”
“Nope.” He crossed his arms in front of him.
“Can you tell me where you were on the night of Ms. Payne’s murder?”
He looked up. “What time?”
I stopped taking notes. “About 6:00 p.m.”
“Having a disappointing meal at home with the wife, and then on to where I always am—the local sports bar. I told the cops all of this.”
“Yes, we are just following up. Can you tell me what time you left the building the last time I interviewed you?”
“I dunno. I guess at the same time as always. About 5:00 p.m. Why?”
I left his question hanging. “I saw you talking with a young man from the mailroom after we spoke. You seemed to have quite a conversation. Can you tell me what that was about?”
“I don’t remember. Something about the mail, I guess. Maybe he’d screwed something up again.”
Nope. Wasn’t buying it. “Mr. Taylor, it wasn’t that kind of discussion. You were huddled together. I know you know what I’m talking about. You both looked right at me.”
“Oh, alright. I mighta been giving him a tip. There’s a big game coming up…”
“Did you ask Mr. Benedict to stall me while you put a note on my windshield?” I didn’t know if I should show my hand that much, but I wanted to see his response.
“Mr. Benedict?” He looked perplexed. “Oh, you mean Benny,” he chortled. “No one ever calls him ‘Mr. Benedict.’” I looked at him, waiting for him to answer me. “Lady, I don’t know what note you’re talking about. I didn’t ask him to do anything. I only gave him a tip I’d heard about. He asked me to let him know when I got any hot leads, so I did.”
I’d known Benny wasn’t an Albright Scholar, but he’d be crazy to take a tip from a man who was so bad at gambling. “What did you do when you left here that night?”
“Same thing I always do. Went home, had a crappy meal the wife threw together and then went to a ‘lodge meeting’.” He made air quotes to show me he’d told his wife he was going to a lodge meeting. Where he had gone wasn’t hard to guess.
“Can you supply us with a short list of people who could verify where you were those two nights I’ve asked about?” I slid a piece of paper across the desk to him, letting him know there was no way out of this. “Please include their phone numbers as well.”
He gave me a hateful look, but pulled his phone out of his back pocket.
“Thanks, Mr. Taylor. We appreciate your help.” I got another icy glare from across the table. He stood up, but before he could bolt out the door, I asked him if he had any ideas of who could have killed Connie.
“It coulda been anyone who ever met the ole bat.” With that he opened the conference door and scampered back to the safety and comfort of his office.
Next up was Sophie Billingham. She’d made little impression last time. She seemed a cold fish, but at least she’d been polite, unlike my new friend, Jack.
While I was waiting for Ms. Billingham to arrive, I finished up the notes regarding Mr. Taylor, adding his parting comment about who might have killed Connie. I looked at the list of names and numbers he’d provided. How reliable would they be? Wouldn’t gamblers be likely to back each other up? All the emotion involved in winning and losing money together must form some interesting bonds with people otherwise unlikely to socialize. I shrugged my shoulders. That wasn’t my department.
I jotted down a note to myself to talk to the HR department to verify that both Taylor and Billingham were here the day of Connie’s death in the margin of the page. I should also check the video footage of the front of the building to see if they’d left during that day. Rather than clearing anything up, the interviews seemed to only lead to more work and more questions. I blew out a big breath that caused my auburn bangs to lift. I pushed down my shoulders and tried to relax.
Ms. Billingham walked in and sat down. She tilted her chin up, as if in defiance, and looked me right in the eyes.
“Good morning, Ms. Billingham
.” She nodded. “We need to follow up on some new information that has come to light during our investigation.” Again, I was met with silence and a firm stare.
I turned to a clean sheet of paper and cleared my throat. “We have learned that Ms. Payne was extorting money from some of her coworkers.” She blinked, so I knew she was alive. “Your name is on that list.”
“I don’t deny that. She used the resources anyone could to find out about my past. It’s a part of the public record.”
“Then why pay her?”
“Most people don’t care enough about anyone to check the public record, that’s why. She threatened not only to spread it around the office here, but all around the county so I’d never be able to get another paralegal job. She had me screwed to the wall.”
“May I ask how you got this job with that record?”
“I have a lawyer friend who got me an interview with old man Gallagher. My friend got my history out in the open before I even came in, and I got the job.” She shrugged her shoulders, “I guess Gallagher and I hit it off. My past wasn’t even mentioned. I continued to prove my value to the firm and kept my nose clean.” She looked down at her hands and for the first time gave her discomfort away by playing with the rings she had on. “I don’t know who knows about my record, other than Connie. And I’d rather not find out. Now that the old man has retired, I didn’t want the gossip to start, because I didn’t know if his son would make an example of me by letting me go.”
“You realize you are a suspect on our list?”
“I do. But telling you all that doesn’t change that fact. And neither does it change the fact that I didn’t kill her. I just kept on paying her to keep quiet.”
“She was keeping you poor. Why did you put up with it? Now you can live a much more comfortable life.”
“I felt I didn’t have a choice. Especially when the threat of spreading it around the county started. I love my work and didn’t want to end up flipping burgers because she’d made everyone aware of my past.”