I nodded. “So what happened when you went to the study?”
“Well, I knocked, but there was no answer, so I walked in. Then I found him, slumped over his desk. I called 911, and then I called Ellen to say she needed to come home. I couldn’t find a pulse on Carl and neither could the paramedics.”
“What about Trish?”
“I wasn’t sure what to tell Trish. But I needed to protect her from whoever had poisoned Carl, so I went upstairs and made her come and wait in the living room. I didn’t tell her Carl wasn’t breathing—I just told her he wasn’t feeling well, and when the paramedics got here I made them check her vitals and that she was okay.”
“And then Ellen got home.”
“Yep.”
“What did she say to Trish?”
“Well, at first she just said that Carl wasn’t feeling well. But then she said he was in the hospital and they couldn’t find a pulse.”
“They must’ve been devastated,” I said.
Steve nodded. “Ellen was crying, and when she told Trish, Trish went all pale, and they hugged each other and cried.”
“How terrible,” I said, imagining the scene.
We asked Steve a few more questions about how he liked working for Carl, and what he would do once the job was over. As we talked, I found myself thinking that I had misjudged Steve. He didn’t seem to have anything to hide; he was just one of those men who didn’t like to talk much.
A few minutes later, it was obvious that we’d learn nothing more from Steve, so I said, “We’ll talk to Ellen now. Ian and I can wait in the living room where we talked to her the other day, and we’ll leave you alone with your work.”
Steve nodded and led us to the living room.
“I hope you find out who killed Carl,” he said before leaving us alone. “First time since I started being a bodyguard that I’ve actually seen this happen. Kinda creeps you out.”
Chapter Twenty–Five
Ian and I waited for Ellen in the same sitting room as the last time. The place looked as impeccable as ever, with its traditional-style sofas and cream rug. Once again, Ian reached forward to help himself to a chocolate from the bowl, and this time, I didn’t bother to stop him. I had texted Ellen a few seconds ago, letting her know that we were here, and my phone beeped with her response.
“She’ll be down in a few minutes,” I said.
Suddenly, there were footsteps, and Trish appeared at the door.
“Uh,” she said, looking surprised to see Ian and me. “I didn’t know anyone was in here.”
“Hi,” I said awkwardly. “Did you want a chocolate?”
Trish walked forward warily. “We don’t keep any desserts in the house, but sometimes I feel like having a Kit Kat.”
“That’s understandable,” I said. “Chocolate helps you feel happier. This must be a difficult time for you.”
Trish shrugged. “I feel bad for my mom.”
“And you must miss Carl,” I prompted. “Although you probably didn’t see him that often, since you were at boarding school most of the time.”
Trish rolled her eyes. “I saw him enough.”
“It must’ve been hard for you when your parents fought,” I said, taking a stab in the dark.
Trish looked at me warily. “Carl and my mom never fought.”
“It’s okay,” I said, trying to sound reassuring. “I know they fought a lot. The ‘never fought’ line was just something for the press.”
“Yeah,” she said slowly.
“It must’ve been hard for you.”
Trish shrugged. “Our bedrooms were on opposite sides of the house. So I never heard them.”
“But your mother would be upset the next day,” I said.
Something seemed to crack in Trish’s veneer of coolness. Her shoulders slumped, and she stared down at her feet, looking miserable, and nodded.
“Mom would have red, puffy eyes the next day. She would wear thick makeup all the time, just to hide the bruises he left her. Sometimes I asked why she didn’t leave him, but she said they were happy together. I knew she was staying with him because of me, but I don’t need to go to a fancy boarding school. I don’t need to live like a rich person—I just wanted my mom to be happy.”
“Sometimes people stay in unhappy relationships because they’re not unhappy all the time,” I said gently. “Your mother must’ve loved Carl.”
Trish stood up abruptly and shook her head. “No, she didn’t love him. She was only with him because of me. And I’m sorry Carl died this way, but I’m even sorrier that my mother has to go through all this craziness. I hope everything ends soon.”
She left the room abruptly, and Ian and I looked at each other.
“That was odd,” I said. “But if Ellen and Carl weren’t happy together…”
“She wasn’t just unhappy,” said Ian. “Carl was as abusive and violent as Emma said he was.”
My mind began to race along like a high-speed train, but before I could come to any conclusions, Ellen appeared in the doorway.
“I’m sorry I kept you waiting,” she said, coming over and sitting down opposite us. “Now, what can I help you two with? I hope your chat with Steve went well?”
“Yes,” I said. “It went very well. In fact, we learned a lot.”
Ellen smiled. Once again, I noticed how calm she was, how elegant and in control of the situation. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“Yes,” I said. “All this time, I thought that there was no way you could have been better off after Carl’s death. But I was wrong. You’re clearly much better off now that Carl’s dead.”
“Excuse me?” Ellen looked from me to Ian seriously. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“You were unhappy with Carl,” said Ian. “He used to hit you. He was violent and horrible. Now that he’s dead, you don’t have any money, but you’re happy. And you’re not in an abusive relationship anymore.”
“I’m not sure how you even…” Ellen looked at me steadily, but I held her gaze, daring her to keep bluffing about how perfect her relationship had been.
“We know all about your horrible marriage,” I said. “Is that why you killed Carl?”
Chapter Twenty–Six
Ellen stared at us, as though she couldn’t comprehend our words. Her brows were slightly knit together, and her eyes had a look of wary confusion. “I’m not sure what you’re saying.”
I had to give her credit; she was an excellent actress.
“We know all about your unhappy marriage,” I said. “We know that Carl was violent and abusive.”
Ellen stared back at me silently, her brow still knit. Finally, she said, “I’m not sure what makes you say that. Carl and I had a perfectly happy marriage.”
“Give it a rest,” said Ian. “We know the truth.”
Ellen shook her head, still looking as though she couldn’t believe what we were saying. “You must be mistaken. Why would I kill Carl?”
“To get out of an abusive marriage,” I repeated, getting slightly tired of this charade.
“Okay,” she said, “I wasn’t perfectly happy with my marriage. But I knew I had to make some sacrifices. I wanted to provide Trish with a better life. And I always knew that even if Carl left me something in his will, it wouldn’t be enough to provide the kind of lifestyle Trish would have if he were alive. Carl could’ve pulled strings at his alma mater to make sure that Trish got a good college education, and when the time came, he would’ve introduced her to his associates so she could get a good job. I didn’t mind making sacrifices, so long as I knew Trish would have a great future.”
I frowned. Ellen seemed so sincere, but I couldn’t let myself get sucked into her web of lies.
“You might have thought that,” I said, “until it got to be too much. Carl must’ve done something that made you snap, and you decided that Trish was smart enough to pave her own way in her life. So you got yourself some weed killer, and you poisoned his coffee. You knew better than anyone
else that Carl liked to stay up at night in his study, drinking his decaf and working on his campaign.”
“No,” said Ellen. “You’re mistaken. I wasn’t even home that day. I was at the Strip since early afternoon.”
“You could’ve driven home quickly,” I said, frowning. But if there had been a gap in Ellen’s alibi, the cops would’ve picked it up. “Or maybe you took a cab home, poisoned his decaf, and then rushed straight back to a casino. Maybe you bribed the driver to go as fast as he could, and he ran all the red lights.”
Ellen laughed shortly. “What is this, some kind of spy movie? I don’t know where you’re coming up with this, but it’s not what happened.”
“Oh?” said Ian. “Then what happened?”
“I’m not sure,” said Ellen. “Isn’t that why you’re investigating?”
I nodded. “But now we know that out of everyone, you had the most to gain from Carl’s death.”
“I wasn’t even home, so I couldn’t have done it. Someone might have snuck in through the back door,” said Ellen. “The police said that it was suspicious how it was unlocked.”
“Yes, but that back door isn’t important anymore,” I said. “What’s important is your relationship with Carl. Other people might have hated Carl’s politics, but nobody else was as affected in their everyday life as you were. He must’ve made your life miserable, and I’m sorry about that. But it pushed you over the edge, and you went and got some weed killer and decided to end things.”
Ellen’s expression grew increasingly perplexed. “How would I even get hold of the right kind of weed killer?” she said. “Most weed killers aren’t that poisonous.”
“Of course you’d know that,” said Ian smugly. “You probably read up on some gardening blog about which was the strongest type of weed killer, and then you went to some garden center and bought that.”
Ellen shook her head. “I never buy anything to do with gardening. All my credit cards were linked to Carl’s. He would have noticed if I bought something odd.”
“Then you could have gotten one of those prepaid credit cards,” said Ian. “You can buy them for cash from any bodega or convenience store. Or you could’ve just paid with cash.”
Ellen frowned and shook her head, as though she were trying to make sense of it. “You can’t fly interstate with weed killer.”
“So you must’ve bought it here in Vegas,” I said. “I’m sure I can show your photo around at various garden centers, and we’ll find you on some security footage buying your poison of choice.”
I noticed a strange mixture of emotions washing over Ellen’s face. Her perplexity was replaced with something like recognition, followed by something that looked like horror. Finally, a mask devoid of expression covered all her features. “This is insane. There’s no way you can prove this.”
“We can go to the cops with what we’ve learned,” I said. “I’ve solved lots of cases in the past, and Detective Elwood tends to take me seriously. All they have to do is find video footage of you buying the weed killer.”
“Even if I did buy weed killer, that doesn’t prove I had anything to do with Carl’s death,” said Ellen. “I might’ve just wanted to do some gardening. Without proof, there’s no case.”
“I think the cops will be able to make a strong enough case,” I said. “Especially once they prove that you purchased the weed killer. Carl was violent towards you, which gives you motive; you purchased the weed killer, which gives you means.”
“I wasn’t even home,” said Ellen. “I was at the Strip the entire time.”
“You could’ve caught a cab back, poisoned Carl’s coffee, and then cabbed back to the Strip. You had a key to the back door, and you knew it wasn’t monitored, so nobody would see you coming or going. It shouldn’t be too hard for the cops to make their case against you.”
As soon as I said this, Ellen’s face went pale. “Okay,” she said slowly. “I killed Carl. I did it.”
I stared at Ellen in shock. She seemed to be half-surprised by the words coming out of her mouth, and her eyes glimmered with a strange mix of disappointment and resignation.
“So you’re admitting to it?” I said. Our whole conversation was beginning to seem kind of bizarre. “You really killed him?”
Ellen nodded. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“For all the reasons you said. He was abusive, I was unhappy, and I decided to end things.”
“Hang on,” said Ian, looking very confused. “Why did you even marry him if he was abusive, and he made you sign a crazy-strict prenup?”
Ellen shrugged, and the light went out of her eyes. “I was in a difficult situation. I could see that Trish wasn’t going to get a good education at the public high school in Indiana, and I wanted her to have the best. Carl promised me he’d take care of her, that he’d send her to the best schools and colleges, help her network with the right people. I knew he’d help her get set for life.”
I frowned. Ellen’s story somehow didn’t add up. “So logically, you thought being married to Carl was the right thing for Trish. And then one day, you just lost it?”
“I guess so,” said Ellen drily.
“And why did Carl marry you? What was in it for him?”
“I guess he wanted to marry an ugly woman,” said Ellen bitterly. “He was scared of attractive women; he said they always had their men by the balls. He was an angry, violent person, but he was too scared to hit a woman if she was beautiful. It was okay to hit a woman who was ugly. He was messed up that way.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said, staring at Ellen in shock. “I can’t imagine how you put up with this for two whole years.”
Ellen sat up a little straighter. “I did it for Trish. I would do anything for Trish.”
There was a moment of silence. Ellen gazed out the window, her eyes sad and thoughtful, and Ian and I glanced from Ellen to each other. My heart broke for Ellen and what she’d gone through, but something about her story didn’t feel right.
“Hang on,” said Ian suddenly, “What about the fact that you weren’t home all day?”
Ellen looked back at us and shrugged. “I guess I took a cab and bribed the driver to go fast.”
“There’s probably a record of your rides at the cab company,” said Ian.
“I paid cash,” said Ellen quickly. “Sometimes cab company records don’t work properly.”
“Okay,” I said. “I guess this makes our lives easier.”
“Great,” said Ellen. “You’re not going to go to the cops with this, are you?”
I gave Ellen an incredulous stare. “Of course, we have to tell them.”
Ellen shook her head. “Please, don’t tell them. I’ll pay you whatever you want.”
I picked my jaw up off the floor and said, “How would you pay me? You don’t have any money now that Carl’s dead.”
“I can sell my house, or the apartment in Florida,” she said. “And Carl gave me some expensive jewelry, I can sell that. I’ll make sure I can pay you whatever you want, I’ll take a loan from somewhere if I have to. Please don’t go to the cops.”
Ian and I exchanged a glance. In the course of being a private investigator, I’ve often come across people who want to convince me not to go to the cops. Most of the time, however, they try to use force as a way of doing so. Death threats and threats of bodily harm have been quite common in my past. Bribery, however, was something I wasn’t used to.
“I can’t do that,” I said. “My loyalty is to Gary.”
“I’ll make sure Gary’s let off the hook,” said Ellen. “We’ll think of something to tell the cops so that there’s no way Gary could’ve killed Carl. Please, just accept the deal. How much money would it take to convince you? A hundred thousand dollars? Two hundred thousand?”
I stared at her, trying to put my finger on why this whole thing felt so wrong. And there it was—the fact that even as she admitted her guilt, she seemed to be surprised by it. Perhaps the whole thing had happened
while she had been in a trancelike state, and now she was having to remember it all.
“We can’t do that,” said Ian. “We don’t take bribes.”
“It’s a lot of money,” said Ellen. “And if you don’t want the money, I can get you anything else. Publicity, introductions to celebrities, anything you want.”
I stood up slowly, and Ian followed my lead.
“We’re not going to consider a bribe,” I said. “There’s no way you can convince us not to go to the cops with this information.”
Just then, Trish rushed into the room, her eyes wild and her face flushed.
“You can’t go to the cops,” she said. “My mother had nothing to do with it. I’m the one who killed Carl.”
Chapter Twenty–Seven
“Trish, darling,” said Ellen, “you don’t know what you’re saying.”
She stood up and made as though to walk over to her daughter, but Trish dashed away from her and stood behind a sofa.
“It’s the truth,” said Trish, glaring at her mother. “All my life, you’ve been trying to protect me. You keep trying to do things for me, but I don’t need you to do them. I’m fine—we’re fine—without Carl and his money.”
Ellen began to walk slowly toward Trish, one arm stretched ahead of her as though she was approaching a wild animal.
“Trish,” said Ellen, “you don’t mean this. You don’t need to do this now.”
“I do,” said Trish, her eyes flashing with an angry fire. “I knew you’d never leave him, and I just couldn’t take it anymore. The way he… the way you looked… I needed it to stop. I couldn’t watch you going through this anymore.”
“Trish,” said Ellen, “it’s not—”
Trish shook her head. “I know you sent me away to boarding school so that I didn’t have to see it every day, but I knew it every day, what you went through. I couldn’t live like that. And neither could you.”
“Darling, that’s not—”
“I made sure you spent all day at the Strip,” said Trish. “I knew the cops would suspect the wife, so I created the perfect alibi for you.”
Pesky Politicians in Las Vegas Page 14