Textbook Murder

by Laina Turner

  Chloe felt bad. She didn’t want Mallory’s feelings to be hurt.

  “Mallory, it’s nothing against you. Just something’s going on right now, and I don’t want to bore you with the details.”

  “I understand.”

  Chloe could tell Mallory still wanted to know but was being nice enough to leave it alone. While Mallory started talking about the relationship with John again, Chloe’s mind wandered off to the conversation with Brian. Even though he hadn’t given much of a description to go on, the guy Brian described sounded much like the person who had been eavesdropping on her conversation with Randall. That meant someone with ties to Randall’s company, GlobE, wanted to know what he was up to, but what would be the connection to Bill?

  After finishing the bottle of wine and making a serious dent in a second, they finally went to bed. Chloe couldn’t stop wondering what Bill had uncovered that led to his death.

  Chapter 15

  The sound of her phone vibrating on the nightstand woke Chloe up. She grabbed it to see it was just after six in the morning. Early, especially after the wine last night. She had found herself having a lot of fun with Mallory, and it had been great to have girl talk and unwind.

  “It’s Detective Rodriguez. Did I wake you?” Jack asked when Chloe answered, her voice clearly sounding like one does in the morning when they just woke up, haven’t had anything to drink, or talked to anyone yet.

  “No, not at all. I’ve been up for hours,” she croaked, wondering how he sounded so chipper. He’d probably had less sleep than she had.

  “Well, in that case, I’m sure you’ll be interested to hear what I have to say.”

  “Just a second,” Chloe said, and then took a few seconds to sit up so she was in a better position to pay attention.

  “Okay. Shoot.”

  “We ran the prints we lifted from your apartment and we got a hit. A Joe Barber. He was in the system for a minor burglary charge from over ten years ago.”

  Chloe took in this information before saying, “Is that supposed to mean anything to me?”

  “I’m getting to that part. He also works at GlobE.”

  That bit of information made Chloe sit straight up. “Doing what?”

  “He’s a security guard.”

  “A security guard with a record? That’s unusual, especially for a company like GlobE,” Chloe said.

  “It probably helps that Joe is Marshall Cooper’s cousin,” Jack said.

  “The Marshall Cooper who now runs GlobE?” That bit of information woke her up.

  “That very one.”

  “That means there’s a good chance Marshall had him spy on Randall. But why?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  “Randall told me they didn’t always get along, but I don’t know why Marshall would be keeping tabs on him.”

  “Could you ask?” Jack said. “I hate to call him into the station. Considering the media is on top of him, it would create a circus, and one that no one needs. I would rather not lose sight of this case by having all the attention that would bring overshadow it.”

  “Sure. I’ll ask him and get back to you.”

  Chloe got up and went to the bathroom to wash her face. By the time she was finished with her abbreviated morning routine, she smelled coffee coming from the direction of the kitchen.

  When she stepped into the kitchen, Mallory was pouring a cup. She looked up as Chloe walked in.

  “Good morning. Coffee?”

  “Please. Black is fine.”

  “Have a seat.” Mallory gestured to the kitchen table. “Coffee coming right up.”

  Chloe sat down, and Mallory set a steaming cup of coffee in front of her. She inhaled the heavenly fragrance, feeling her brain cells start to perk up.

  “Thanks, Mallory. I needed this after last night!”

  She smiled. “Yeah, we did get a little carried away with the wine, didn’t we?”

  “Nothing a little coffee won’t fix.”

  “I’m going to take a shower, Chloe, then head to work. I know you don’t have a class today, so feel free to hang out here if you want. The code to the garage keypad is four, four, four, four, so you can come and go as you please, and there’s plenty of food. Help yourself.”

  “Thanks, Mallory. I really appreciate it.”

  “Not a problem. You’re welcome to stay as long as you need to.”

  Chloe was glad for Mallory’s hospitality, especially since she hardly knew her. As crazy as events had been around here, it was nice to know she had made a friend.

  After Mallory left for work, Chloe called Randall and left him a message to call her. Then she decided to call John at her old law firm and see what he might know about the case. She probably should have done it sooner. John was a great resource, even if he was a couple states away.

  She was lucky and caught him between meetings. When she finished explaining the situation and what she needed help with, he started laughing.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You. You keep saying you want the quiet career of a law professor, yet you’ve got yourself smack dab in the middle of one of the highest profile cases of the year. I can’t help but find it funny.”

  “I’m just trying to help a friend out. One I think is innocent,” Chloe said, trying to keep the annoyance that he was right out of her voice.

  “Watch out. Before you know it, you’ll want to be a criminal defense attorney.”

  “Not a chance. Now, are you going to help me or not?” she grumbled good-naturedly, knowing John was just teasing her.

  “Of course. Let me make some calls and I’ll call you back.”

  “Okay. Thanks, John.”

  When she got off the phone, she decided she would see what she could dig up herself on Marshall. She got her laptop and sat down at the kitchen table with another cup of coffee. Two cups later and she hadn’t learned anything she didn’t already know, that was relevant anyways. She was about to call Randall again when her phone rang. It was John.

  “That was quick. Find out anything interesting for me?”

  “Actually, yes. I talked to a contact at the FBI, and he said they feel they’ve got evidence that points more in the direction of the other partner. Not Randall.”

  “Really? Then why haven’t they done anything about it?”

  “Not enough evidence. This is what they know so far,” John said, and proceeded to fill her in.

  “Wow,” was all she could say when he finished.

  “It’s quite a case they’ve got going on.”

  “Thanks, John.”

  “No problem. Let me know when you’re ready to come back and be a practicing attorney.”

  “Funny, John.” He was always telling her she was wasting her skills. He just didn’t understand that it didn’t appeal to her.

  “Never say never,” he continued to tease.

  “Bye, John.”

  Chapter 16

  “I still can’t believe it. Are you positive about this?” Randall asked Chloe, not wanting to believe the information she just told him, after swearing him to secrecy. What John had told her was in confidence and could jeopardize the investigation if it got out. Chloe had hesitated about telling Randall, almost deciding not to, but she really felt she could trust him. Plus, she wanted to offer him the little bit of relief that this news might bring.

  Chloe nodded. “I’m sorry. I wish I were, but according to John’s source, the evidence points in this direction.”

  The direction Chloe was referring to was Marshall Cooper, second in charge at GlobE, and Randall’s best friend—at least, that’s what Randall had thought. From Marshall’s alleged actions, it didn’t seem to be a mutual feeling. From what Chloe had been able to find out, Marshall was apparently the one who had framed Randall with embezzling money from the company. Money that Marshall stole, then tried setting things up to make it look as if Randall were in cahoots with the Arab and Japanese companies wanting to buy GlobE. In reality,
it was Marshall who was the one wanting the sale of the company to go through. John had told her Randall was due to be absolved of the charges against him soon. The FBI were just finishing up their investigation into Marshall.

  “Do they think he killed Bill?” Randall asked.

  “That I don’t know. What do you think?”

  “I can’t imagine Marshall doing that, but maybe he found out Bill had information he didn’t want to come out. Clearly, I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did.” Randall paused, and then looked up at Chloe, eyes wide. “Oh, God. Does that mean you could be in danger? What if someone finds out that you know this and comes after you? Or me, now that we know the truth,” Randall said, almost in a panic. “I would hate to be responsible for something happening to you.”

  “Calm down, Randall. Nothing’s going to happen to me,” she said, putting her hand on his arm, trying to reassure him.

  “I’m sure Bill felt the same way. It’s my fault he’s dead.” His voice trembled. “I guess I knew that already, but . . .

  “Why would Marshall do this to me?”

  “We won’t know for sure until we ask him, but I’m sure at the bottom of all this is money. Money tends to be the thing that leads people astray. And Jack got a print from my apartment that belongs to a Joe Barber. A security guard at GlobE. Supposed to be a cousin of Marshall’s. Did you know anything about that?”

  Randall’s eyes widened in surprise.

  “And the car of the guy who was listening to us at the coffee shop is registered to GlobE.”

  At that, Randall dropped his head in his hands.

  “I take it you didn’t know Marshall had relatives working for GlobE?”

  “No. Not that it would have been a problem. I wouldn’t have stopped him. Criminal or not. Family first and all that. I guess I’m an idiot.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re a good guy. None of this is your fault.

  “Why would Marshall have this guy following you?” she asked.

  “You got me there. I don’t know.

  “You’re sure about this?” Randall asked, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. Chloe understood he was shocked that someone he considered his best friend, and with whom he’d built his company, could do this to him. It was hard for anyone to accept being betrayed, especially on this magnitude, of being sent to jail. Even though Chloe had seen a lot of crazy human behavior, it still never failed to surprise her.

  “Yes. Tillman Enterprises is a shell corporation that leads right back to Marshall, of course, in a roundabout way. But in the end, you can’t completely eliminate the paper trail. Not with today’s technology. Everything is trackable. From what they’ve learned, Marshall not only pocketed the money you were accused of stealing, but was also selling company secrets to the same people he tried to blame for corrupting you. Smart man. You have to give him credit. He was close to getting away with it.”

  “He’s a genius. We built this company into what it is today because of him. He was the research guy, and I was the businessman who figured out his ideas were worth a lot of money and could help people. I thought he was as passionate about this as I was. I thought we were going to make a difference for the good guys.”

  “Somewhere that changed, Randall. And you’ll get your chance to find out where. We are going to figure out how to get him to admit what he did, and in a way that allows us the chance to record his admission. Therefore, proving your innocence,” Chloe finished, sounding very much like the lawyer she was.

  “That’s a bold statement. I presume you have a plan?” Randall asked.

  Chloe just looked at him.

  “No plan?” he said, looking worried.

  “Of course I have a plan. I’m just not sure it’s a plan you will love.”

  Randall raised his eyebrows. “I’m listening.”

  “You need to call him and arrange a meeting.”

  “Me? Shouldn’t the authorities handle this? And I’m not supposed to talk to him.”

  “Honestly? Yes. But I don’t want to wait for them, do you?”

  “You think calling him could clear my name?”

  “It’s a start in that direction.”

  “Putting aside the fact that if I’m in close quarters with that man I may not be able to resist wringing his neck, don’t you think he’s going to be suspicious of me wanting to meet with him?”

  “Probably, but I think there may be a way around that—and killing him won’t keep you out of jail, so you need to refrain.”

  “Okay.” Randall sighed, resigned to pretending to make peace with the enemy, at least temporarily. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Call him and tell him you want to meet. Tell him you know what he did and are pissed but not pissed enough to not want a piece of the action. If he doesn’t want to meet with you, threaten to tell the police everything you know.”

  “You think he’ll bite?”

  “Guys like him trip themselves up with their own arrogance in thinking they won’t get caught. I bet he’ll bite, and probably agree to cut you in, all the while thinking about how to double-cross you. But that part won’t matter, since we just need him to incriminate himself so we can turn him over to the police. Then they can handle the rest.”

  “All right. I’ll do it. I just hope it works.”

  “It will,” Chloe said with more confidence than she felt. Feeling a little nauseated that instead of helping, she could be making this whole thing that much worse for him.

  “How are you going to capture this? Record him?”

  “Yes. Here is a small recorder that I use sometimes to tape my lectures, and then use a USB port to transfer to my computer.”

  “You know it’s not really taping, more just recording.”

  “Whatever.” Chloe smiled, glad Randall still had his sense of humor.

  “How do we know he won’t pat me down to see if I’m wearing a wire?”

  “You’ve watched too many cop shows. Even if he’s watched the same shows, his pat down,” she said, using finger quotes, “won’t find this. You just need to put it somewhere he won’t be inclined to pat.”

  “I should just stick it in my underwear,” Randall joked, and then noticed Chloe wasn’t laughing.

  “Really? You want me to stick it in my underwear?”

  Chloe nodded, trying to hide her smile.

  “A little tape will keep it in place, and he surely won’t pat you down there.”

  “I think that’s a safe bet,” Randall said dryly. “We were close, but not that close.”

  “You will just want to make sure to wear loose-fitting pants, so the mic isn’t too constricted. It’s got great range, so I’m not too worried.”

  “Okay. I’ll make sure to leave my skinny jeans at home.”

  “Now all you need to do is call him,” she said, ignoring his sarcasm and sliding his phone a little closer to him as encouragement.

  He picked it up, fingers paused for a moment before hitting the familiar speed dial button. Marshall answered on the second ring, and Randall put the phone on speaker so Chloe could hear. She was a little surprised Marshall answered. The fact he did made her feel even more certain this plan would work.

  “Why are you calling me?” Marshall barked, sounding none too happy.

  “Nice to hear from you, too, Marshall.”

  “Of course it’s good to hear from you, Randall, but you know you shouldn’t be calling me. I can’t get caught chatting with someone who embezzled money from the company I’m still working for.” His tone softened, making Chloe’s skin crawl.

  “Nice to hear you assume I’m guilty.” Randall couldn’t resist baiting him a little bit.

  “Oh, Randall, of course I don’t think you’re guilty. I don’t know what’s all happened here, but you’re my best friend. I know you didn’t do it,” Marshall said, but it rang false to Chloe’s ears. She glanced at Randall and saw it did to his as well. “But as long as others do, I can’t jeopardize the work
we’ve done.”

  “I need to talk to you face-to-face, Marshall.”

  “Randall, I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

  Chloe could tell that Randall, while apprehensive about contacting Marshall at first, was now pissed. She didn’t blame him.

  “Cut the bullshit, Marshall,” Randall said, his tone no longer conversational.

  “What do you—”

  Randall cut him off. “I know it was you. You framed me. For reasons I can’t understand, you framed your best friend and took the money for yourself.”

  “Now, Randall, I—”

  Randall cut him off again, “I said cut the bullshit, Marshall. Shut up and listen to me.”

  Chloe sat listening to the exchange, proud of the way Randall was maintaining control of both the situation and the anger she knew he had to feel toward his former best friend. She just hoped Marshall didn’t get scared off after realizing Randall knew what he was up to. Her guess was he was too arrogant to think Randall had figured it out.

  “Now, I know what you did,” Randall repeated, “and yes, I’m pissed as hell. However, I’m going to put that aside for now because I know how you can repay me for what you’ve done. And this can be a win-win for all parties involved.”

  There was silence on the other end of the phone, and Chloe knew Randall had Marshall’s attention. A few more seconds passed, and Marshall finally spoke.

  “What do you want, Randall?” he said in a low voice laced with steel.

  “I told you. I want to meet face-to-face. It can be somewhere where no one will recognize us, but we will meet. Tonight.”

  “I can’t tonight. I have a—”

  “Then cancel it. Unless you want me to go to the police with everything I know, which will give me my freedom and land you in jail.”

  “Okay. Where?” Chloe gave an excited thumbs-up. Randall had him.

  “There’s that old shipping yard just outside of town. You know, where we—”

  “I know perfectly well.” Marshall was the one to cut him off this time. Chloe could tell Randall had finally gotten to him. He wasn’t as cool, calm, and collected as he’d been at the start of the conversation.