The Return of the Fallen Angels Book Club (A Hollis Morgan Mystery 3)

by R. Franklin James

  I bet it does.

  Hollis looked down at her file again. “Well, I guess that’s all the questions I have for now. Can I call you again if something else pops up? I know you want this settled as fast as possible.”

  “Yes, yes, please do what you can.” Frances picked up the tissue but didn’t use it. “It’s very lonely here without Jeffrey.”

  “Yes, I can imagine,” Hollis said. “Do you have any questions for me?”

  “This might sound terrible, but I don’t know anyone else to ask.” Frances licked her lips. “If Brian is convicted, does he still get his share of the trust?”

  Hollis looked her in the eyes. “If he’s found guilty and a reason for the murder ….” Hollis swallowed. “If a motive for the murder was to benefit from the estate, then no.”

  Frances sat up a little straighter. “Then let’s hope things turn out for the best.”

  Hollis nodded, but she was pretty sure she and Frances would disagree on the meaning of ‘for the best.’

  The weekend went by slowly. Hollis and John spent a quiet weekend reading, doing laundry, eating in, and watching the Doctor Who marathon. Then it was Monday morning, and she missed him the moment she knew his flight had taken off. He called her from the airport while she was still at home, and again after she had just arrived at work. The calls were welcome but their conversations felt awkward and stiff. The last one was an improvement.

  “Good luck with the training,” she said.

  “Good luck to you, too.”

  She whispered, “I love you.”

  “I know.”

  Mosley had left a message that the tracer he put on her phone hadn’t come up with any results. The caller was definitely using a throwaway phone.

  Hollis wasn’t as much afraid as she was annoyed. She was pretty sure the calls were being made by Shelby’s siblings. If they thought they could intimidate her the same way they meant to intimidate Shelby, they were going to be sorely disappointed.

  After working steadily all morning, she made herself a cup of tea. She had a little time before meeting with the Fallen Angels, and her thoughts drifted to Frances’ comment about Jeffrey helping her out of bad times. Hollis wanted to know what the bad times were.

  She punched in Brian’s number.

  “Hi, Hollis, thanks for calling. Gene and I had lunch yesterday, and he told me you were going to meet with Frances. Did you learn anything?” he asked.

  “Brian, do you recall Frances’ situation before she and your father were wed?”

  “Not really. I didn’t know he had met someone until just before they got married. I was still in high school.” He was silent for a moment before adding, “She was working at another job. She quit about two years ago to start her own consulting business.”

  “She said your father helped her through bad times. Do you know what she was referring to?”

  “No.”

  Hollis took a deep breath. “Brian, what did you and your father argue about that day?”

  He didn’t respond right away, then he said, “That answer is going to take a while. Look, I’ve got to get ready for a meeting with my attorney in an hour. How about after that?” There was little emotion in Brian’s voice, as if he was making an effort to maintain his cool, but she could hear him breathing heavily.

  “I’ve got a meeting after that. How about late afternoon?”

  “Okay. Do you mind coming here to the house? I haven’t been feeling well today.”

  “Sure, not a problem.” Hollis looked at her watch. “I’ll come by right after my meeting. Will five o’clock be all right?”

  “See you then.” He hung up.

  This time Hollis was the first to arrive at the library. She spread out her notes in the middle of the table and was in the midst of making small stacks when Gene walked in.

  “Do you think we have any kind of handle on this thing?” he asked, sitting next to her.

  Hollis shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. Greed and opportunism are not crimes. It’s sad to think that this is Jeffrey’s legacy, but people have killed for less.”

  “So you think Brian did it?”

  She frowned. She had avoided asking herself that question. “I don’t know.”

  Richard and Miller arrived together. The mood in the room was subdued.

  “Why the glum faces?” Rena dropped her purse and a stack of papers on the table. “I’m not that late.”

  Everyone chuckled.

  “You seem pretty perky,” Gene said. “What’s that about?”

  Rena pulled out a piece of blue paper.

  “ ’Cause I gots news.”

  Gene smiled. “Do tell.”

  “If you remember, my assignment was to find out if Frances was in good standing with her gambling debts.” Rena glanced at each of them in turn. “Well, not only does ol’ Frances have excellent credit, she’s talking to some people about buying into a casino.”

  Richard sucked on his front tooth and started going through the stack of pages next to him. “You’re kidding me. I read over those trust papers and tax returns. There isn’t that much money.” He tossed the papers in the middle of the table.

  Hollis frowned. “When did she start talking to these people?”

  Rena nodded, “About three months ago.”

  Three months—that time period again. Hollis flashed to a conversation she had with Brian about how Frances had filed for divorce three months ago.

  Hollis looked over at Richard. “Were you able to get access to their bank accounts?”

  Richard nodded. “Nothing special. About fifteen grand in the savings account, a substantial government 401k for him, and a modest investment portfolio in her name.”

  “How do you find out these things?” Rena asked.

  “I got the account numbers from the trust and asked a friend to get me the balances.” Richard took off his glasses.

  Miller had already started on a sea green origami crane. “How big is Jeffrey’s insurance policy?”

  Richard replied, “Five hundred thousand. It’s a lot, but it doesn’t seem enough to finance a casino. They still have a mortgage.” He raised one eyebrow. “Of course, depending on the policy, it could climb to one mil.”

  “I’ve got to think that the insurance beneficiary would have been the first place the police would have looked for a suspect,” Gene said. “They arrested Brian, not Frances.”

  “Gene, how did your meeting with Brian go?” Hollis asked.

  Gene shrugged. “He either has academy award winning acting potential or he is sincerely trying to find out about his father’s estate. Either way, he doesn’t seem too concerned about being accused of murder. He also doesn’t seem that interested in finding out who did kill his father.”

  “I noticed that too,” Hollis said.

  Rena rubbed her forehead. “What’s his background?”

  “He’s a supply manager for a wholesale company,” Gene said. “He graduated from San Francisco State and is at the same job he took right after college. He has a longtime girlfriend. He said they’re thinking of getting married next year. Pretty ordinary, actually.”

  “That it?” Richard asked.

  “Yeah, but I learned something interesting.” Gene frowned. “There was one odd moment. I asked if Frances had any children from her former marriages. She didn’t. Then I said something about growing up Jeffrey’s only child and he said he wasn’t. He has an older brother who left home when he was a teenager.”

  “What was so odd about that?” Miller asked. “Although, he didn’t show up for his father’s funeral.”

  Gene jutted an index finger into the air. “Exactly. I think Brian was holding something back.”

  Hollis straightened. “What about?”

  Gene shrugged. “I don’t know, just a sense. I’m not as good as you are with lie detecting.”

  “Interesting,” she said. “I have a meeting with him this evening. I want to talk to him about his argument with Jeffrey.
I never thought about doing this, but maybe I should run PeopleSearch on Brian.” Hollis was talking to herself more than the others. She wondered why she hadn’t considered it at their last meeting. But until now it hadn’t occurred to her that a public records search could possibly turn anything up. “It could answer a few questions.”

  Richard stopped slouching and looked up. “It couldn’t hurt.”

  “I agree, but where do we go from here?” Rena asked. “I’ve got a buyer’s trip coming up for the store, and I have to prepare. Are you going to need me for the next couple of days?”

  Miller put away his origami papers. “Yeah, I need to get ready for our quarterly board meeting.”

  “We have a little time before Brian wants to file the trust,” Hollis said. “Other than a lot of curious and suspicious findings, I don’t think we have any reason not to let it go forward.”

  Richard gathered his folders. “Maybe there’s nothing to find.”

  Hollis frowned. “On the other hand, there is just too much smoke.”

  “Well, we’re running out of time,” Gene added.

  “Okay,” she said. “I’m going to go to the police with our random puzzle pieces. They may have some of their own.” She started putting on her coat. “I’ll visit with Detective Mosley and see how the investigation is going. Since you guys seem to be busy, we can wait until next week to get together. If I discover anything new, or if any of us thinks of anything new, we’ll arrange to meet earlier.”

  Gene gave his briefcase a pat. “Sounds like a plan,” he said.

  Chapter 16

  Hollis got back to her office with an hour to spare before her meeting with Brian. She logged on to her computer, called up PeopleSearch, and entered a public records request on his background.

  While she waited, she called Mosley and got him on his cell.

  “Detective, would it be possible to meet with you tomorrow about the Jeffrey Wallace case?”

  “What about it?”

  “I’d rather talk to you in person,” she said. “There’s a good chance you haven’t arrested the real killer.”

  “And you think you know who the real killer is? Do you have any solid information or is this just speculation?”

  Hollis hesitated. It wouldn’t do for him to classify her as a pest.

  “I’d like to share with you what we’ve stumbled across,” she said. “You can decide if it’s solid information, but it may throw some new light on your investigation.”

  “Okay, make it in the afternoon. I’m out all morning.”

  Brian looked pale and agitated. Dressed in sweat pants and an oversized T-shirt, he hadn’t shaved and his hair appeared to be finger-combed.

  They were standing in his living room, now cluttered with the addition of his father’s office furniture and stacks of boxes. Jeffrey’s wall poster leaned against the wall. A few open boxes were sitting on a side table, and Hollis could see papers, folders, and probably more personal effects from his office. The fireplace mantle was covered with pictures and trophies and what looked like an empty beer can.

  Brian proceeded to pace back and forth.

  She made room on the sofa to sit, after moving a soiled paper plate and napkin onto the coffee table.

  “Coffee?” Brian offered.

  “No, thanks. I drink tea,” Hollis said.

  “I don’t have any tea. What about water?”

  “No, thanks. Really, I’m fine. Brian, you said we could talk about your argument with your dad. What was it about?”

  He ignored her question.

  “I’ve got to get to the office. Since the arrest I’ve been going in after hours. I don’t want to talk to anybody about my situation. I’m really behind on my paperwork. My boss keeps leaving me these notes.” He picked up a sheet of paper and read, “ ‘I know this is a difficult time but we need your report.’ ’’ He ran a hand through his hair. “He doesn’t know the half of it.”

  Hollis nodded. “Then you should probably start talking to me, so you can get back to work.”

  Brian looked at her and nodded. He finally cleared catalogs from an overstuffed chair and sat down. “Ever since I was a kid, Dad was a stickler for rules. He had a rule for everything. He made them up as needed.” He rubbed his forehead with his fingers. “You knew him; he could be a real hard nose.”

  Hollis nodded again, trying not to show her impatience.

  “So, anyway, I needed money to get married. I had asked him for a loan.” Brian got up and started pacing again. “He said if I needed a loan to get married, it probably meant I should wait.”

  I agree.

  Brian looked up at her as if he could hear her thoughts.

  “He reminded me I hadn’t paid him back for the money he gave me for my car. I told him that I was waiting on a bonus check to come through. Gloria—that’s my girlfriend—and her family had already started making reservations and stuff.”

  Hollis said quietly, “So the argument was about money?”

  Brian looked sheepish and couldn’t look her in the eye.

  She squinted. “No, wait a minute, your argument with your dad wasn’t about him writing you a check.” Hollis sat up. “The argument was about the trust. You wanted one of the assets out of the trust.”

  Brian shrugged and nodded. “He had five Sebastian Torneo first editions. I never heard of the guy, but they had been given to Dad by some rich family grateful for his getting their son through his parole. They knew about Dad’s love of books.”

  Hollis had never seen a first edition Torneo. Clearly Brian didn’t share his father’s ‘love of books.’ Torneo was one of her favorite adventure authors and she would love to take a peek, but she didn’t think this was the time to ask.

  Brian continued, “Anyway, Dad had set them aside for my older brother.”

  “Your older brother?” Hollis said.

  “I know, I know. I told Gene yesterday that my brother went away, and for our family he did. I don’t know why I hedged about him. I guess because Dad died a little inside when Todd went to prison. We all just put him out of our lives—at least I did. I hate to say this, but he was an embarrassment.”

  Hollis grimaced. Her family had treated her the same way when she had done her time in prison. The momentary reminder brought an old spark of pain.

  She held up her hand. “Wait a minute. Stop right there and don’t go any further. Tell me about this brother.”

  Brian leaned back in his seat. “Todd is serving five to ten in a facility near Corona for armed robbery. He’s already served five years. He’s about to get out on parole.”

  “Have you ever gone to visit him?”

  “No, he refused to see any of us.”

  Hollis squinted at Brian. She had to gather her thoughts and sort through the questions zipping through her head.

  Brian was lying, but what was the lie?

  “What happened?”

  For a third time, Brian stood and began to pace. “Todd was smart in school, but he liked to play more than he liked to study. Even so, he and Dad were close. Dad always gave him a break even when he didn’t deserve it. Then, several years ago, he and some friends stole some computers from a school and were going to sell them to a fence. Only they didn’t get that far. One of his friends had a Taser gun.” He swallowed. “They were caught, after a policeman was wounded.”

  Brian stopped pacing and stood contemplating the view out the window.

  Hollis finally asked, “Did you get word to him about your dad?”

  Brian nodded. “He knew.”

  “They wouldn’t let him come to the funeral?”

  “Ah, sure, but he didn’t want to come. He sent word that he didn’t want to see Dad that way.”

  Hollis understood the rationale, but she wasn’t sure that if the circumstances were flipped, she could have stayed away.

  “Brian, the language in the trust is pretty standard. Jeffrey left everything to his heirs. But you’re his executor. Did he want Todd to
get the first editions? Is that why he left them out of the trust?”

  He hesitated before answering. “Yeah, he said Todd would need money when he got out. He wanted to be able to give him a nest egg to get back on his feet. But Dad expected to be alive when Todd got out.”

  “Oh, now I get it. The reason why you went to see your Dad that night.” Hollis closed her eyes, letting the pieces fall into place. “You needed money now. Jeffrey knew his other son would one day come home. He was always preparing for that future.”

  Brian stood over her, his arms crossed at his chest. “But I was the son who was here. I was the one who needed help now.” He threw up his hands. “So we argued and I left him … alive.”

  “Did he say anything before you left?”

  His eyes glistened. “He said he knew how the father of the prodigal son felt.”

  Hollis nodded. “Do you own a gun?”

  Brian choked back an answer. “Yes, but it wasn’t where I thought I left it. I think Dad took it because he was always after me to put it away after I came home from the shooting range. I might have left it out and he found it and hid it.” Brian shrugged, unable to meet her gaze. “He’d do that to make me ask him for it.” His eyes flitted back and forth.

  He was definitely lying.

  Hollis frowned. “I thought you lived here.”

  “I do. I just moved in the week before Dad … before Dad was killed.”

  “Let me guess: Jeffrey was killed with your gun?”

  Brian nodded.

  “Does Frances know about your brother?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “Does she know about the first editions?”

  “Yeah, she wanted them for herself. But Dad was adamant; she couldn’t move him either.” He turned away from her and scratched his neck with his index finger.

  He can’t stop lying.

  Hollis looked at her watch. “It’s getting late and we’ve both have a busy day.”

  She stood and Brian walked her to the door.

  He stopped on the doorstep. “You need to step up the processing of the trust; we don’t have much time.”

  Hollis looked out onto the street. The lights were coming on. “We’ll do what we can. But if I were you, I’d start worrying about being the only murder suspect.”