Statue of Limitations

by Kate Collins

  I took a deep breath and sat back, unclenching my fists beneath the table. If I was going to get anywhere with this man I had to calm down and pull up my professional self. “I apologize for the interruption,” I said. “Please continue.”

  Sonny straightened his tie. “Getting back to what I was saying, when adverse comments about our project interrupted the press conference, along with questions about my father’s death, which, by the way, have no bearing on the project—”

  “No bearing on the project?” I sputtered, my journalistic professionalism flying out the window. “Your father’s death certainly did have a bearing on the project because he’d made an agreement to cancel it, which he signed in front of witnesses.”

  Sonny folded his hands and placed them on the table, taking a long time to answer as though trying to control his temper. “Sadly, Miss Spencer, you and the others heard what you wanted to hear, an old man trying to pacify your committee in any way he could while continuing forward with his plans. And as I stated at the press conference, my father was as committed to this project as I am.”

  “What about the document he signed?”

  “Yes, what about that?” he asked coyly. “Why do you suppose he took it with him?”

  “I was told he wanted to prepare it for filing with the court.”

  Sonny leaned back, his elbows on the arms of his chair, looking very smug. “Unfortunately, Miss Spencer, I haven’t seen the agreement since that meeting. That makes it your association’s word against the Talbot Corporation’s.”

  That was the moment I realized he had me over a barrel. We had no document to back up what Talbot Sr. had promised. Another thought flickered through my mind, but before I could follow it, Sonny broke into my thoughts.

  “Now,” he said, “if you will abandon any plans you have to file that court injunction, which, by the way, will merely delay the project and cost your GMA a lot of money, I firmly believe we can put aside all this bad blood between us and come to a mutual understanding that will benefit the entire town.”

  The court injunction. Had Sonny suggested we meet in private so he could sway me to drop it? Costly or not, it had to be a hitch in his plans or he wouldn’t have brought it up. I smiled to myself. Maybe he didn’t have me over that proverbial barrel after all.

  “Explain something to me,” I said. “How will your project benefit Sequoia if you demolish an entire block of shops and restaurants that are popular with tourists to build a giant condominium complex for some upscale tenants who won’t be spending their money at the tourist shops? And by the way, The Parthenon, the diner that’s been owned by my grandparents for thirty-five years, is on that block, so don’t think I won’t fight this with every resource I have.”

  “You’re not getting the picture, Miss Spencer,” he said. “My project will benefit the town—or at least those in town who choose to be a part of it. So if you’ll give me a chance to explain exactly what those benefits will mean to you”—he made a show of studying his fingernails—“I think you might come around to a new appreciation of the project.”

  I pressed my lips into a hard line, wishing I didn’t have to answer. “Go ahead.”

  “The entire first floor of this deluxe building will be open to the tenants that I hand select. What if I were to offer your grandparents prime space for a brand-new family restaurant, with a big, modern kitchen, plenty of room for tables, an area for outside dining, and a budget big enough to allow them to decorate it in any way they choose—within our guidelines of course?”

  His words echoed inside my brain: new diner, modern kitchen, as much money to decorate as they needed . . . I could see it all. I could also imagine the sheer rapture on my grandparents’ faces, and for a brief moment I even found myself considering it for their sakes. But a hand-selected few? How could I sell out on the others?

  “That still leaves them without an apartment and a lot of shop owners out in the cold,” I said.

  “Forget the other owners for the moment and picture this.” Sonny held his hands as though to frame imaginary windows. “A twenty-four-hundred-square-foot corner condominium overlooking the lake. In fact, make that the top-floor unit, with a balcony. And it’s just one elevator ride down to their main-floor diner.”

  I could indeed picture my elderly grandparents, who’d scraped to get by their whole lives, living in grand style, with comforts they couldn’t begin to imagine and had never before experienced—or expected to. Sonny had no idea how tempting it sounded to be able to give Yiayiá and Pappoús such a golden opportunity.

  “What do you think, Miss Spencer?”

  “That they’d never be able to afford a place like you’re describing.”

  “Ah, but that’s where you come in, my dear.” He leaned toward me on one elbow and pointed his index finger at me. “You, Athena Spencer, can make that happen, and all it will take is one nod of your head.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Sonny leaned back, his smug smile in place, thinking he’d won me over, so I decided to play along. “What would that nod mean?”

  “That your family would get everything I promised, and in return, you’d convince the GMA to drop the idea of a court injunction.”

  Then I was right after all; his game was bribery. But I could play that game, too. “I’ll need a few moments to think it over.”

  “Take your time.”

  I took my glass of water over to the window and sipped it, gazing out at the mansion’s rolling green lawn, letting him think I was seriously considering his offer. From the corner of my eye I caught Sonny giving Thaddeus a quick thumbs-up.

  Okay, Athena, you’ve got them right where you want them. Now’s the time to strike back. Athena Spencer, big-city journalist, was coming to life.

  “All right,” I said, returning to my chair, “here’s what I propose. I’ll do my best to convince the others in the association to hold off on filing that injunction—”

  “Great,” Sonny said with a pleased smile. “Then we have a deal.”

  “You didn’t let me finish.”

  “I’m sorry, go ahead,” he said, obviously taken aback.

  I placed my hands on the table and leaned toward him. “I want you to give the other shop owners the same deal you’re offering my grandparents—shop space and a condo unit at a very reasonable rate.” I knew no one would go along with it. Not only did most of the owners have their own houses, but they were adamant about saving Little Greece. Still, it was satisfying to see how far Sonny was willing to go to get his deal.

  Thaddeus gave him a subtle “no.”

  “We can accommodate both requests only if the other shop owners can afford the rent,” Sonny said.

  “That’s why I said I wanted them to have the same deal you’re giving my grandparents.”

  “Not possible,” Thaddeus said. “They will certainly be welcome to talk to a sales associate once the building is under construction. And I know some of them own houses, so they wouldn’t even need a condo, which renders your proposal ridiculous. Therefore, I’m asking you flat out, are you prepared for a court battle?”

  I shrugged. “Are you prepared for a court battle?”

  Sonny’s hand fell flat on the table. “I don’t get it, Miss Spencer. Don Fatsis is already on board. He even signed a lease for his new space. So why turn down this golden opportunity for your grandparents in order to fight what’s going to happen anyway?”

  That rat Fatsis had cut a deal with Talbot and hadn’t mentioned a word to us about it. Was that why he was at the Talbot headquarters before the press conference?

  “What do you say?” Sonny asked. “Are you going to take care of your grandparents or are you going to empty the bank accounts of your fellow GMA members to fight the Talbot Corporation?”

  “I’ll need a few moments to consider it.”

  I could tell by the tensing of Sonny’s eyebrows that he was losing patience. After a quick conference with his attorney, he leaned forward, all business n
ow. “Okay, what else do you want?”

  “The answers to a few questions that were raised at the press conference.”

  Sonny rubbed his forehead as though it were aching. “I don’t remember what was asked. I fielded a lot of questions that morning.”

  “Just tell me whether you’re open to answering some questions raised at the conference.”

  He consulted with Thaddeus again, at which point the attorney said, “Our answer is yes, but my client reserves the right to decline to answer certain questions.”

  That was lawyer mumbo-jumbo for maybe so, maybe not.

  I took a deep breath and referred to my notes. Now that I had to bring up the murder, I was starting to lose my nerve again. Damn Case for abandoning me!

  Okay, Athena, become the warrior goddess. I tucked my trembling fingers beneath my legs so he couldn’t see them and said boldly, “If you reserve the right to decline to answer certain questions, then I reserve the right to decline the deal.”

  Thaddeus started to whisper something, but Sonny pushed him away. “Damn it, Spencer, ask your questions then. I want this meeting over with.”

  The nerves in my stomach were fluttering so hard it took all my willpower to stick with it. This was where Case was supposed to take over, get tough, and get answers but, thanks to that turncoat, it was all up to me now.

  “Why wasn’t an autopsy performed on your father?”

  “That again,” Sonny said, giving me a disgusted look. “I suggest you take it up with the coroner.”

  “I did, and Dr. Kirkland said you declined to have one done.” Which was not what Kirkland had said, but I wasn’t about to let Sonny evade the question again.

  Thaddeus said something in a whisper, then Sonny said, “Okay, fine. Here’s my answer.” As though he had the lines memorized, he said, “Kirkland made it clear that my father had fallen asleep, slipped under the bathwater, and drowned. It was as simple as that. Therefore, I chose not to ask for an autopsy because I took the coroner’s word that there was no need for one.”

  “So, basically, Kirkland let you have the final say.”

  Thaddeus said instantly, “We decline to answer that.”

  Fantastic! I’d just gotten Sonny to admit he’d swayed Kirkland’s decision. As I typed his answer I thought, Too bad I don’t have a witness. Clearly, Miss Leopard Skin Pants was more important than my concerns were.

  Reading from my notes I said, “Then the coroner went along with your decision even though the law clearly states, and I quote, ‘in a case of death when no one is present, an autopsy must be performed.’ ” I glanced at Thaddeus. “Isn’t that right?”

  The attorney blinked at me with wide eyes, clearly caught off guard. After a hasty conference with his boss, Thaddeus said, “Yes, in certain situations.”

  “In certain situations?” I repeated, making sure Thaddeus understood that I knew he was dodging the truth. “I would think that law would apply to any situation that met the criteria, especially given Grayson Talbot Senior’s standing in the community.” Turning back to Sonny I drove home my point. “What you’re saying is that Kirkland broke the law for you.”

  Neither of them said a word. Pincus’s fingers halted on his keypad.

  I smiled to myself. Who had whom over that old barrel now?

  “Without an autopsy,” I asked, “how would you know your father’s death wasn’t caused by a heart attack or a stroke”—I was going full steam now—“or someone wanting to do him harm?”

  Sonny’s eyes turned ice cold, matching his voice. “The fact of the matter is that he drowned, and we had to deal with it.”

  “Very quickly, too, I noticed. If he were my father, I’d have demanded answers to assure myself that he died of natural causes instead of rushing to have him buried.”

  “I didn’t rush—”

  “Seriously, didn’t you even wonder if there was a possibility of foul play?”

  “Of course, I wondered, but my wife—”

  “We’re going to decline to answer that,” Thaddeus said, cutting him off.

  Sonny banged the table with his fist. “Would someone let me finish a sentence, for God’s sake?”

  No one said a word until Sonny said, “I didn’t rush to have him buried. He wasn’t in any condition to wait around after soaking in a tub all night.”

  “Then you held the estate sale what, two days later?” I asked, watching Sonny’s face get redder and redder. “What was your hurry?”

  Thaddeus said, “We’re done here. Mr. Talbot has another meeting to attend.”

  Sonny put his hand on Thaddeus’s arm. “Hold on, Thad. Let’s not be too hasty. Remember, we’re trying to cut a deal. Yes, I did wonder about my father’s death until the coroner put my mind at ease. As for the estate sale, that was in Harry’s hands. It was his decision when to hold it.”

  And naturally Harry wasn’t there to defend himself.

  “In all honesty, Miss Spencer, my wife was the last one to see my father alive and the first to find him dead, and that does make one wonder at times.”

  Now he was being honest? He’d just thrown his wife under the bus. “Are you saying it’s possible your wife had something to do with your father’s death?”

  Thaddeus jumped up. “My client will not answer that question.”

  Sonny glanced at his watch, and I could see a tiny smile playing at one corner of his mouth. That his wife had something to do with his father’s death was exactly what he was saying, and what he wanted me to believe.

  “Mr. Talbot,” Pinkus said, “we need to cut this short.”

  “Just five more minutes,” I said, “and this is about Harry Pepper’s death. Do you remember who Kirkland and the responding police officer interviewed at the scene?”

  Before Sonny could respond, Thaddeus said, “Mr. Talbot agreed to answer your question about his father’s death, not about Mr. Pepper’s.”

  “Actually, when your boss announced that he was having a press conference he promised to address Harry Pepper’s death, which he failed to do, and afterward he promised to answer my questions, not question. And one more thing, I didn’t put any qualifications on what those questions were. Perhaps Mr. Pinkus can read that back from his press conference notes.”

  I was on fire again!

  “It’s all right, Thad, I’ll answer them,” Sonny said. “Five people were interviewed. Me, my wife, the housekeeper, the gardener, and Thad. And in anticipation of your next question, both Dr. Kirkland and the detectives agreed Harry’s death occurred as a direct result of a home invasion. Someone broke in looking for something and murdered Harry after finding it or when he couldn’t find it. Now that someone has a name and a face, he will be found and prosecuted.”

  The guilty party would be found and prosecuted all right. “In one newspaper account,” I said, “you were quoted as saying that the safe in your father’s office had been opened. Was anything taken?”

  “It held many documents, Miss Spencer. It’ll be months before I can answer that.”

  “What do you think the killer was looking for?”

  “I don’t know. I’m leaving it for the detectives to solve.”

  I glanced down at my list. “Grayson, why did you give the newspaper two different accounts of finding Harry’s body?”

  The attorney started to protest but again Sonny restrained him. “I withheld information to protect my wife from being considered a suspect because her discovering both bodies might have seemed suspicious. It wasn’t until sometime after the first newspaper article came out that Lila told me I had the position of Harry’s body wrong, so I corrected it in the second one.”

  “Why did she get it wrong the first time?”

  His hand tightened around his pen, his knuckles turning white. He really wanted to make a deal with me or he’d never put up with all these questions.

  “Because she was nervous. She said the first thing that came to mind.”

  “And the first thing was that he was slumpe
d over the desk. Then later he was on his back on the floor with a receipt in his hand. That’s quite a difference.”

  Sonny tilted back on two legs of his chair, his hands on the arms. “That’s my wife for you.”

  It was odd that the first version of Harry’s discovery happened to be the way Case remembered finding him. “How did you explain your mistake to the investigators?”

  He sighed sharply. “I told them the truth, that finding both bodies was too much for Lila’s mind, which was fragile already and became more so because of the way my father emotionally abused her.” Sonny looked toward the window, shaking his head sorrowfully. “I’ll forever blame myself for not putting a stop to it. But he had us both on tight leashes.”

  Sonny on a leash? Lila fragile? I wanted to laugh. Clearly, Sonny could tell the detectives anything and they’d accept it because of who he was.

  Sonny sighed as though the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. “She’s under a doctor’s care now. She suffered greatly because of my father’s disdain for her, so naturally his death affected her in several ways, one of which was relief. And then for her to discover Harry’s body? What are the odds of her finding both men dead? That could have sent her over the edge.”

  I studied Sonny for a moment. What were the odds? Perhaps he’d wanted to send her over the edge to get rid of her. And why wasn’t I buying his grief-stricken act? I’d seen Lila with my own eyes and if she was under a doctor’s care, it was probably a plastic surgeon’s. I had a feeling Sonny’s act was more about wanting me to connect the dots between his wife and the murders than to feel any pity for her.

  “Where were you when Harry’s body was discovered?”

  Sonny’s hand came down hard on the table, making me jump. “Enough about the murders. Are we here to talk about a deal or are you here to poke into things that are none of your business?”

  “If you want me to cut a deal with you, Grayson, then I need to be able to go back to the GMA and say in all honesty that I trust you to be fair with them, and so far, you haven’t given me that assurance.”

  He glanced at the expensive gold watch on his wrist, then pushed back his chair and stood up. “You know what? I’m done trying to placate you and your greedy Greek friends. The deal is for your grandparents alone, not for the entire block of shop owners. Now you’ve got five minutes to decide their fate.” Starting toward the French doors he called, “Thaddeus, come get me when you have her answer.”