I introduced Britt, declined a drink, and got right down to business. “I’m here to talk about Rafe and Starr.”
“What now?” Amanda Golden said. “Isn’t it enough that the local police have crawled through our lives and home all afternoon?”
“I had nothing to do with that,” I countered. My hands went up, palms out to show my lack of threat. “I’m trying to help your son prove his innocence. I need to know what happened between him and Starr all those years ago.”
“That’s in the past,” Shep said. “We have an unwritten rule to never look back. It’s our family policy.”
Amanda’s sharp eyes bored into me. I’d had a crappy day as well. She didn’t frighten me.
“That’s unfortunate, because we need to find out who else beside Rafe had a connection with Starr. I understand she worked at the country club. Did you know her, Mr. Golden?”
“I didn’t know her. She worked there, for goodness sake. No one pays attention to staff.”
“She didn’t look familiar when Rafe began dating her?”
“I suppose.”
“Did you ever date her?”
“That’s absurd,” Rafe’s mother snarled. “He’s a married man.”
“Not as absurd as you think. There’s a child. Rafe says the child isn’t his. But I have to tell you, Kylie looks exactly like a Golden.”
“A child?” Shep repeated in a flat voice.
“Do you know something about Starr and her daughter?” I asked, glancing around the room. Ashley had retreated to the bar and was fooling around with the glasses. I wanted to shout at her that one of them might be laced with arsenic, but I didn’t. She could be the poisoner.
Regina walked in with Mary on her heels. “Stop this at once,” Regina said. “You have no right to be here. We’ve been through enough today.”
I drew myself up to my full height. Granted, I was four inches shorter than Rafe’s high-powered executive sister, but I felt tall. “Someone in this house has it in for Rafe. They’re making sure he will pay for Starr’s murder.”
“She was a hustler. A greedy opportunistic hustler. I told him that from day one,” Regina said. “He laughed at me and said she had an honest face. All she ever did was lie to him.”
“Please continue.”
“Starr wanted what Rafe had—money and connections. She used him, and he let her do it because she made him feel good. She wasn’t worth his time. She liked to make men feel good.”
“How do you know about that?”
She shrugged. “You hear things.”
“Things about Starr dating another Golden?”
Regina blinked furiously. “I’ve said enough.”
Hill walked in holding hands with Tiffany. “That’s a first, Reggie,” Hill said. “You always have more to say. Hey, Cleo. What’s this about?”
I noted Florie hovering by the door and waved her in. “This is about clearing Rafe from police suspicion. He’s very close-mouthed about the past.”
“He’s a Golden. We guard our secrets,” Shep said.
“Our private affairs are none of your business,” Amanda Golden added.
“Rafe has been punished enough for his secrets.” I took a deep breath. “Someone in this library is a killer.”
As if the movie had stopping rolling, everyone froze in place. Ashley stared at me. I accepted her unstated challenge. “Let’s start with Ashley. She knew the ins and outs of Rafe’s place from designing it for him. I’m sure she has access to his place today because Rafe is highly trusting. She lives next door to this house. She could have poisoned Rafe last week and throughout his childhood.”
“Poison?” Amanda leaned toward me, her voice shrill. “My son was poisoned?”
“He was. And not just once. He recalls similar vomiting events throughout his childhood, and you claimed he had a weak stomach. It’s weak for good reason. Someone has been poisoning him for years.”
“That’s outrageous,” Regina snapped. “You don’t have any proof.”
“I have the hospital report from the night he was poisoned, and I trust Rafe’s recollection of his childhood. You don’t forget vomitting episodes. Someone here gave him arsenic. Someone who wants him out of the way. They say poison is a woman’s weapon. Maybe it wasn’t Ashley who poisoned Rafe. Maybe it was Regina. Maybe she couldn’t stand the competition from her younger brother.”
“Liar,” Regina shouted. “I didn’t poison anyone.”
“But you know where the arsenic is, don’t you?”
“There were rats in the poolhouse years ago. We put out arsenic to kill them. Wait. Is that why the cops were here today? Looking for our rat poison?”
I nodded. “How many people knew about the arsenic? Show of hands?” Mary and Florie didn’t raise their hands. I waited until they looked my way. “How about you ladies? Did you know about the poison?”
Mary gave a slight nod but kept quiet.
“I would never hurt Mr. Rafe,” Florie said. “He’s so sweet to me, always coming to my kitchen for ginger ale for his upset tummy.”
“What about you, Hill?”
“I’m no poisoner, but I knew about the rats. I didn’t know we had arsenic on the premises, still don’t, and I don’t care. I’ve got better things to do than to sit around rehashing the past.”
The blonde at his elbow started. I turned my attention to her. “The answers are in the past, aren’t they, Tiffany? You used to date Rafe and now you’re with Hill. What does that say about you?”
The model-thin woman quivered. “That I know a good thing when I see it?”
Her lame quip fell on deaf ears. What had Rafe ever seen in her? I dismissed her and turned back to Hill. “Did you date Starr?”
His face colored. “Not cool. My fiancée is in the room.”
“This is exactly the time to talk about it. Let me be more specific. Did you sleep with Starr?”
All eyes turned to him, and he shrugged. “Sure. She put out for anyone. Once Rafe found out about her equal opportunity humping policy, he dumped her.”
“You dated her while she was dating your brother?”
“We hooked up a couple of times.”
His cool tone gave one impression, the fire in his eyes another. My curiosity surged. “Did she ask you for money?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“She did, didn’t she?” A piece of the puzzle snapped together in my mind. The big picture became clearer. “You didn’t blow your inheritance gambling. You blew it on Starr. Did she blackmail you?”
“Wait a minute,” Regina said, pointing at Britt. “I recognize your voice. You’re the police officer who called with questions about Rafe and Starr. The one I saw with Rafe at the police station.”
“I’m a detective,” Britt said, “but I’m here in an unofficial capacity with my friend Cleo.”
“This isn’t a police matter?”
“Only if you think it is.”
“This is very confusing,” Regina said.
“Not as confusing as the layers of secrets around here,” I said, focusing on Rafe’s sharp-tongued sister. “It’s my guess you encouraged Hill to go after Starr to prove to Rafe she wasn’t faithful.”
Shep groaned and sat down too hard in his chair. Booze sloshed over the side of his glass. Mary brought him a handful of napkins.
“Damn,” Hill said. “She’s right. You did tell me to go after Starr.”
“I did it for Rafe’s own good,” Regina said. “He’s always been too gullible, too trusting. Starr was a nasty user. I didn’t want her sinking her sharp claws into Rafe.”
“Instead she sank them into me. Thanks for nothing, big sister,” Hill said.
“I can’t believe the two of you,” Amanda Golden said. “You should be ashamed of yourselves. Rafe’s your brother.”
“He doesn’t act like he’s a member of the family,” Regina grumped. “He doesn’t want anything to do with us or Golden Enterprises. He walked out and neve
r looked back.”
“Can you blame him?” I asked. “Someone in this room, in his family, set him up for a murder rap. Someone wants him to pay for a crime he didn’t commit, and I think it dates back to an earlier tragedy in your family. To Brenna’s death.”
CHAPTER 37
* * *
Ashley gasped. Mary and Florie stared at the floor. Hill and Regina caught each other’s eye. Tiffany looked like she’d rather be any place but here. Shep drained his whiskey glass.
“We don’t talk about Brenna,” Amanda said, frost dripping from her words.
I walked across the room toward Rafe’s mom, needing to closely gauge her reaction. “You should. There were irregularities in the investigation of her accidental death, things you kept out of the police record.”
“Dredging up the past won’t help my son,” Shep said.
“I know how hard a loss can be, but the more I think about how this family reacts, the more I believe the present trouble stems from the past. Consider how it looks from my perspective. Shep hides from the truth, Amanda orchestrates her own truth, Regina runs interference for the company, and Hill escapes by playing the bad boy. Brenna’s death affected everyone in this room, even Mary, Florie, and Ashley. No one has said this out loud, but at least one of you blames Rafe for her death.”
Stunned silence met my ears. No one protested. No one denied it. I was on the right track. “You think he did it because he feels such shame and responsibility for the incident. I’ve got news for you folks. It’s his nature to care for the people around him. He feels terrible about the incident because he failed to protect Brenna, not because he murdered her. Need I remind you that three Goldens shot that day.”
Ashley’s nose went up. “His bullets were clustered around her heart.”
“How do you know that?” Amanda asked.
“My guess is that she asked someone to pull the autopsy record. How many different guns were involved?”
“Three,” Hill said. “Mine, Rafe’s, and Reggie’s.”
“It’s my belief someone killed Brenna elsewhere with one of those three guns. Then they placed her behind the target at the range. It’s the only thing that makes any sense.”
“Who would want to hurt Brenna? She was the sweetest child,” Florie said. “She had a kind word for everyone.”
This was the first I’d heard from the housekeeper. I’d always wanted to say “the butler did it” on one of my cases, but she wasn’t a butler. Worse, petite Florie didn’t seem strong enough to carry a teenager’s body all the way to the distant gun range.
“According to Rafe, Brenna was everyone’s favorite. He mentioned she was the best and brightest of you all. As the youngest, I imagine she got the most attention. I imagine Brenna’s shining star made the other children fade into the background. She could have challenged Regina for the Queen Bee slot in the family. She was younger than Hill, but she outshone him in every way. She could have ruined Ashley’s chances at being the prettiest of the next generation. Even Mary could have felt threatened by this bundle of perfection. Someone in this room murdered Brenna, and they’re doing their damnedest to bury Rafe alive.”
A roar of denial swept through the room. Everyone spoke at once. I couldn’t keep up with so many angry conversations. I’d wanted to stir things up, and I’d done that. The kettle was officially at full boil.
Rafe stormed into the room, eyes blazing. His voice rose above the fray. “What’s the meaning of this?”
His question was directed at me.
CHAPTER 38
* * *
The fury in Rafe’s voice stunned me. I’d never seen him this angry at me before, never seen how cold his eyes could become. The room fell silent. Britt stepped to my side, placed his beefy palm on my shoulder, and I edged closer to him for safety.
“Cleo—” Rafe demanded from the center of the room. “Explain why you’re here, and why everyone is at each other’s throats.”
I’d expected him to be irritated by my meddling, but his caustic tone erased the explanation from my mind. I stood there mute, unable to respond.
Sensing an opening, Regina stepped into the power void. Her voice shook with rage. “Your tramp of a girlfriend is accusing us of murder, that’s what. She dared to bring up Brenna. Said one of us killed Brenna. One of us here in the library.”
Others joined in the finger-pointing fray. The decibel level rose to a crescendo again. “Enough!” Rafe roared.
In that moment, I knew what Rafe didn’t. He was the natural leader of this family, the prodigal son they all knew should head Golden Enterprises. That he’d turned his back on them, that he’d lost them millions of dollars in potential deals, was eating holes in someone’s craw.
“Cleo, explain yourself,” he demanded again.
He doesn’t know about the car, I reminded myself. He’s torn between protecting his family and hearing me out. He hasn’t condemned me out of hand. He’s asking for an explanation. I could work with that.
I cleared my throat, squared my shoulders, and met his icy glare. “It’s as Regina said. Someone in this room killed your sister all those years ago. I’m sure of it. Others here blame you for her death because you shouldered the responsibility of her loss. Your family is hurt by your choice to walk away from them. Because of your defection, and because of Starr blackmailing Hill for years, the killer decided to tie up loose ends. The killer took Starr’s life and arranged for you to be blamed. Someone in this room, someone you know and love, despises you. Because for all intents and purposes, you’re a threat to whoever that person is. You’ve hung on to your money and your soul, something the killer lost all those years ago.”
His eyes bored into me, then his steely gaze swept across the room, resting on each person in turn. They looked away from him, as if they were afraid of what he might do.
“Hill?” Rafe asked.
“That’s the jist of the matter, but I disagree with Cleo’s conclusion,” Hill said.
“Starr blackmailed you?”
Hill glanced at Tiffany before facing Rafe. “She did.”
“Why? I don’t understand.”
“Because Starr knew something about me, something I didn’t want to come out.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were in trouble? I would’ve helped you.”
He hung his head. “I couldn’t.”
“You can always talk to me. We’re brothers.”
“No one can live up to your high standards. I’m not the man you are, and I didn’t want my taped sexcapades to be headlines in the Washington press. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but those days are in the past. I’ve got a second chance. With Tiffany. She loves me despite my flaws.”
Rafe stared at Hill before catching his father’s eye. “Dad?”
Like me, Shep appeared at a loss for words. He took a deep breath and spoke in a voice laced with regret. “We should have told you kids the truth about Brenna years ago.”
“What truth?” Regina said.
“We made sure the family was protected,” Shep said. “We couldn’t take the chance one of you kids would spend your life in jail. On the original autopsy report, it was as Cleo said. Three guns, three kinds of bullets in our precious baby girl. Indications were that the shots at the range were fired after her death. Your mother and I figured her death had been an accident you kids covered up. We made sure it stayed covered up. The coroner helped us out by omitting that the range bullets were postmortem, for a price of course.”
“You thought I killed Brenna?” Rafe asked.
Shep didn’t say anything. His silence was worse than an outright accusation.
“I didn’t kill her,” Rafe said. “I swear by all that’s in me. If someone killed her, it wasn’t me. I didn’t shoot anyone on purpose. Not Brenna. Not Starr.”
His ebbing strength energized me. I wouldn’t give them another opening to hurt him. “I know who did it,” I blurted. “I know who poisoned Rafe, and I know who committed the murders.�
�
“Cleo,” Britt growled.
I ignored the fireplug of a man at my side and charged wildly ahead. “I have the proof at Rafe’s place. Turn yourself in by tomorrow morning, or I’m giving my evidence to my detective friend.”
“She’s bluffing,” Regina said.
“She’s leaving,” Rafe said, his hand clamped on my arm. “With me. I don’t care if I ever see any of you again. Stay away from me. Don’t call. Don’t write. You’re all dead to me.”
With that, we swept from the room on a stormy tide of emotion. Britt belted me and my purse in Rafe’s sports car, and we drove off into the sunset. Too bad there was no scriptwriter ready to type out “and they all lived happily ever after.”
I could have used a good fairy tale ending right about then.
CHAPTER 39
* * *
“Rafe,” I began as the mile marker posts flew by us on the interstate. “I can explain.”
“I don’t want to hear it,” he muttered.
“Someone framed you for murder. I couldn’t let that stand. Not while there’s a breath in my body.”
“You’re nosy, insensitive, and downright bullheaded.”
“And those are my good qualities,” I quipped, hoping to lighten his dark mood.
He barked out a laugh. “What am I going to do with you?”
“What you should have done all along. Trust me to find the truth.”
“This is my family we’re talking about.”
“So it is. Your family is angry with you.”
“Thanks to you,” he broke in.
“Thanks to your noble attitude. You saw your father. He believes you killed your sister all those years ago. He’s believed it from day one. He doesn’t know you at all.”
Rafe accelerated into the far left lane of the interstate. “I can’t believe he thought so poorly of me.”
“He thought there’d been an accident. It still might have been an accident, we don’t know. All we know for sure is that you weren’t involved in the shooting.”
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