“Are you up-to-date on the bones that were found out in Kendall County?”
“Yeah, the woman embezzled three million dollars. She and her whole family, dead and buried.”
“Denise Albright. She was Victoria Mills’s college roommate.”
“Small world. Think Grant killed her?”
Lucy didn’t but didn’t say so. “Victoria was killed the night after the bones were discovered—the same day that the news reported the discovery.”
“But they were only recently identified. No one knew who they were, didn’t even speculate.” She drank, watched Lucy over the rim of her mug.
She had Reed interested. The best way to get information was to give information first.
“Correct. But the original news report indicated that four bodies were found. When I learned that Denise and Victoria knew each other, I started looking into anything that they may have worked on together, anything that might put them in danger. According to Victoria’s family, Albright did a lot of work for Mills and didn’t charge her.”
“She was an accountant, right?”
“Yes. Re-creating her records has been a chore—our White Collar Crimes unit is working on it. She had multiple clients, big and small. But we had a few names, so I started looking into Mills’s client list. So far, one name is the same.” Lucy was stretching this because she had no evidence that Albright had worked for Monroe, but Max was so certain that he was involved in Victoria’s death—even with no proof—that Lucy was willing to go out on the limb. “Harrison Monroe.”
Silence.
“He was one of Victoria’s clients and may have been one of Denise’s. We’re still investigating. But they knew each other from college.”
“Yeah, we have Mills’s client list.”
“Did you run it? Was anyone suspicious?”
“We interviewed a few people, but when Grant confessed, that was it. He knew information about the crime that we didn’t release.” Reed didn’t elaborate.
“It would help me if we could work together on this,” Lucy said. “Grant was assassinated in broad daylight.”
“We released to the press that Mills had been stabbed, but not where or how many times. He knew that she was stabbed twice in the stomach. He’s right-handed, which fits forensics. He also said that after he stabbed her she staggered a couple feet and fell into the pool. That information—that she was found in the pool—was released. The blood trail is consistent with his version of events. This whole circus about changing his plea is just that—a circus.”
“Except for the blood drops that could have come when someone was getting in a passenger side of a car.”
“That’s fifty-fifty. The driveway is wide. Someone could have parked far to the right and got in the driver’s side.”
Lucy nodded, but she still thought, based on the layout of the driveway, that the drops were from a passenger.
She said, “What if I told you there was evidence that Grant had been threatened to plead guilty?”
“I would ask, ‘What evidence?’”
“I’m working on it.” This was where Lucy was going to have to come clean or the detective would never trust her again. “My husband is Sean Rogan.”
“The PI who was at the courthouse. You could have led with that.”
Lucy smiled. “Yeah, but then you may not have met me. Sean has a way of irritating cops.”
“Actually, though he was a bit of a know-it-all, he was a terrific witness. I verified his credentials, so we’re good. He gave us a line on the white florist van, and I have some security footage we’re working on enhancing.”
“Was one of the men on the security footage a Hispanic male adult, under forty, over six foot two with broad shoulders?”
“Yes, like thousands of men in San Antonio.”
“If you need any distinguishing features on him, his right hand is seriously scarred from some sort of burn.”
“I don’t know that we have that detailed information, but we’re still going over security tapes from the area. Rogan said the van was parked in the loading area of the archives building for a minimum of fifteen minutes. We have confirmed it arrived at twelve thirty and stayed until one ten when Grant was killed. My theory is that he pled guilty because he was guilty, but sitting in jail he couldn’t fathom spending the rest of his life there, so he came up with this asinine plan to change his plea. The confession wouldn’t be thrown out, the prosecutor assured me, because he came in on his own volition. It’s a good confession. He panicked because he didn’t get away with the embezzlement, the goons he owed money to took him out as an example to other gamblers who wanted to renege on what they owe. We’re turning the case over to Vice.”
It was a solid theory. One even Lucy could buy into. “I may have some information that could help you there.”
“It’s not my case anymore, and good riddance.”
“But Victoria Mills is still your case.”
“You’re going to have to do some slick talking to convince me that Stanley Grant’s confession was a lie.”
“Sean is working with Maxine Revere.”
“For shit’s sake.”
“She’s difficult and persistent—”
“She’s a bitch.”
“But she’s good at what she does. I don’t like reporters any more than you do—probably a lot less than you do.”
“Doubtful.”
“But Max—”
“Don’t say she’s different.”
“No, but she has a unique way of viewing information, plus she has access to more than we do, including the Mills family.”
“You can’t work with her. A fucking defense lawyer would say you used her to go around getting warrants or some such fucked nonsense. We may not like all the rules, but they’re there for a reason—so these bastards don’t get off on a technicality.”
“I recognize this is a gray area, but I think we can work together on this. The day Grant was killed, he met with his lawyer and Maxine at the courthouse. He told them—”
“Right there, Kincaid. He was talking to his lawyer. Client confidentiality.”
“Grant is dead, and Max was there,” Lucy said, not liking the interruption. “Just hear me out, okay? Grant told them that he was approached after Victoria was killed by a Hispanic male with a scar on his hand. The stranger said that Grant killed Victoria and had embezzled two million from the company account because he’d started gambling again and was in the hole. He told him to confess, or his sister and her family were in danger. Grant didn’t believe him until the next day. Marie was in an accident and when Grant arrived on scene he saw the same man watching. He convinced his sister to leave town and then confessed. If Grant is innocent of her murder, someone who was there and had the details told Grant what to say.”
Reed was listening, so Lucy pressed on. “You and your people canvassed the area and interviewed a neighbor named Robert Clemson. I want to interview him. Care to join me?”
She didn’t say anything for a minute, then drained her beer. “Let’s go. You’re lucky you have friends on the force, otherwise I would have told you to fuck off, especially after hearing you’re friends with that bitch reporter.”