Page 17 of Little Empty Promises

“She did not.”Claudette reached inside her handbag, pulling out a couple of envelopes secured together with a rubber band.She slapped them down on the desk in front of me.“These are the letters my sister sent me before she died.See for yourself.”

I removed the rubber band from the envelopes, took the letters out, and glanced over each one.Claudette was right.There was no mention of Cordelia leaving anything to her sister in her will.Had she done so, it would have been easy for me to consider Claudette a suspect.But she didn’t strike me as a woman who wanted for anything.

“Do you mind if I make a copy of these?”I asked.

Claudette swished a hand through the air.“I have no use for them.They’re yours to keep.I’ve given a lot of thought to my sister’s murder, and I don’t believe it was happenstance.It’s my opinion that she saw or overheard something she shouldn’t have, and she was killed for it.”

“I’ve had the same thoughts.”

“I spoke to the police before I came here.They have no leads and no suspects, which is frustrating.It’s why I’ve come to you.I’d like to speed this process along.What do you think?Will you take the case or not?”

Since Cordelia’s death, I’d spoken to Foley about the investigation a couple of times, trying not to be too intrusive with my questions, which for me, wasn’t easy.I preferred to be in on the action, and with Claudette sitting in front of me, offering to pay me for the privilege, the decision was an easy one.

“I will take your case,” I said.“I’ll meet with my team, give them the details, and we’ll start looking into it today.”

8

“Why is it every time a murder investigation comes along, you find a way to get involved?”

Foley was standing behind his desk, staring out the office window, shaking his head.

“Hey, Claudette came to me,” I said.“She’s Cordelia’s sister.”

“Of course she did.And I’ll just bet Darlene put her up to it.”

“Even if you’re right, it doesn’t mean my mother thinks you’re incapable of solving Cordelia’s murder.I suppose she thinks we make a stronger team when we work together.”

“A team, huh?You know, all of this would have been a whole lot easier if you would have just come back to work as a detective.”

“It’s a whole lot easier to work for myself,” I said.“No offense.”

“What’seasieris that working for yourself has made you believe you can justify breaking the rules.”

I crossed one leg over the other.“Within reason.”

Whitlock, who was standing by the door, arms crossed, chimed in with, “Not that anyone asked me, but I think working together on this investigation, or any murder investigation, is a swell idea.Georgiana’s got the same knack for solving murders that her father had.”

“You’re right,” Foley said.“No one asked you.”

Foley’s demeanor was off today, and not by a little—by a lot.

I was used to getting a little pushback from him, but not as much as he was giving me now.

“What’s going on with you?”I asked.

“Why do you assume something’s going on?”

“You’re giving me a lot more flack than usual,” I said.

“Maybe more flack is what you need,” he said.“You ever think of that?”

Whitlock and I exchanged worried glances, and I went quiet, trying to make sense of the changing tide and what I was going to do about it.

Whitlock thumbed toward the hallway.“I’m gonna go … and, ahh, yeah, get a cup of coffee.Give the two of you a chance to talk.”

He walked out, closing the door behind him.

Gee, thanks.

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