Page 21 of Ghostly Bother
"Listen, the information is going to get out. If you didn't kill her, maybe one of them did. Someone knew where Eden was going to be. Did you always meet at the same place?" Franks asked.
"Yeah, it was safe. At least she thought it was. She made sure the cameras around the area didn't work and there wasn't much traffic in the area so we could tell if we'd been followed. If either of us felt something was off, we'd reschedule. I figured there were people around or she thought she'd been followed when I got her text canceling our meeting. I wasn't worried. I knew she'd get with me to set something up another night." Lucas took a long drink of his coffee and frowned. "This is shit."
"We know. We drink it too." Franks sat down. "So who else might have wanted Eden dead?"
"Hell if I know. Someone she didn't give a contract to? I'm pretty sure she'd been cheating on her husband. Did you look into where he was?" Lucas shook his head. "There's probably a list a mile long of people who didn't like her. Who hated her enough to kill her? I really don't know." He took another drink, then frowned. "I don't know for sure who the others were, but if you look at who got city contracts, you'll know. I doubt there was a project she didn't accept a bribe for. I'd look harder at those who didn't get contracts than I would who did. Those of us who commonly worked with Eden had a good thing going. We wouldn't have messed it up. At least, I can't imagine anyone would."
Angus made notes, wishing he'd talked to the captain before this interview so he knew how many other companies might be involved. He really needed to sit down and find out what information the team found at the Mayor's Office and if theteam that was investigating the mayor and city council for fraud was willing to share anything they'd found so far. That was the issue with big cases. There were too many people involved and too much information that didn't always get shared right away. There was a team meeting planned in the morning, but that didn't help right now.
Angus looked up as the door opened and an older man walked in. He wore a nice suit and carried a briefcase. "Gentlemen, my client has nothing more to say for now." He offered his hand. "Ryan Prescott."
"Ryan, it's okay. I want to help." Lucas waved his hand, obviously feeling the lasting effects of the alcohol he'd consumed.
"That's fine. You can help, but let us discuss things alone first to make sure you're doing everything you can to protect yourself and your company." Mr. Prescott set his briefcase on the table. "Are you charging my client with assault?"
Franks met Angus's eyes for a moment, a silent communication happening between them. "No, but only because he was too drunk to have good aim when he threw a bottle at me." Franks stood. "You're free to go, Mr. Jenkin, but we will be arranging an interview with you once you sober up."
Angus stood as well. "We'll also be getting a warrant for your phone records."
"Don't need a warrant. I'll agree to give everything to you." Lucas pulled out his phone.
Mr. Prescott took the phone. "Just to make everything legal, get the warrant. We don't need any surprises, Lucas. Let's do this by the book so you're protected."
Lucas closed his eyes. "Too late. I'm already in trouble. But I didn't kill Eden. I need everyone to know that. I'm not a murderer."
"We'll verify your information and go from there. We'll be in touch soon," Angus promised. He hated letting the man go, but with him being drunk and now with his attorney present, it was pointless to continue.
"You can contact me if you have questions for my client." Mr. Prescott tossed one of his cards on the table and smiled. "Have a good day." He led Lucas out to the hall and left Angus and Franks standing in the small interview room.
"Well, we got more than we had." Franks reached for the business card on the table.
"But not enough. Someone knew those two were meeting that night." Angus held the door open for Angus.
"Have we got the information from Eden's phone service yet?" Franks asked.
The phone hadn't been found and they'd had to request the call record from the phone company. "It wasn't in when I looked earlier. I'm curious to see if she sent that message to Lucas. If not, someone with tech knowledge had to have made it look like it came from her." Angus followed Franks back down to their office. Once there, he took a seat and signed on to his computer. He looked for any new information that had come in about the case. He saw several files, but nothing concerning phone records. "Nothing yet. A few interviews with office staff. A warrant to pull the GPS from Eden's car. Nothing that will help us."
Franks twisted the cap off a bottle of water that was on his desk. "We need to find out what other companies have contracts with the city and who on the city council was working with Eden. There's no way she was doing this on her own."
"I'll see if she's willing to tell us when I talk to Lance. She's opened up about a few things so far, but not everything. I was stunned she gave us Lucas's name." Angus leaned back in his chair. "We're meeting with Eden's sister in two hours. She'scoming here since Eden's kids are staying with her right now and she thought it would be better not to have us coming around. Michael will watch them while she's here with us."
"I feel for those kids." Franks frowned. "They're too young to have to face losing a parent."
"I agree. I'm glad they have their aunt and that she gets along with Michael Anderson well enough to make sure the kids are taken care of." Angus tapped his pen on his desk. "Michael said he'll bring the kids back to the house Sunday night and try and get them back on schedule Monday with daycare and school, but I imagine with the media attention this case is getting, it will be a while before things are anywhere normal for those kids."
"Sad but true." Franks stood. "I'm going to go grab us lunch. When I get back, we can start going through those interviews we got back and see if we can figure out any of the other businesses Eden was striking deals with. Anyone she's worked with has to be running scared right now. Burgers okay?"
Angus was sick of burgers, but it wasn't as if there were a ton of choices. He was sick of fast food in general. "Sure. I'll start the process of getting a warrant for Lucas Jenkin's phone records as well as his car's GPS. I also want to see his financials and look for any large withdrawals. It was clear this wasn't the first deal he'd struck with our esteemed mayor."
"Something tells me the mayor's death is going to lead to the downfall of a lot of companies." Franks shoved his phone in his pocket. "Back in a few."
Angus waved his hand and started digging into files. If he was lucky, the team investigating fraud had done most the work for him. If they were willing to share information, they'd have a list of business owners to interview, and hopefully, one of them would be their killer.
They spent the next couple of hours working until it was time to meet with Eden's sister, Rachel Reese. Angus had donea quick background check on her and knew she worked at a local gym as a trainer and yoga instructor while also running a successful graphic design company from her home. She was single and had no family other than her nieces now that Eden was gone.
Angus was ready for anything as he opened the door to the interview room and stepped inside, Franks following him. Family members were one of his least favorite interviews to conduct because they were usually filled with emotion and anger. He had no idea how Rachel was reacting to her sister's death, though he'd found her calm when they'd spoken on the phone.
"Rachel, I'm Detective Franks and this is my partner Detective Young." Franks offered his hand.
