Page 14 of Ghostly Bother
"I'm sorry. We had to ask." Angus pulled out this notebook. "Was there anyone she was close to who you thought she might have been seeing? Were you suspicious at all recently?"
"Not really, but that was more because Eden was so focused on her job that I doubted she'd take the time to have an affair. She never made time for us even when things were good. Work consumed her life. She tried to make time for the girls, but for me, our marriage… that didn't seem as important to her as her job did."
"If you think of anyone who she might have been having an affair with, please let us know," Franks said.
"Do you think whoever the father was could have killed her because of the pregnancy?" Michael asked.
"It's possible." Angus shrugged. "At this point, we don't have any leads to point us to why she was killed or who did it."
"She was always at work or some event she had to attend. At least that is what she told me. I didn't check to make sure she was where she said. I was used to coming home and being with the girls because she'd work late most nights. I just assumed it was part of her job as mayor. It wasn't until I noticed that we suddenly had a lot more money than we should have that I got suspicious. Then the city started that audit on Eden's office, and I knew my suspicions weren't crazy. That's when I started to pay closer attention to our accounts and how much money was being deposited. I even opened separate accounts for myself and my income. I didn't want there to be any question about where my money came from. I've kept close records of everything, so I don't end up being caught up in whatever mess Eden was involved in."
"How much do you know about what she was doing?" Franks asked.
"Nothing. And when I'd ask her where the money was from, she'd blow me off with random comments or excuses about bonuses. Had it happened once a year, I could believe it, but she was depositing money every couple of months, sometimes every few weeks. The amounts varied, but as I watched our account grow, I knew something wasn't right. She didn't make that kind of money during her first year in office. What had changed? The fact that she wouldn't discuss it with me put me on high alert. That was when I knew I had to protect myself and my business. I didn't want to lose the shop because of her. After I confronted her, I noticed there weren't as many deposits. I'd hoped she'd stopped. Anything in our main joint account is hers now. I deposit everything I make into my new account. The auto shop has its own accounts, and she isn't attached to them in any way. My attorney and I have been trying to safeguard everything for weeks now, so the kids and I were in the clear when she got the divorce papers. It's been a nightmare." Michael closed his eyes. "I expected someone to knock on our door, but it was to arrest Eden, not tell me she'd been killed."
"And you have no idea who might have been working with her or involved in the theft she's been accused of?" Angus asked.
"No, nobody now. For a while, I thought her bodyguard might be involved, but once he was arrested for murder and nothing changed, I figured he wasn't working with her."
"You're talking about her old head of security, Mel Wickman?" Angus knew the case well since Franks and him had arrested the man for the murder of an administrative assistant a few months back.
"Yes. He was always around, but that made sense to me since he was her security. I was shocked when he was arrested. He would come and go from the house with Eden often andwas great with our girls. I would never have guessed him as a murderer. His arrest was hard on Eden. She trusted him. Hell, I trusted him to keep Eden safe." Michael stood and paced to the window, looking outside with his back to Angus and Franks. "I know my wife wasn't a good person. I still love her, probably always will, but I didn't know the woman she'd become after winning the election. The power went to her head." He turned to face them. "No, that's wrong. It wasn't the power, it was the money. She was suddenly greedy. That wasn't how she was when we married. When she decided to run for mayor, it was to make changes that would help people. She saw how small businesses like mine were getting gouged. Her heart was in the right place for a while, then I don't know what happened to change her."
"You said she had an office here?" Angus pulled out the warrant they had to search the house.
"Yes. Follow me. I haven't taken the time to go through anything yet. It's just how she left it." He started out of the room and down a short hallway.
Angus and Franks followed, pausing as Michael opened the door at the end of the hall.
"Here is the warrant." Angus handed it to him. "I'm sorry we have to put you through this while you're grieving."
"Thank you." Michael took the warrant. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything. The bedrooms are all upstairs, and there is a basement. It's mostly laundry and storage, but you're free to venture down there if you want. If Eden had anything here, I'd assume it would be in here." He waved his hand around the office.
"Are there any safes in the room?" Franks asked.
"Behind the painting of George Washington. The combo is on a sticky note on Eden's desk. I didn't open it. I left her office as it was other than writing the safe info down for you. The key to the file cabinet is in the top drawer of the desk. I can't think ofanything else that you need a key for unless you want to look in the gun safe in our bedroom. I can get the key for that if you need it," Michael offered.
"I think we're good for now. We'll let you know if we need anything else." Angus walked into the room and looked around. "Thanks for cooperating."
"I want the same answers you do." Michael turned and left them alone.
Angus glanced at Franks and sighed. "Let's check that safe, then you can take the desk, and I'll take the file cabinet."
"Deal," Franks agreed.
Angus grabbed the paper with the combination on it and got to work, hoping they could find answers here, because if they didn't, he wasn't sure where to look next. Hopefully, the others had gotten access to the Mayor's Office. Somewhere there had to be a lead—they just had to find it.
CHAPTER SIX
Lance finished putting the groceries away and sat down at the kitchen table to go through the mail that had come that day. He sighed, seeing more bills and wondering if there would ever be a day when he wasn't worried about money and paying off something.
"Why the heavy sigh?" Ray asked as he floated into the room followed by his girlfriend, Bethany.
"Bills and more bills." Lance tossed the mail aside as he watched Haunt circle around the ghosts, begging for attention. "What are you two up to?" It was amazing how normal having ghosts float in and out of his home had become. While they spent most of their time in the backyard, they often came in to visit or watch whatever was on TV. It was like having roommates that only he could see.
"We were with Isaac and Jeremy. We followed Isaac's son, Ethan, to a house where he's getting a lot of his drugs. We were there about two hours and saw at least six transactions take place. Then we went over to Lizzy's so she could write down the address and information we found to give to Captain Marshall when we meet again. We got license plate numbers and names of everyone that showed up. I wish we could write stuff down, because memorizing this stuff isn't easy." Bethany sat on the floor to play with the dog. "How was your day?"
"Not too bad. I thought it would be worse, but the mayor's autopsy went well, and the media didn't bother us as much as I expected. Once we told them we'd given the initial results to the police, they left us alone." Lance stood. "I'm going to go shower. Do you two want me to turn the TV on?"
