Page 11 of The Perfect Revenge
“What did you do after class?”Susannah didn’t seem interested in the details of Jolie’s career path.
“I went back to my apartment.My thesis is due at the end of the summer, so I’m starting to face a bit of a time crunch.”
“No breaks for a movie or a bite out?”
Jolie shook her head.“I ordered in Chinese and watched half of an episode ofLove Islandto decompress a little.Then it was back to the grind.”
Susannah left it there.Even with her aggressive nature, she didn't want to alienate a resource, especially when the research team could confirm her alibi on their own based on what she'd shared.It was time to move on.
"Jolie," Jessie said, leaning forward conspiratorially."When someone dies unexpectedly like this, we have to do our due diligence, so we've got to ask you some difficult questions."
“Okay.”Her worried tone hinted that it might not be okay.
"What was Veronica really like?Her husband and daughter aren't here, so you can be honest.Was she challenging to work for?"
“No.”Jolie shook her head aggressively.“She was a sweetheart.All my experiences with her were positive.Devoted mom.Doting wife.Really committed to her volunteer work.”
“Do you know if anyone else felt differently?”
“I mean, I was only exposed to her in certain situations, so I couldn’t say for sure.But I never heard a cross word from her.And I certainly never saw someone get upset with her.I’m not saying she was perfect, but I thought she was super nice, especially considering how rich she was.She could have easily bulldozed people if she wanted.”
She paused for a moment, as if to let her brain catch up to her words.Suddenly, she looked sharply at Jessie.
"You keep asking about people having problems with her, and you never said how she died.Did someone do something to her?"
“Like Detective Valentine said, we’re still trying to figure that out, which is why we really need to you to think, Jolie.Did Veronica ever mention having an issue with someone in the past?Any talk of online threats because of her volunteer work or an obsessed fan of her husband?”
“I’d absolutely remember something like that if she told me,” Jolie swore, falling silent.
“And her relationship with her husband seemed solid?”
“Yeah, it was cute actually.When Mr.Sterling was home, he would sometimes get distracted by calls from work.Vonnie would call him her Discombobulated Boy.She’d have to redirect him back to whatever they were doing beforehand.They were a good match.”
Her eyes suddenly lit up, and Jessie knew she'd thought of something new.
“I just remembered there was one person she had issues with.It didn’t occur to me because it sounded like normal family drama.But maybe it was more than that.”
“Tell us,” Susannah said.
“She mentioned a few times in the last couple of weeks that her brother had been trying to reach her but that she didn’t really want to talk to him.”
“Why not?”
"I guess their mom died last year, and in her will, cut the brother—I think his name is Micky—out of the inheritance.Vonnie said that he was pretty upset about it, saying it wasn't fair.She said she knew he was going to ask her to split the money, but that she wanted to respect her mother’s wishes.I guess Mickey had some drug issues.Plus, she said he was pretty awful to their parents when he was younger.She felt that if she shared the money, it would be violating her mother’s wishes.She mentioned donating it.But at the same time, she didn’t like the conflict.I think she was just trying to avoid him for as long as possible.”
“What did Mr.Sterling have to say about all that?”Jessie asked.
"He didn't know.Vonnie worried that if she told him, the whole thing would just escalate.I think that's why she told me, so she could have a sounding board other than her husband.I never offered advice.That felt inappropriate.But to me, it seemed like she was sticking her head in the sand a little.It didn't feel like a situation that was going to resolve itself on its own."
Though Jolie didn’t intend for her last comment to sound menacing, it set off alarm bells for Jessie.If even the nanny, with only partial information, could tell that this thing was more likely to escalate than fade away, then it was probably much worse up close.
They needed to talk to this Mickey ASAP.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kat Gentry nearly threw up.
Under the best of circumstances, the smell in a warehouse with two dead bodies would have been awful.But these weren’t the best of circumstances.
