Page 41 of Dark Terror
“Like what?” Harry said.
“She asked me once if I was embarrassed that my dad was a Jew and my mother black.”
“That’s an awful thing for someone to say.”
“I know. And another thing, she always takes credit for her staff’s ideas. Mr. Sherman thinks she’s really smart, but she’s not really. Why are you asking all these questions about her? Is she going to get fired?”
Gabe thought she sounded hopeful that would happen.
“Do you know why she wasn’t at work today?” Harry asked, ignoring the question.
“No. We tried calling her, and TJ… Everyone calls him that to avoid confusion with his father. Anyway, he sent Reg—he’s one of her employees—to her house, but she wasn’t home. She’s been acting even odder lately. Secretive.”
“Do you have any idea why?”
“Not exactly. I overheard her talking on the phone last week. She was asking someone when they would have the money.”
Gabe exchanged a glance with Harry. Had Sheri been talking about blackmail money? He could tell by his partner’s expression that she thought so, too. Since Harry had seemed able to get Meredith to talk, he continued to stay silent and observe.
“Do you know who she was talking to?” Harry asked.
“No. Is it important?”
Again ignoring her question, Harry said, “Was she on her cell phone or the desk phone? And do you remember what day and time it was?”
Meredith lifted her gaze to the ceiling and scrunched her eyebrows together. After a moment she shook her head. “Sorry, but I don’t. She was in her office with the door open, which was why I could hear her. I couldn’t see what phone she was on, and I honestly don’t remember what day. Maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. It was sometime after lunch, but I couldn’t tell you what time exactly.”
That was too bad. If they knew what day and time, they could pull her phone records and find out who she was talking to.
“She was mad, though.”
Harry straightened. “How so?”
“She told whoever she was talking to that she was tired of being jacked around, and then she slammed the receiver down.”
He and Harry shared another glance. If Sheri slammed the receiver down, that meant she was on her desk phone. That was disappointing. She probably got numerous calls related to her job on her desk phone, and likely much fewer on her personal phone. They would subpoena the records for both.
“You’ve been very helpful, Meredith. A few more questions and we’ll be done. Do you know if the person she was talking to was a man or woman? Did she mention a name or anything that would give you a hint?”
“Sorry, no.”
Gabe could as good as hear Harry’s silent, exasperated sigh. They were getting a clearer picture of Sheri Carstad but no helpful lead as to who had killed her. His suspicion that she had been blackmailing someone was stronger than ever, though.
“Thank you, Meredith,” Harry said. “Here’s my card. If you think of something you might have forgotten, please call me.”
“One more thing,” Gabe said. “You said Mr. Sherman thought Sheri was smart. Did you mean the son?” Meredith nodded. “So she got along well with him, and what about his father?”
“We don’t see Mr. Sherman Sr. very much, so I really couldn’t tell you for sure about him. As for TJ, I’ve had the feeling lately that there’s some kind of tension between them. I don’t know why. Maybe he’s finally seeing the true her.”
Gabe thought the contrast between Meredith’s description of Sheri and TJ’s was odd. One thought her mean and the other had called her a lovely woman.
“Okay, thanks. And please, if you do remember something, give Detective Harrison a call.”
“I will.” She fingered Harry’s card. “You still haven’t told me why you’re asking all these questions. Do you know why Sheri wasn’t at work today?”
Harry darted him a glance, eyebrows raised, and he nodded. There was no reason not to tell her, and she’d hear the news when she went to work tomorrow anyway.
“Meredith, I’m sorry to have to tell you this,” Harry said. “Sheri was murdered Friday night.”
