Keegan tried to chuckle, but it was tough under the circumstances. He shuffled papers in front of him and cleared his throat.
Before he could say a word, someone knocked lightly on the door and then opened it. Trace stepped in. “Sorry to interrupt. I could hear you three talking in here, so I let myself in.” The look on his face was serious, more than Keegan could remember seeing in recent history.
“Come on in.” Keegan pointed to the remaining free chair. “I take it this isn’t a social visit and you just wanted to see where I worked.” He gave Trace a flat grin that didn’t tip far enough at the edges to match the light banter he tried to express.
“Nope. Sorry.” Trace set a file on the table and opened it as he took a seat. “Unfortunately we’ve determined that Nolan Friedmont was indeed the man who sent you the email last week. As of now, the Cambridge sheriff’s office will be working in conjunction with the Sojourn sheriff’s office to get to the bottom of this.”
“And you’ve been sent over to get the ball rolling,” Corbin commented as he reached for the file. At the last second he lifted a hand. “Corbin Archers. I’ll be heading up things from our end.”
Trace took his hand. “Nice to meet you. Trace Masters.”
Corbin’s eyes widened. “Ah. So you’re Keegan’s other half. I was just commenting on the mysterious ménages in your family.” Corbin winked.
Keegan knew he meant them no ill. He was simply shocked.
“I don’t think I’d describe myself as Keegan’s other half. More like a third.” He narrowed his gaze at Corbin and tipped his head. “We, uh, share Melinda, not each other,” he finished.
Corbin licked his lips and nodded. “Of course. Sorry. It’s none of my business really.”
Keegan rolled his eyes. “Archers. No worries. It’s not a secret. We aren’t bi. We simply share our mate.” If Keegan wasn’t mistaken, Corbin was a little fidgety. He shook the thought from his head as if Melinda’s ability to read people was rubbing off on him.
“Got it.”
Mitch leaned forward with an outstretched hand. “Mitch Highland. Keegan’s boss. Nice to finally meet you.” He sat back and steepled his fingers under his chin. “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s cut to the chase. What do we know about Mr. Friedmont? And what do we do next?”
Trace stacked several pages together. “Unfortunately, according to Keegan, all evidence would suggest the man was spot on with his accusations.”
Mitch nodded.
Trace continued. “I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to determine someone was paying Friedmont to keep his mouth shut. It’s not even questionable why someone killed him. His bank records indicate he was paid an exorbitant amount of money from an unknown source for fifteen months. The deposits to his bank account stopped two months ago. Maybe he knew something he shouldn’t. Maybe he even blackmailed someone to keep quiet. That somebody may have gotten tired of paying or ran out of funds while the project was on hold.”
“Surely Friedmont would have known his life was as good as toasted if he ratted them out. Who knew about his email? And why is the man sitting in the Cambridge morgue?” Corbin asked.
“Agreed.” Keegan looked at Trace. “I’m gonna suggest we need to keep this under wraps for now. We have to assume the developer is involved. Until we know more, we’re treading on thin ice. Templeton Construction is a huge developer. They have more than fifty men in the upper echelon of their company. It’s going to be tough to ferret out who was paying Friedmont and why they decided to end his existence.”
Mitch blew out a breath. “So, we’re going to assume the builder has to be involved.”
Corbin nodded. “I don’t see who else it could be. Templeton would have been the one to want to cut corners. They stood to gain quite the financial boon in doing so. They couldn’t have done anything without somebody beneath them covering it up. And they easily would have gotten away with it if not for the earthquake, the rise of building standards, and the subsequent discovery that protocol hadn’t been followed in the first place.”
“Has anyone looked into other recent properties by the same builder?” Corbin asked.
“On it,” Trace said. “But the list is long. Templeton Construction is an enormous company. It’s going to take some time to investigate completed projects for shoddy practices.”
“Any of them local?” Corbin asked.
Keegan shivered. If he was the inspector on any project in this area that shouldn’t have received his stamp of approval after the earthquake, he could be in a heap of personal trouble.