When All The Girls Have Gone(34)

"It's a fermented soy-based product."

"Huh."

"Let me guess. Real detectives don't eat tofu or tempeh," she said.

"Don't know what real detectives eat. I'm still new at the business. But I'll give the fake sausages a try."

"Excellent decision, considering that I don't have any other kind in my kitchen." She forked up a bite of her eggs. "How did the planning session in the shower go?"

"Would have gone a lot better if you had been in the shower with me."

"I doubt it."

He took a tentative bite of fake sausage and concluded that it wasn't terrible. It wasn't real meat, but it wasn't inedible. Luckily there was a really big pile of eggs and some toast. He would not starve.

"What I concluded is that it's past time we had a chat with Jocelyn's closest friends," he said. "The members of the investment club."

Charlotte considered that briefly. "All right. I'll ask my boss for some vacation time so that I can go with you. I doubt if they'll be able to tell us anything useful, though. As far as they're concerned, Louise died of an overdose and Jocelyn is on retreat somewhere in the Caribbean."

"Stuff has happened. Might be interesting to see if it changes their minds about the situation."

Charlotte paused her fork halfway to her mouth. "We should probably start with Madison Benson. She's the one who founded the club."

"What do you know about her?"

"Not a lot. She owns her own financial planning business. Quite successful. She donates regularly to the women's shelter where Louise worked and she's active in the shelter's fund-raisers. She recruited the other members of the club, including Jocelyn, from among the regular donors."   





 

"So they all had a connection to the shelter."

"Right. But Louise and Jocelyn had a special friendship, not just because they were both passionate about funding the shelter, but because they had both been assaulted in the past. They understood each other in ways that no one else could. They thought of themselves as a small survivors' club."

"What do you know about the other members of the investment club?"

"Victoria Mathis is in marketing at a local sportswear company. She seems nice, but I really don't know her very well. Emily Kelly is in human resources. Works for a local tech company. Again, I don't know much about her."

Max thought about that while he ate some of the tempeh sausage.

"Why an investment club?" he asked.

Charlotte had been about to drink some coffee. She stopped and gave him a quizzical look.

"Why not an investment club?" she asked. "After all, it was Madison Benson who brought them together and Madison's expertise is in financial planning and investing."

"But you said that the club has never made a lot of money."

"There hasn't been a big windfall. I think the club started out as an excuse for Jocelyn and the others to get together for drinks and conversation. But a few weeks ago Jocelyn told me that it looked like one of the start-ups they invested in is a good candidate for a buyout. She said that if the deal goes through, all the club members will make a very, very nice profit."

"Except for Louise."

Charlotte sighed. "Except for Louise."

"What happens to her shares in the club?"

"Hmm." Charlotte thought about that. "As I understand it, if a club member resigns, her shares go back into the club's pool to be split up among the others."

"And if a club member dies?"

Charlotte watched him with troubled eyes. "The same, I suppose. The shares are divided up among the rest of the club members. Jocelyn said something about not wanting to have to deal with heirs who might try to claim a share of the profits or dilute the value of the shares. It was intended to be a very exclusive, very private investment club."

"So now we have a situation in which there is one less person to share in the profits of the start-up buyout."

"Oh, crap." Charlotte put down her fork. "But if this is about money, what was Louise Flint doing in Loring?"

"We both know that there's only one logical answer. She was there because of what happened to Jocelyn all those years ago."

"Then her death is linked to the past, not to the potential profits from the club's investment in the start-up," Charlotte said.

"In my experience, it's never smart to ignore the money trail."

"Okay, you're the expert here. What's our next move?"

"When you're dealing with a group dynamic, you get better results if you don't start at the top. The leader usually has the most to lose and he or she can exert some control over the others. We'll talk to Victoria Mathis and Emily Kelly first and then circle back to Madison Benson."

"What, exactly, are we going to ask Victoria and Emily?"

"I won't know until we start talking to them."

Charlotte raised her brows. "That's how you work?"

"It's called turning over rocks until you find something interesting."

Charlotte started to respond to that, but her phone rang, visibly startling her. She jumped to her feet and grabbed the device off the kitchen counter.

"It's the doorman," she said.

Her disappointment spoke volumes. Max knew that she had been hoping that the call was from Jocelyn.

"Good morning, Phil," she said. "A visitor? I'm not expecting anyone. Are you sure it's not a delivery?" There was a pause. "Oh. I see. Huh. Well, as long as he's here, you can send him on up. Thanks."

She ended the call and put the phone back down on the counter.

"Sorry about this," she said. "It's my ex-fiancé. Evidently he told Phil, the doorman, that it was really important."

"Interesting."

She gave him a curious look. "Why?"

"Think it's a coincidence that he's back in your life at this particular juncture?"

"Wow. You really are the suspicious type, aren't you? Yes, I think it's just a coincidence. He called the other day and told me that the woman he left me for changed her mind about leaving her husband. She dumped Brian. He's looking for a shoulder to cry on."

"And he immediately thought of you."   





 

"Yep." Charlotte smiled an angelic smile. "And when Phil told me that Brian was downstairs just now, I immediately concluded that this was a golden opportunity to demonstrate that I have moved on. Sorry, partner, I'm using you."

He ate some more eggs. "I live to serve."

The doorbell chimed. Charlotte hurried around the corner and disappeared into the small foyer.

"Hi, Brian. Come on in."

Max smiled at her bright, vivacious tone.

"It's so good to see you again, sweetie. I've missed you."

Brian Conroy sounded warm, engaging, sincere. There was even a note of humility. It was the tone of a man who knew he had screwed up; a man who was hoping to find his way back into a woman's good graces.

"We were just finishing breakfast," Charlotte said. "Would you like some coffee?"

She was sounding more cheerful and enthusiastic by the second, Max thought. If she got any more upbeat, she would break out in song. The lady was looking forward to her little taste of revenge.

"Someone else is here?" Brian sounded uneasy now. "Jocelyn?"

It was clear that he did not want to confront Jocelyn.

"No, Jocelyn's out of town," Charlotte said.

"Good. I mean, right, that's what I thought."

"Come in and meet Max," Charlotte said lightly.

"Who's Max?" Brian asked. "Did you get a dog?"

Max winced.

"Nope," Charlotte said.

She whisked Brian around the corner and into the kitchen.

The man went with the voice, Max decided. Pleasant, successful, clean-cut and sincere.

"Max Cutler, I'd like you to meet Brian Conroy," Charlotte said. "I believe I mentioned him once or twice."

"The guy who got cold feet five days before your wedding," Max said. "I remember."

He rose from the dining bar, but he did not offer to shake hands. Instead he picked up the coffeepot and poured himself another cup.

Brian got a deer-in-the-headlights look and then he turned to Charlotte, clearly shocked.

"What is going on here?" he said. "Who is this guy?"

"Not the dog," Max offered, going for helpful.

Brian ignored him.

"Max is a friend," Charlotte said. "A very good friend. He spent the night here and now we're having breakfast, as you can see. Would you like some coffee?"

"No, thanks." Brian lowered his voice, very earnest now. "Look, Charlotte, I really need to talk to you."

"Go right ahead. I have no secrets from Max."

"Well, I sure as hell do. Where did you meet him, anyway? Some kind of bar hookup? Or have you been hitting the online dating sites?"

"None of the above," Max said. "We started out as business acquaintances. Things progressed from there."

Brian drew himself up and squared his shoulders. "I'm not buying that."

"I'm not selling it," Max said. "Just stating facts."

"Just who the hell do you think you are?" Brian asked softly. "If you think you can take advantage of Charlotte-"

For the first time Charlotte seemed to realize that she was playing with fire. Alarmed, she put a hand on Brian's arm.