Keegan 00 Soft Case (8 page)

“Detectives,” she said, in a deep, sultry voice. Man.

“We’re sorry to disturb you, ma’am,” Rick said, standing up.

“I understand,” she said. Nothing about her hinted at the fact that she was grieving. She seemed composed, normal. Almost too normal. Her breasts, showing nicely with a v-neck t-shirt, didn’t seem too distressed either. “This has been such a shock.”

“That’s what we would like to talk about,” I said.

Sondra moved to the couch, sitting about fifteen feet away from us. She reached into a small box on the table next to her. “Do you mind if I smoke?” she asked.

I reached for my pack. “So long as I can, too.”

“Of course. Ron never liked my doing this,” she said, talking with the long cigarette dangling from her mouth. She lit it, took a long inhale, then exhaled slowly, seductively. She was good.

“We would just like to ask you a few questions, so we might find out what happened to your husband,” I said, lighting my own cigarette. I attempted a masculine drag, but it just can’t be forced. DeNiro could do it. Others look normal. Unless you’re one of those guys that does it Asian-style. Trust me, only Asians can do it and make it work. Don’t try.

“Of course,” She exhaled through the corner of her mouth, perfectly and then took another drag. She made it look like, well, you know.

“When was the last time you and your husband spoke?” I asked. Rick whipped out his notepad and began jotting all of this down.

“Monday night. I had just arrived at our condo in the Bahamas.”

“Was he supposed to go with you?”

“Yes, but he canceled at the last minute. Something to do with the company. He never tells me much about that. Probably because he knows I am not too concerned.”

“How did he act for the last few months?”

“Stressed.”

“Can you explain that?”

“Well, he is always, was always, uptight. He worried about every aspect of his business, which I guess made him such the successful man he was.”

“But he was more stressed than usual?”

“Yes.”

“In what way?”

“He was short-tempered. He was never short tempered.” “Never?”

“Never.”

“Do you know what about, exactly?” I asked.

“Well, I am sure you know about his political aspirations. He had been thinking about that a lot, as well as other things.” She took another drag of her cigarette, looking right into my eyes as she did so.

I looked at Rick. It was always good to get confirmation of a rumor. “Those rumors were true? He was considering running for

Senate in the upcoming election?”

“Yes. He probably would have won, too. Everyone liked him. The public, the press, politicians. He knew how to talk to people, knew how to make them feel comfortable. That’s why I married him. He made me feel secure.”

“Okay. What other things were you talking about?”

She looked around the room, as if she was telling me something she shouldn’t. It seemed like an act, far as I could tell. “He was planning on ending his partnership with Harold Chapman. He was done with the software business. Harold was going to take full control of the corporation. He was going to buy Ron out.”

Interesting. “Was that his idea?”

“I believe so,” Sondra said. She shifted in her seat. Normally, that signaled discomfort. For her, nothing came across that way. Honestly, I only hoped I’d get a peek at her butt. Hey, I am who I am.

“Do you have any idea how Harold felt about it?”

“He didn’t like it at first. You know, Harold is a shrewd man, but he can’t run certain aspects of the business the way Ron could. I think he was worried. No doubt the stock price would tumble when people found out Ron was no longer involved,” Sondra said. Everything that came out of her mouth had an intonation added to it, seemingly on purpose. This woman had made a life out of appearances.

“So, he had a lot of money at stake, Rick said.”

“Ron told him not to worry about that, that if Harold wanted, he would consider staying on for a while as a consultant or something. Just enough to keep the public comforted, until someone with his technical expertise could be found to replace him.”

“Do you know for sure what led your husband to such a decision, leaving the company his father started?” I asked,

“Politics, mainly. That was what he originally wanted to go to college for. Even though he made a ton of money with Techdata, he always considered it his father’s company. He wanted to do something on his own.” Sondra flicked the cigarette into the ashtray with her thumb ever so carefully.

I could understand what she said. Mullins had a label on him, probably put there himself, that he was successful only because of his father. It must have been difficult, although I have to admit my jealousy trumped my understanding.

“That was a major decision to make. When did this come about?”

“About three months ago. He told Harold at a convention in California.”

“Were you there?”

“Yes,” Sondra said, finishing her cigarette, “I was. I always go to the conventions in the United States. I don’t bother with the ones out of the country. Not much I can do there. If I want to go to a foreign country, I go for vacation, not to hang around with a bunch of boring computer people.”

Computer people certainly weren’t her type. She was a glamour person. I could see that. She oozed it out of her.

“Any idea where your husband was going yesterday, before the accident?” Rick asked, taking a break from his notes.

“You mean the day he killed himself. I’m not sure. He didn’t tell me anything, if that’s what you are asking.”

“So, you’re certain it was a suicide?” I asked.

“Isn’t that what you think?”

“We’re not sure. Do you think your husband was suicidal?” I asked.

“Ron was an extremely emotional person. He had been acting strange lately, depressed. Lord knows he shouldn’t have been. The money he would get from the buyout would have been more than enough to live comfortably on. He would have been able to fund his own campaign, if he wanted to, and the Governor was about to announce that he supported Ron for the Senate position. Everything he wanted was coming together, but he wasn’t happy with it. I think he felt he was betraying his father by getting out of the business.”

That would explain Mullins’ comment on the answer machine tape about his father. At least, it could explain that. I thought about mentioning the tape to Sondra, but that would have to wait for when we officially took her down to the station and questioned her. I didn’t want her lawyer finding out about that. I needed to cover my bases.

“Do you know what his mother thought about the whole thing?”

“Jackie? She could have cared less about Techdata. She hated the company from its inception. From what I know, she never wanted Ron to get involved. She liked the idea that he wanted to get into politics when he was in high school, and I think his father’s urging to get him into computers led to their divorce.”

So, that’s why the mother kept her maiden name.

“Speaking of divorce,” I said, knowing I was treading dangerous ground, “there have been rumors about marital trouble with you and your husband. Were they true?”

“I don’t see how that is pertinent.”

“Everything is pertinent.”

“Are you considering me a suspect?”

“With a rock solid alibi? Don’t think so.”

She looked around the room again, then met my eyes in a way women do at a bar when they want to talk to you. Sort of seductive, and very inquisitive. I knew the look, even if I didn’t get it all that often.

“We had our troubles. All married couples do, I suppose. Especially when you are in the public eye the way we were. It just goes along with the territory.”

“I guess it does. How would you describe your relationship up until now?”

“We were getting along fine. I was happy to see him get away from the company. It was bringing him down. He really had nothing else to contribute. He was done with it, had been for a few years. If you know the business, then you know that Techdata really hasn’t come up with anything groundbreaking in a long time. They have just been rehashing old technology. I guess that’s what most companies are doing now. I can’t say I was really happy about him getting into politics, but at least that would be more exciting than software. I knew he was good for it. I knew he would succeed.”

All throughout this, I watched Sondra closely. Partly because I wanted to try and see what she was feeling, and whether or not she was hiding. I also watched her because, when in her presence, you have to watch her. You really have no choice. The woman had charisma, a certain chemistry.

“Back to your husband’s state, can you think of anything that could be interpreted as suicidal behavior?”

“Like what?”

“Well, suicidal people tend to give things away, things that at one time were important to them. They also can be angry, apologetic. Can you think of anything?”

“Well, in a sense, he was giving away his company, if that counts. As far as the other stuff, I just don’t know. He seemed to want more time to spend with his kids. He seemed upset that he couldn’t go with us to the Bahamas.”

“Did you press him for why he wasn’t going?”

“I never pressed him on things like that. That was his business; he had to do what he had to do. No sense in making him more miserable. He had enough on his hands.”

“So,” Rick said, “you’re saying that your husband could have conceivably killed himself. You think he was capable.”

This statement drew a look of discomfort from Sondra.

“Oh my God, I don’t know.” Her eyes began to water. I watched closely, to see if she was acting. She was so damn good it was tough to tell.

“I’m sorry if this is difficult, ma’am, we just need to know.”

“I understand,” she said. “This is just so difficult. And it has been very hard on his children.”

“Of course,” Rick said. “Do you know of anyone who might want to kill your husband?”

“Kill him? Everyone liked him.”

“Could there have been someone who had something to gain from his death?”

“What do you mean?”

“Was there anyone who would have benefited from his passing?”

“Well, his insurance policy obviously won’t pay if his death is deemed a suicide.”

“I know,” Rick said. “What about his will?”

“To be honest, I am not that familiar with it. I am sure that his half of the company went to the kids and me. He probably gave something to charity; he was a very charitable person. Other than that, I don’t know.”

“What about the sale? Will it go through even though he has passed away?”

She shook her head. “I haven’t even thought about that. I want to see what his children think. If either of them would be interested in working there. I think his son might.”

That struck me, the part about the sale. It made me doubt that the partner had any ulterior motives. He obviously would have benefited more if Mullins would have sold him the company outright, instead of having the wife and the heirs to deal with. If what Sondra was saying was true, then she had the power to stop the sale. No reason why Chapman would want to deal with that on purpose. At least, there was no reason I could think of. And I had my mind in the most suspicious mode possible. That’s what I thought.

“Well, if you could, I would like you to try and think over the next day or two, who might want your husband dead,” I said.

“You think he was murdered?” she said, her voice raising in tone.

“We don’t know, Mrs. Mullins. We have to consider every possibility.”

She nodded. She was done. Maybe it was because she couldn’t handle anymore, or maybe her pre-made script was finished. Either way, she stood up.

“If you don’t mind, I have many things to handle.”

“Of course,” I said, standing up. Rick looked like he wanted to stay, ask more questions. It would have been of no use. I handed Sondra a business card. “Please contact us if you think of anything else.”

She looked up at me, that seductive look coming back. I figured she just couldn’t turn that off, ever. No wonder they had some problems in the past. The woman was a five-alarm fire. “I will.”

We got up and left the sitting room. Sondra made her way up the stairs to the left of the room. Standing in the foyer was the security guard. I really wondered why the Mullins’ needed so much security. I decided to ask the guy a few questions. Partly because I wanted to break his balls, and partly because it might help the investigation. In that order.

“Thanks for the help, um,” I said.

“Steve.”

“Yes, Steve. And being that you’ve been such a big help today, I figured you wouldn’t mind answering a few questions.”

Stevie wasn’t too happy about it, but I think he realized it was best to give me what I wanted, to get rid of me. Maybe he was porking the missus, and wanted to get back to business. I couldn’t blame him for that. As a matter of fact, I developed a new respect for him because it was possible.

“What do you want to know?” he asked.

“Well, did you see Mr. Mullins leave yesterday?”

“I did.”

“Did he say where he was going?”

“He had to meet someone.”

“Who?”

“Don’t know.”

“Of course you don’t.”

“I don’t.”

I raised my hands. “Okay, okay. What time did he leave?” “Around 3pm.”

“Cameras pick him up as he was leaving?”

He hesitated. “Yes.”

“Might we see those tapes?”

“No. I mean, I am not in charge of that.”

“You are in charge of security, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but it’s up to the Mullins’ as far as those tapes are concerned.”

“I guess we’ll need a warrant, then.”

“I guess so. Sorry.” He didn’t sound sincere. Something was up with the tapes, I thought. Either he didn’t have the tape, he never recorded it, or something was on it. All of those possibilities led to different scenarios. If he didn’t have it, then someone else did. If he didn’t record it, that was either a decision he or someone above him made, and I would have loved to know why. If there was something on the tape, something that hinted toward foul play, well, then, that’s self-explanatory. Or, perhaps it was nothing. Perhaps I was getting ahead of myself again.