Exposed (Rosato & DiNunzio #5)(53)

“Right.” Mary sat down opposite him, pulling the chair over. “Okay, we don’t have a lot of time, so let’s get to the point. First, the possibility of suicide. Is that something that Todd would do? Do you know any reason he’d commit suicide?”

Simon shook his head, gravely. “It doesn’t sound like him, to tell you the truth. He lets his emotions out. He’s not the kind of guy to carry crap around. I just don’t see him killing himself.”

“Maybe something’s wrong with his ex-wife or the kids. Was there a custody battle or anything? That’s the kind of thing that makes people kill themselves.”

“No, I don’t think they had anything like that, and if so, they were over the hardest part of the divorce. It was all smooth. He has the visitation schedule. That much I know because we worked around it for a company retreat once.”

Mary made a note on her phone. “So that brings us to murder. Somebody must’ve killed him, but why? Does he carry a lot of money on him? He had a Porsche, was he a flashy guy?”

“Totally, he always carried a lot of money. He had a nice Rolex, I know that. So maybe somebody killed him, but it sure as hell wasn’t me.”

“Does he have any enemies that you know of?”

“None that I know of.”

“Okay, the cops must not think he killed himself either, because they brought you in for questioning. They didn’t arrest you, but you’re a person of interest. I’m assuming they called you in because they found out that he fired you, that you’re suing each other, and they’re thinking that’s motive. The good news is that I guarantee you that’s not enough to accuse somebody of murder and you were at the hospital—”

“Mary, there’s something I need to tell you,” Simon interrupted her.

“What?”

“That’s not all they have. I saw Todd today. I talked with him at the country club, in his car.”

Mary felt her mouth drop open. “What? When? How?”

“At the end of the day. I know I shouldn’t’ve done it, I probably should’ve called you first.” Simon’s eyes turned pleading, his eyebrows sloped unhappily down. “But it just got to me. The lawsuit this morning, him making up those lies about me and the company suing me for two million. Maybe it was my breaking point.”

Mary’s throat went dry, but she didn’t interrupt him.

“I thought, things got too complicated, involving lawyers. He and I are old friends, were old friends, and I thought that if we just talked to each other, we could hash it out man-to-man. I thought maybe we could settle it, since you or Bennie or whoever hadn’t been able to.”

Mary knew where he was coming from. Almost every client felt that a lawsuit could be settled if the lawyers just got out of the way, but it was rarely true. Once a lawsuit got filed, opposing sides invested in their side of the story. “So what happened?”

“Todd’s a creature of habit, and it’s Friday. Every Friday night in summer, Todd stops by the club. If it’s a nice day he leaves work early, plays nine holes, and has a drink. If it’s bad weather, like today, he has a drink with whoever’s at the bar.” Simon paused, running a tongue over parched lips. “So after we spoke this morning, I called him.”

“Tell me exactly what you said.” Mary pulled out her phone, scrolled to her notes app, and started a file.

“It wasn’t a long conversation. I said, ‘Todd, I got this lawsuit you filed against me for two million bucks and I think this is getting out of control. Let’s try and settle this face-to-face.’ He said, ‘I’ll give you ten minutes. Meet me at the club at five thirty. We’ll talk in the car.’”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.” Mary was always surprised at how terse men could be. She needed fifteen minutes to say hello. Plus hugging time.

“So I left the hospital, got to the club, and went around the back, where he parks.”

“You knew the club? You’re not a member, are you?”

“No, but I’ve been with him and I know the drill. You drive in and the clubhouse is on the right, then the tennis courts and the bag drop, but he always parks in the farthest spot in the lot. He doesn’t want anybody to mess up his Porsche.”

Mary typed away. “So you drove there and met with him?”

“Yes.”

“Was anybody else around?”

“No, not that I saw. It was raining like hell. Nobody was on the course or the driving range.”

Mary guessed the club had security cameras, and they would have recorded Simon’s car, including the license plate. “Okay, so then what happened? You got out of your car and got into his?”

“Yes.”

“Was he there waiting for you or did you have to wait for him?”

“He was waiting for me.”

“Was anybody else in his car?”

“No, he was completely alone and there were no witnesses, if that’s why you’re asking.” Simon frowned, turning nervous. “But I swear to you, he was alive when I left him. He was alive.”

“Okay, stay calm. Tell me the rest of the story.”

“So I got in his car, and I said, ‘Todd, what’s the deal? What is going on? You know I didn’t say those things about you, I would never run you down, and I get why you let me go, I know you’re trying to save the company money.’”