Exposed (Rosato & DiNunzio #5)(54)

“What was your tone like? Were you angry with him?”

“I was, but I didn’t yell or anything. I was really trying to settle this. I didn’t call him a liar. I was really trying to understand what happened.” Simon opened his palms in appeal. Maybe I talked forcefully, like now, but I didn’t raise my voice. I was trying to negotiate. I’m in sales, for God’s sake. I knew what I wanted out of the meeting. A settlement. Like any deal, I wanted to close it.”

“I understand,” Mary said, hearing the ring of truth in his words. She couldn’t understand how it had turned out so horribly wrong. “So how did he react?”

“He got pissed. He started yelling. He said that it was bullshit that I sued him and he would be damned if he would settle it. He said he wanted his day in court. He wanted to clear his name. And he hoped I had to pay every penny of the two million bucks. Then I got mad.”

“What happened?”

“When he said that, I saw red. I couldn’t help it. He was vicious, vindictive, like he didn’t care about Rachel at all. So I shoved him, and he shoved me back.”

Mary’s heart sank. “So it got physical?”

“Yes, we grappled.”

“What do you mean by grappled?”

“Like we got into a shoving match. Look, I admit it, I wanted to hit him.” Simon’s face flushed. “But I’m not a violent guy. I’m not a fighter. I just shoved him and he shoved me back, then we grappled back and forth, then he shoved me against the car door and said get out.”

“Then did you go?”

“Yes, I came to my senses. I knew fighting wouldn’t solve anything. And he wouldn’t listen to reason. So I got out of the car.”

“How long were you in?”

“Fifteen minutes, tops.”

“What did you do next?”

“I got in my car and drove back to the hospital.”

“What time did you get there?”

Simon frowned in thought. “I’m not sure. Six o’clock, maybe. The traffic was horrible, rush hour in the rain. My dad was still there. Then he left with your father.”

Mary thought a minute. “When you left the club, is there a gatehouse or anything? Was there a guard that would see you when you left?”

“Yes, they have a gatehouse, and you give your name and the member you’re with or meeting. They don’t write it down or anything. Or call. It’s not that strict.”

“But if you don’t say a member’s name?”

“They don’t let you in, I’m sure.”

“Did you see the guard when you left?”

“Yes.”

“Talk to him?”

“No, I didn’t. Just waved.”

Mary tried to think of a question she hadn’t asked. “So you drove away, and he was fine?”

“Absolutely.” Simon’s expression fell into grave lines again.

“Did you see anybody go to the car after you?” Mary was trying to puzzle out the timeline. “We don’t know the time of death, but whoever killed him had to come pretty quickly after you left. Did you see any other cars in the lot?”

“Not that I remember. I didn’t notice. It was pretty empty.”

“Was it totally empty?”

“I don’t think so, I don’t remember.” Simon licked his lips again. “As soon as I pulled into the lot, I drove to his car. That’s all I was thinking about. Him and what I was going to say.”

“Think a minute, try to remember.”

“Remember what?”

“When you drove from the entrance of the lot to his car, did you make a direct line through rows of painted lines?”

“No, I didn’t make a direct line. I drove around the perimeter to the farthest point where he parked.”

“So you took the long way instead of going straight?”

“Yes, essentially I took the two legs of the triangle, not the hypotenuse.”

Mary could visualize it, but didn’t understand his actions. “So why didn’t you just take the hypotenuse? Was it because there were cars in your way? Close your eyes and try to visualize it.”

Simon closed his eyes, then opened them again. “I think it’s force of habit, maybe I’m a creature of habit too. Either way, I drove around the perimeter of the lot. I didn’t cut through directly, like on an angle. I’m not sure if there were cars there but if there were, there weren’t many.”

Mary didn’t say what she was thinking, which was, It only takes one. “There’s something else I don’t understand. If there was nobody else in the lot, why did Todd park in the far corner? If nobody else was there, there’s no danger of anybody bumping into his Porsche.”

Simon shrugged. “I guess that’s force of habit, too. That was his space. We all know it.”

“Did he hold other meetings in the car?”

“Sometimes, like if we went for a drink and were going to talk about something confidential, we’d talk about it in the car before we went into the clubhouse.”

“So you weren’t surprised when he suggested the car, not the clubhouse.”

“Right, I wasn’t.”

“So was this well known within the company, the talking in the car thing? And where he parks?”