Exposed (Rosato & DiNunzio #5)(80)

“Right.”

“But Todd and Ray are still worried that Simon has information about the faulty wiring, it’s just information that he doesn’t know the significance of. So they want to get rid of him but they don’t want to raise alarm bells. They reduce his territory and fire him.”

Bennie got it. “But Simon senses it’s a pretext. He knows they’re lying to him and he thinks the real reason they fired him was because of Rachel’s medical expenses.”

“He’s half-right.” Mary smiled, understanding. “He’s right that they’re not telling him the real reason they’re firing him, but the real reason for firing him is that they don’t want him to stay at OpenSpace. They don’t want him to keep raising questions about the wiring issues. They don’t want him around if or when there’s another electrical fire. They don’t want him to find out about the fire in Manassas.”

“Right, but then he sues them, and we kick up a fuss, so they’ve got to improvise. At the same time Todd is making noises like he’s going to come forward, so Ray kills him and frames Simon for the murder, and meanwhile—”

“Meanwhile, Simon is so preoccupied with Rachel and her need for a transplant, which happens just at the same time, that he’s forgotten completely about this wiring thing. It gets lost in the shuffle.”

“Oh my God, it’s a perfect murder.” Bennie shook her head.

“They just didn’t count on us.”

“Teamwork makes the dream work,” Bennie wisecracked, ignoring the twinge she felt inside. It really was fun working with Mary, but this wasn’t the time to say so, and the moment passed.

“I’m calling Detective Lindenhurst right now.” Mary dug in her purse for her phone. “We need to tell him to pick up Ray for questioning.”

“He’s going to say it’s speculation, so we need to collect all this information and bring it to him. Get our ducks in a row.”

“Right.” Mary pressed the number to call Detective Lindenhurst. “Can you make a separate file for this information, so we can email it to him in some understandable form? I want to have it in his hands right away. We don’t have any time to lose.”

“Understood.” Bennie turned to her computer laptop and started organizing the file. “Can you put him on speaker?”

“Sure,” Mary said, hitting a button. “Detective Lindenhurst, this is Mary DiNunzio.”

“Yes, Mary,” Detective Lindenhurst, his tone tense. “I was just about to call you. We just arrested Simon Pensiera for the murder of Todd Eddington.”

Bennie recoiled, saying nothing. It felt like a body blow.

Mary had gone white in the face. “No, you can’t, you have the wrong man, we were just about to call you, you need to get Ray Matewicz in for questioning. He’s the killer and we know why—”

“Mary, we have the right man. We have the autopsy. Todd Eddington’s body has been released. Your client’s hair, fiber, DNA, and fingerprints were found on the body and in Todd Eddington’s car. And we found the murder weapon in your client’s home—”

“But Ray must have planted it here!” Mary interrupted, frantic. “They know where Simon lives. It couldn’t have been that hard to get in there, and Simon’s away all the time at the hospital. Plus the street is practically deserted, since everybody’s away on vacation.”

Bennie could see Mary getting upset, but she didn’t interrupt.

“Mary, your client is about to be booked. If you’re smart, you’ll advise him to make a deal. I can probably get him twenty years.”

“But he didn’t do it!” Mary shouted, then seemed to catch herself. “And he can’t go to jail. He has a sick child who needs him. And his father—”

“I have to go. I’ll be at the Roundhouse all night. Good-bye.” Detective Lindenhurst ended the call.

“Wait, hold on!” Mary said anyway.

Bennie put a hand on her arm. “Mary, keep it together.”

“I can’t!” Mary hung up the phone, letting out an agonized groan. “Simon was arrested at the hospital! What if Rachel saw? What’s going to happen when word gets back to Feet? I can’t believe this! We were so close!”

“I know, and we still are.” Bennie tried to calm Mary down, but she felt the same way. “The fact that Simon was arrested doesn’t mean it’s the end. It’s just the beginning.”

“But Bennie, this time he’s going to jail!” Mary’s eyes widened with fear. “What happens to Rachel now? To Feet? This is a disaster!”

“We can deal with this. We’ve been through worse.”

“Not worse than this!” Mary began to tear up, and Bennie knew it was time to get her into motion.

“Pack up your laptop. Get your things. We need to get down to the Roundhouse.” Bennie put her laptop away.

“But I need to call everybody, my parents, Anthony, the cousins. I have to tell them, and they have to go sit with Rachel.”

“You do it on the way. I’ll drive.” Bennie pointed at Mary’s laptop. “Get your stuff. Let’s get going. The best way to help Simon is to be down there for him. Not up here whining.”