Midnight Betrayal (Midnight #3)(75)
Ianelli cocked his head, his gaze unreadable. “You have no evidence he did anything.”
“No. I have no proof. I understand that incident is over and done with from a legal perspective, but I thought you should know what Blaine is capable of.”
“OK. We’ll find out how long Blaine Delancey has been in town.” Jackson unwrapped a square of gum and put it in his mouth. He chewed with aggressive, angry back-and-forth motions of his jaw. “Does Blaine inherit anything if you die?”
“Not directly, no.” Louisa opened her hands. Blood rushed into her fingers with pinpricks of heat. She studied the fading bruises on her palms. “The way the trust is structured, if I die with no children, then the money goes to my father, but in reality, the trust is controlled. He’d receive both my annual trust income and his, but only a portion of the estate is accessible. If my father and I both pass with no heirs, the money is distributed among a number of charitable organizations. If I have children, then a portion of the principle is carved out for each of them, with them receiving an annual income, et cetera. The idea is to preserve the family money for future generations.”
Jackson absorbed the information. “Are you on good terms with your father?”
A flash of anger brought Louisa’s gaze to meet Jackson’s. “First of all, my father has no interest in money, which is why he told my mother not to leave it to him.”
“Everybody is interested in money.”
“He’s a hopeless academic. All he desires out of life is to spend his days with his books and research. My father has no interest in anything besides his work.”
“When was the last time you saw him?” Ianelli asked.
“He came home in May. He stayed two weeks and returned to Stockholm.” He couldn’t wait to get away from her and her failure. “He’s guest lecturing at a university in Sweden through next spring. My father has a generous allowance from the trust. He gives most of it to his sister, Margaret, to run the house in Maine.” Louisa stopped. “Margaret can never directly inherit, but she would likely have increased access to the trust income through him if I died. Blaine is her godchild, the son of her oldest friend. If she indirectly controlled the fortune, she would be very generous with Blaine.”
“That feels like a pretty thin motive.” Ianelli’s mouth pursed. “Isn’t this Blaine guy rich too?”
Louisa shivered. “I assure you Blaine is very shrewd. He’s been kowtowing to Margaret for favors since he was a child. His father lost the family money in a series of bad business decisions. Blaine has been bitter about that his whole life. But honestly, what makes me more uncomfortable about Blaine is his insane jealousy regarding anything he perceives is his. This might include me.”
Jackson made a few notes and tucked his pen back into his pocket. “We’ll be sure to check Blaine Delancey out thoroughly.” His tone didn’t promise results.
“Now back to more plausible suspects.” Ianelli refocused on Conor. “We have a witness who saw Conor following Isa Dumont the other morning.”
Detective Jackson chimed in. “You were parked outside her residence, the one she used to share with Zoe Finch. She left the building, and you followed her.”
“Isa had something going on with Heath,” Conor said. “And I knew you were following me the whole time.”
“Still doesn’t look good.”
Conor rolled his eyes. “You can’t still think I’m your best suspect.”
“Why not? Because you’re a good liar?” Jackson’s frown furrowed his whole face. “We found short dark hairs in the front seat of Isa’s car and on the second body.”
“And?” Conor crossed his arms over his chest.
“You have short dark hair.” Jackson gave Conor’s head a knowing look.
Conor snorted. “So does half the city.”
“DNA will tell. It doesn’t lie.” Ianelli’s piercing black eyes locked on Conor.
“You don’t even have my DNA.” Conor straightened.
“Don’t we?” Ianelli shrugged.
Louisa put a hand on Conor’s forearm. “I think we should call Damian before we answer any more questions.”
Ianelli stood, brushing a wrinkle from his slacks. “Never mind. We’re leaving. We just thought you should know Isa Dumont had disappeared.”
“Wait. You didn’t ask us where we were when Isa was taken.” Louisa raised a finger. “You said she was last seen at seven, and her car was found at nine last night. You know Conor and I were both in the bar at that time. There was a policeman watching us all evening.”
“And we’re still watching you.” Jackson picked a dog hair from his jacket sleeve.
“Isa was taken from the parking lot?”
“We believe she was grabbed on her way back to her car,” Jackson answered. “But we’re not sure.”
“Then how would her attacker’s hair get in the front seat of her car?” Louisa asked. Were the police so determined to pin these crimes on Conor that they would ignore logic and facts? Or did they just want general information and were trying to intimidate her and Conor to get it?
“Maybe that’s where he waited for her.” Ianelli shrugged, but his brows dropped lower, shadowing his eyes. “Or he grabbed her after she got into the car. Lots of possibilities.”