Sapphire Nights (Crystal Magic Book 1)(104)

“Kennedy’s death halted the development plans?” Walker asked, disappointed that Xavier knew no more about his father’s death. “The plans died with him?”

Xavier shrugged. “Some of the team may have hung around, talking to Carmel, but she was too grief-stricken to care. She sold the mortgage company, and I was too addled to hold onto my job. I’m sorry I can’t be more help.”

Francois took a swig of water, then spit it at the worn wooden floor. “You let the monsters live to kill and torment again, you pathetic, sanctimonious bag of hot air.”

After the chauffeur’s burst of venom, Monty Kennedy lost it. “Francois! This is not the time to throw blame. They found your fingerprint on my mother’s gun, the one that killed Juan!”

Walker understood the explosion. Until this moment, Xavier had seemed to convict Gump for murder, if only by innuendo. But Francois had hit the guilt button. Not spineless Xavier, but Geoffrey Kennedy had been the one to set the vultures to picking Hillvale’s bones. Monty’s father had let loose the soulless fortune hunters to claim the land, much as the gold diggers had destroyed the Spanish in a different era. And the Spanish had destroyed the natives before that.

Walker gestured for Monty to sit back. “Tell us about Juan and Gump,” he said to Francois, offering him a stick of gum.

The chauffeur ripped off the wrapper and chewed to calm himself. “They are murdering turds,” Francois finally said.

Monty clenched his hands in an apparent attempt to keep from throttling his mother’s toady. Walker had to keep one eye on him while interviewing Francois.

“You saw them kill Michael Walker?” he asked without inflection.

Francois shrugged. “I saw nothing back then. The green-jacket turd told me he needed to change his tire, and I gave him my tools. He brought them back washed. He was wearing his ugly green jacket when he borrowed the tools but not after. He stank of sweat, but I thought nothing of it until I saw him get in a car with matching tires. Who keeps matching tires for a spare? Not in that little Corvette.”

Walker’s gut twisted, but he pushed on. “Was anyone else with Gump who might have seen him change or not change his tire?”

“Juan,” Francois spat. “The blackmailing little worm was everywhere, even back then. I had to give him the watch Mrs. Kennedy gave me for Christmas when he threatened to tell her I was letting kids wash the car and pocketing the extra she paid me to have it done.”

Monty raised his eyebrows. “That was an expensive watch. You make that much on car washes?”

Walker figured the blackmail was over more than car washes, but that line of questioning was beside the point. He gestured for Monty to quiet.

“So Juan might have seen Gump using your tools for whatever purpose?” Walker asked.

Francois shrugged. “I saw Juan burn a green coat in the incinerator. It looked muddy, and when I asked him about it, he told me Gump was good for a lot of cash for keeping his mouth shut. I figured I’d look out for chances, but the ugly coats did not come back much after that, not until recently. The snake shed his green skin, but he was still poisonous.”

Walker kept his expression neutral, even realizing that Francois offered only circumstantial evidence that Gump had killed his father. But everyone involved was dead, adequately punished for their misdeeds.

What mattered was how justice should be served now.

“And recently?” Walker asked. “What made you take the gun? Were you frightened?”

Francois gestured dismissively. “Me? Not me. It was Mrs. Kennedy. That pig Juan threatened to tell you about how the skeleton died. He said it would look very bad for her and her family. He wanted a pay increase.”

Shit. Walker glanced at Monty, who ran his hand over his eyes at this hint that his father may have been involved in murder.

“Your uncle learned from your experience with Juan’s blackmail,” Walker told the mayor, not opening the path of Kennedy involvement in the skeletal remains. “Presumably, your mother did too?”

Monty nodded understanding. “Juan was all bluff.”

“So how did Mrs. Kennedy deal with Juan?” Walker asked, as if they were sitting at a bar carrying on irrelevant bar chat.

Francois rolled the water bottle between his hands. “She got the gun from the vault. She locked it there when the mister died, said she didn’t want her boys to have it.”

“And then she shot Juan?” Walker asked, allowing a hint of incredulity through.

Francois shook his shaggy head. “No! She is a lady. She would never do such a thing. She just threatened the swine and told him if he ever approached her in such a manner again, she would kill him rather than just fire him. She finally booted the little turd.”

Monty raised his eyebrows. “That must have been the night she was in such a rage. She told us she’d fired the wretch, and Kurt argued. Juan was a rat, but he was an observant rat and good at his job.”

Walker nodded and directed his question at Francois. “And then she told you to put the gun back in the vault?”

Francois nodded. “She gave me the key and the gun. But Gump was there that night. I saw him having dinner, and I remembered what Juan said about him paying big cash. So when I had a chance, I told him that Juan had been blackmailing Mrs. Kennedy about the skeleton on the property. I didn’t know what he knew, but I took a chance, just to see if he’d pay to keep my mouth shut.”