Daisy McDare and the Deadly Legal Affair (10 page)

Chapter Seventeen

The rest of the day Daisy kept a low profile and focused on redecorating the office.  She still kept her eyes and ears open for clues however.  Besides, she had practically given everyone at the office the once over. 

There was still one person that Daisy needed to talk to, but she had to visit that person at home.  So when her work day was over, Daisy did just that. 

“What are you doing here?” Chloe asked. 

As Daisy stood on Chloe’s front doorstep, she saw a woman at rock bottom.  Chloe looked like she hadn’t gotten out of her pajamas all day.  There was a chocolate stain on her top and alcohol on her breath. 

It was amazing to think how much her life had changed in the span of a week.  Seven days ago, she was happily having an affair with Max Cash thinking he might leave his wife to be with her.  Now she was heartbroken, out of a job, and smelling like cheap booze.  

“I just wanted to say sorry for what happened to you,” Daisy replied. 

“Don’t worry.  I’ll be fine,” Chloe insisted. 

What an ironic statement, coming from someone who looked like a complete train wreck.

“Are you sure about that?” 

Chloe leaned in and drunkenly whispered to Daisy. 

“I have a plan.”

Chloe was looser than Daisy had ever seen her before.  The alcohol was doing a lot of talking for her.  It seemed like the perfect time to pump her for information. 

“What kind of plan?” Daisy asked. 

Chloe snickered.  “That’s for me to know, and Brooke Cash to groan about.”

Daisy got a pit in her stomach.  Revenge was the peskiest of motives.  It had a way of nagging at a person until it threw them over the edge.  What that the case here?

“I’d be careful if I were you.  I wouldn’t want you to do anything you’ll regret later.”

Chloe cackled.  “Regret?  I’m going to give Brooke what she has coming.”

Was Chloe unknowingly spilling the beans on her plans to kill Brooke Cash? 

“What’s that exactly?” Daisy asked. 

Chloe actually opened her mouth to answer.  How drunk was she?

“I’m going to sue the pants off of her,” Chloe declared. 

Daisy furrowed her brow, expecting a completely different answer.  “Sue her?  For what?”

“Wrongful termination.  I hope she’s ready to open that diamond-encrusted wallet of hers, because I’m about to go diving for dollars.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Chloe nodded.  “I already hired a lawyer.  And let me tell you, he loves money.”

“But you were having an affair with your boss.  Don’t you think that muddies the waters a little?”

Chloe got a sour grapes look on her face.  “Affair is such an icky word.  The fact is, Max and I were in love.  The kind of love that Brooke Cash can only dream about.  She didn’t deserve him, not with her money grubbing ways.”

“Are you sure Max loved you as much as you loved him?  Or when he told you that his wife had threatened him with divorce, did you instead learn that Max felt much different about you than you did about him?” Daisy pressed. 

Chloe shook her head and snickered.  “You still think I killed him, don’t you?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I loved him too much to kill him.  If anyone deserved to die, it was his wife who only wanted him for his wallet.  I just wanted Max and me to be together.”

“What about Jackson?  You know, he’s really broken up about all this,” Daisy said. 

“Jackson loves me the same way I loved Max.  Problem is, I don’t love Jackson—least not anymore,” Chloe explained. 

“Why not?”

“Jackson and I had that kind of young puppy love.  But when I met Max, I realized what real love was.  That kind of all-consuming love.  Jackson is a nice boy, but Max was a man.  And once you’ve had a real man, you can’t go back.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have another drink calling my name, and I intend to answer,” Chloe slurred.  She let out a big burp and slammed the door.

Daisy was left feeling stumped.  She went over to Chloe’s house with a good feeling that she might be the killer.  Chloe’s eyes exonerated her however. 

Surprisingly, Daisy’s gut told her Chloe was innocent.  In her tipsy state, Chloe’s guard was down.  The alcohol was like a truth serum.  If ever there was a time for a clue to slip out, it was when Chloe was goosed. 

Yet there was no sign of a confession anywhere.  She actually looked innocent of the murder all of a sudden.  Chloe’s eyes were completely clear of guilt.   

***

Suddenly Daisy had to go right back to the drawing board.  She knew just the place to do it.  Sweet Tooth was more than just a place to satisfy her chocolate cravings.  It was also sleuth central.  So while Daisy’s taste buds gushed over a chocolate cupcake, her mind contemplated the case.

That night she was eager to pick Granny Annie’s mystery-loving mind. 

“Annie, have you still been burning through those mystery books?” Daisy asked. 

“Actually, I was too busy to play Granny Gumshoe last night,” she answered. 

Daisy was visibly deflated. 

Samantha then stopped savoring her caramel truffle long enough to jump into the conversation. 

“Tell Daisy where you were Granny,” Samantha insisted. 

“Saul Silverman got a new hip and was eager to take it out for a test drive, so we went salsa dancing. 
Ay carumba
, what a time we had,” Granny Annie answered. 

Samantha smiled. 

Daisy laughed.  “I can’t believe your eighty year old grandmother has a more active social life than I do.”

“She has a more active social life than both of us combined.  Thanks to my long hours here, most of my dates with Trevor are spent with us relaxing on the couch,” Samantha admitted. 

Granny Annie had a different take.  “Hey, you only retire once.  What’s the point of spending your golden years doing anything but having fun?”  

“I hope I’m as fun as you when I get to be your age,” Samantha said. 

“Follow my lead and good times will follow,” Granny Annie replied. 

“Hey Annie, I know you were busy with your salsa dancing, but I was wondering if you might have any more tips for me about solving mysteries,” Daisy wondered. 

“Actually, Saul and I were talking about that during our nightcap yesterday,” Granny said. 

“You were?” Daisy asked. 

Granny nodded.  “He wanted me to ask you if you’d looked into the tennis pro?”

“Annie, my job is at a law office, not a country club,” Daisy said.   

“Oh, right.  In that case, how about the crooked pizza delivery guy?  They always smell so funny,” Granny Annie said. 

“Again, this case took place at law office, so there isn’t any crooked pizza delivery guy or shifty tennis pro.”

Granny Annie meanwhile checked her watch and untied her apron.  “I’m just trying to help.  Besides, a pizza could’ve been delivered to the office.  See any pizza boxes there?  Anyhoo, time for me to be heading out.”

“Another hot date?” Samantha joked. 

“As a matter of fact, Saul is taking me a jazz club tonight.  I have a feeling I’ll be boogying down all night.  Don’t wait up for me,” Granny Annie said. 

Granny then scooted out. 

Samantha smiled to herself.  “No rest for the retired.”

Daisy meanwhile was still caught up thinking of the case.  If there was a suspect she hadn’t really grilled that much in the Max Cash murder, it had to be his wife.  Brooke stood to gain the most.  With Max alive, she had a contentious divorce trial ahead of her.  With him dead, she inherited millions of dollars. Not to mention at the time of the murder she was hot and bothered about finding out her husband was having an affair with his legal assistant. 

Ever since handing off the day to day operations to Peter Simpson, Brooke hadn’t shown up at the office.  Maybe she thought she was safe to fade away into the background, having quietly gotten away with murder.  Of course, it was just a theory, but it was one worth exploring.

Samantha had other things on her mind. “So, any update on the hunky dog park guy you met the other day?”

Samantha’s question pulled Daisy’s head out of the clouds.

“Actually, yes,” Daisy replied. 

Samantha’s eyes lit up.  “Did he ask you out?”

“Oh—no.  Nothing like that.”

“Then why do you sound so excited?”

“Because, Gavin is helping me with the case,” Daisy answered. 

Samantha was confused.  “Wait a minute.  You’ve been hopelessly single for months, then you finally meet a hunky guy, but instead of trying to get him to ask you out, you coax him into doing some ex-curricular sleuthing?”

“That sounds about right.”

Samantha scoffed.  “Have you lost your mind?”

“No.  Although I have caught it wandering off a lot lately,” Daisy joked. 

“I’m glad you think this is funny.  I mean all I’ve heard you talk about the last six months is how heartbroken you are.”

“Samantha, the man is a professional private investigator.  He could be invaluable to solving this case,” Daisy said.  

“I know that.  I just thought you were more interested in finding someone who could solve the mysteries of your heart,” Samantha replied. 

“I am.  Don’t get me wrong, Gavin is definitely on my romantic radar.”

“What’s the problem then?”

“You know how much of a hot mess I was when Brent left me?”

“Of course.”

“I wasn’t any good to anyone.  I was in no shape to start dating again.  Mr. Right could have appeared on a white horse looking to ride into the sunset with me and I would have been too busy bawling my eyes out about Brent to notice,” Daisy explained. 

“What does this have to do with hunky dog park guy?” Samantha asked. 

“Gavin is still in that phase.   And until he stops being an emotional grease fire, he wouldn’t even notice if I was the woman of his dreams.”

“It’s amazing what can happen when love goes wrong, isn’t it?” Samantha said. 

“Tell me about it,” Daisy groused.

“Want another pastry? Samantha teased.

“There’s a reason you’re my best friend,” Daisy smiled.

Chapter Eighteen

Up until that point, Daisy had waited for the case to come to her.  She knew it was time for her to come to the case.  If Brooke Cash was going to play the silent partner in the law practice from now on, it would be hard to dig up any dirt on her at the office. 

Social media however was a different story.  Daisy knew Brooke loved shopping.  She also apparently enjoyed bragging to her friends and followers on the internet where she picked up her latest purchases on her public page.

That night, she was apparently planning to shop until she dropped at the boutiques on Oak Street.  She kept posting about all the deals she was getting as she went from store to store. 

What was amazing was there was no indication from her posts that her husband had just been murdered less than a week before.  As a matter of fact, she sounded downright cheery. 

Daisy couldn’t imagine being so brazen or emotionally bankrupt.  If anything, Daisy thought Brooke would be keeping a low profile, just for her image’s sake.  This was either the behavior of someone who had nothing to hide, or something who was pretending to have nothing to hide. 

Daisy decided to drive over to Oak Street on a hunch.  She didn’t know what to expect exactly.  Her gut was leading the way on this one. 

Everyone at the office was on guard, but as Daisy’s conversation with Chloe proved, things were much different when away from work.  As Daisy turned the corner onto Oak Street however, a surprise was waiting for her. 

It didn’t take long for her to realize why her gut had brought her here.  She spotted Brooke almost immediately.  A woman wearing head to toe pink was hard to miss.  But Brooke wasn’t alone. 

Walking arm in arm with her was a shark in an expensive suit named Tom Timmons.  He was an ambulance chaser, a man of unparalleled sleaze.  Daisy had seen his ads on television.  He referred to himself as “Top Dollar” Timmons and went by one simple motto—“No Case Too Small, No Settlement Too Big.”

Brooke sure had an odd taste in men.  Apparently she had a thing for oily, morally bankrupt attorneys.  Who knew?

Brooke and Tom walked down the street laughing with each other and seemed to be having a wonderful time.  Then Tom leaned over and gave her a kiss.

Daisy quickly grabbed her camera phone and snapped a photo of the lip-locking.  Was this a break in the case she’d been looking for?

It was clear Brooke and Tom weren’t just new acquaintances.  They didn’t have any of the awkward markings of two people who had just met.  If anything, they looked like they’d been intimately familiar with each other for a while.   

Daisy couldn’t believe it.  Brooke was walking around like she didn’t have a care in the world.  Or at the least like someone whose husband hadn’t just been killed. 

She had a big smile on her face, as if the weight of the world had been lifted off her back.  Perhaps because she was convinced that she’d gotten away with murder?  

Daisy’s head started spinning.  She wondered how long Brooke and Tom had been seeing each other.  Even more, she pondered whether Max was aware of their relationship before he was murdered. 

If Max knew Brooke was having an affair as well, it took her leverage away.  Suddenly whatever advantage Brooke had in divorce court was moot.  With Max gone however, Brooke would inherit all of Max’s money and be able to come out in the open with her relationship without fear of repercussions. 

It was all coming together.  Her motive was just as strong as ever.  With everything going on in the office, Brooke was able to slip under Daisy’s radar only to come out of the woodwork later.  But then again, everyone had a motive and maybe that was throwing Daisy off.   

Daisy suddenly had a lot of questions to ask Brooke, and she wasn’t going to give up until she got the answers.  She knew she needed coffee and chocolate to re-boot her mind however, so she went in search of it first.  Being a sleuth kick started her appetite every time.     

***

The next morning, Daisy was in such a hurry to confront Brooke that she skipped over going to the dog park.  The more Daisy thought about it, the more Brooke seemed like the real killer.  She had the means and one serious motive.  There was only one way to find out. 

Daisy couldn’t rely on Brooke showing up at the office, so she decided to confront her at her home.  She strode up to the front door with purpose, determined to get some answers.  She didn’t know what to expect as she rang the doorbell. 

Would Brooke even answer?  If she didn’t, Daisy was prepared to wait at the front door all day.  Surprisingly, Brooke came to the door with a tranquil look on her face.  She either had the best poker face in the world, or she severely underestimated Daisy’s mettle. 

Brooke was surprised.  “Daisy?  Shouldn’t you be headed to the office?”

“I will be soon, but there’s something I need to take care of first,” Daisy insisted.

Brooke furrowed her brow.  “I’m not sure what this has to do with me.”

Daisy stared her down.  “I know about you and Tom Timmons.”

Brooke didn’t skip a beat.  “So?”

“Don’t you think it’s suspicious that less than a week after your husband was murdered, you’re out on the town walking arm in arm and kissing one of his known legal rivals?”

“I’m a widow.  I can spend my time with whomever I choose.”

“The question is, how long have you been spending time with Tom Timmons?” Daisy pressed.   

Brooke kept a cold and detached look on her face.  “What are you accusing me of?”

“You recently found out your husband was having an affair with his assistant.  But what if he wasn’t the only one sleeping around?  What if he found out that you and Tom Timmons had been having an affair as well?  That would sure throw a wrench in getting the divorce settlement you were looking for,” Daisy said. 

Brooke narrowed her eyes.  “I’d be careful where you go with this conversation.”

“Are you really going to pretend like you just started seeing Tom Timmons in the last few days?”

“Yes.”

Daisy stared into Brooke’s eyes and got a different answer. 

“You’re lying.”

Brooke averted her eyes. 

“I’ll bet the detective would like to hear the truth.  I’m sure he’d have some follow up questions for you about your husband’s murder too,” Daisy continued. 

Brooke cracked.  “Alright, I didn’t just start seeing Tom recently.”

“How long have you been seeing him?”

“I didn’t kill my husband,” Brooke insisted. 

“That wasn’t the question.”

Brooke glared at Daisy. 

“I only recently just started seeing him again.”

“Why do you insist on lying?” Daisy asked. 

“That’s the truth.  But there’s another truth too.”

“What do you mean?”

“The fact is, this isn’t the first time Tom and I have been together romantically,” Brooke revealed. 

“What are you talking about?” Daisy wondered. 

“Tom and I used to be college sweethearts.  Then when Tom went off to law school in Vancouver, we tried to keep things going long distance.  Eventually, the distance became too much.  We ended up breaking up.  Shortly after that I met Max.  We started dating, fell in love and got married.  I thought that was the end of the story.  Then flash forward twenty years to when Max got murdered.  The day after Max was killed, I got a call from Tom sending his condolences.  We got to talking.  Before we knew it, we were getting along just like in the old days.  We picked up just where we left off so many years before,” Brooke explained.    

“Do you really expect me to believe that?  That’s still really fast just after your husband is found dead.”

Brooke nodded.  “It’s the truth.”

Daisy pressed on.  “It would be a lot easier to believe you if you didn’t look so suspicious.  You had the means and the motive to commit the crime.  Not to mention, less than a week after he was murdered you were shopping, laughing, and having a ball with another man looking like you didn’t have a care in the world.”

“I know the timing is bad, but if anyone deserves to smile and have a little fun, it’s me.  Do you know what it was like to be married to Max?”

“Tell me.”

“The man loved money more than anything else.  Next came glory.  Then a close third was chasing skirts.  I was at the bottom of the list, right below his custom-tailored suits,” Brooke admitted. 

“To me, that sounds like even more of a motive,” Daisy replied. 

“I know what it looks like, but I didn’t kill him.”

Something completely unexpected then happened as Daisy looked into Brooke’s eyes.  Daisy thought she’d see through Brooke’s lies.  She was waiting for her gut instinct to confirm that Brooke was the killer.  That didn’t happen. 

Instead, Daisy saw that Brooke was telling the truth.  She couldn’t believe her eyes.  It didn’t make sense.  Yet Daisy couldn’t deny what her gut was telling her—that Brooke was innocent. 

The question then became, if Brooke didn’t do it, who did?  It seemed like it was back to the drawing board for Daisy. 

Then Brooke said something that sent Daisy’s mind turning in a new direction. 

“I realize it was foolish to just stroll around town arm in arm with Tom, but I got wrapped up in my emotions.  The fact is, I’ve been suffering silently for a long time.  Max had already broken his vows.  He stopped loving me long ago.  So why shouldn’t I move on?  What’s the point of wallowing, especially over a two-timing creep like Max?  The way I see it, there are two types of people in the world--those who can rebound from heartbreak, and those who are crippled by it.”

Daisy’s eyes opened wide as Brooke said that last line.  Something clicked.  It was like a light went on in Daisy’s head.  She started putting two and two together.   

Suddenly, everything made sense.  A smile came to her face as the realization came to her.  In that moment, Daisy finally knew who the real killer was.