The Betrayal of Lies (20 page)

“Kaitlyn?”

The young woman halted and turned toward the voice.

“I’m Emily Parker. I just wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss. Your mom was a special person.”

“Thank you for that,” Kaitlyn said. Her head tilted as a quizzical frown formed. “Did you say Emily Parker?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you the woman who left me all those messages?”

“I am.”

“And you were working on finding my mother?”

“Yes, I was.” Emily wanted to say more, she wanted to say that she was sorry she hadn’t found her in time, but it was probably best to leave it at that.

Kaitlyn stepped a little closer and lowered her voice. “Can we talk?” She looked Emily in the eye with a serious expression. The girl’s eyes were as blue as the sky, rimmed in red from the tears she had shed.

“Certainly.” This was what Emily had hoped for. “Right now?”

“No, I have to go back to the house.” Kaitlyn glanced at the limo, and Emily’s gaze followed. The driver was holding the door open for her. “Food is already laid out, I’m sure, and people will be coming soon, so I need to be there. If you’ll come by, we can slip out and find a quiet place to talk.”

“Sure, I can stop in.”

“Thank you,” Kaitlyn said, giving a small grateful smile. “I’d better be going.”

Standing alone, Emily watched the young woman walk away and climb into the long black limousine with her stepfather and his attorney. What could Kaitlyn want to tell her?

Her gaze wandered back to Peter and Kara, who appeared to be deep in conversation. She moved closer to them, stepping up beside Colin as he inconspicuously listened in on their discussion. The ploy seemed to be working. Now, to get Patrick and Russell to drive away without her.

Emily noticed Kara peer over at the limo. “I can’t do the interview right now. I need to get back to the estate. People will be coming by and Mr. Murphy and Kaitlyn will need me to help manage the flow of guests streaming into the house. Can we get together sometime tomorrow?”

Keep it together, Peter.

Peter rolled his wrist and looked down at his watch. “Sorry, but my cameraman and I have a flight out of here in a few hours. Either we do it now or we’ll miss our chance. With his daughter there and the caterer and household staff, certainly Mr. Murphy can spare you for a half hour or so.”

She glanced at the limo again. “I guess you’re right. How many times do you get to be on television in your lifetime?” She grinned at Peter. “I’ll just send them a text to go on without me—that I’ll be there shortly.” Whipping out her phone, she quickly tapped out a text message. She fanned herself with the program again as she stared at the limo, waiting for a response. “I hope they understand.”

Peter looked over at the limousine, too. Within a few moments, it pulled away from the curb. He snuck a quick peek at Emily before returning his attention to Kara. That was her and Colin’s cue to approach, once the limo was out of sight.

“Looks like they understood,” Peter assured Kara, matching her eager smile.

“Kara St. James,” Colin said, stepping in front of her. “I’m Detective Colin Andrews. You need to come with us for questioning in the murder of Elise Murphy.”

“Me?” she gasped, her smile turning into a frown. Her hand flew to the top button of her jacket. “But why?”

Peter discreetly took a photo of the confrontation, but Emily appeared to be the only one who heard the almost imperceptible click.

She stuck her hand out to Kara, palm up. “The necklace, please.”

“What necklace?” Kara asked, nervousness underlining her question, the speed of her fanning intensifying.

“The one you’re hiding under your jacket,” Emily snapped. “Don’t play games with me. I saw it in the restroom at the church when you had your jacket off.”

Colin’s gazed moved from Kara to where Ernie had parked the police cruiser. He waved Ernie over, then turned back to her. “Officer Kaufmann will give you a ride to the station.”

Kara’s rounded eyes flew to Peter. “But what about the television interview?”

Peter shrugged and lifted his hands to her. “I guess there won’t be time for it now.”

“The necklace?” Emily insisted, once more forcing her open hand toward Kara.

Kara unfastened the clasp on the chain and lifted the necklace from beneath her jacket. She dropped it in Emily’s hand. “It’s not what you think.”

Emily studied the necklace collected in her hand. It was definitely the same one. The silver chain appeared different than the original, a little thicker maybe. Perhaps Kara had restrung the garnet on another chain. This further clarified the violent way the initial one was jerked off Elise’s neck.

“We’ll see,” Colin replied to Kara, taking her by the arm.”

She yanked her arm away. “Can I at least have a minute to take this jacket off?” she asked. “I’m boiling in it.”

Emily stood with Peter, watching Colin and Ernie escort Kara to the police cruiser and help her into the back seat. Peter took a few more shots, this time not hiding the fact that he was doing so.

“Are you coming?” Colin called to Emily and Peter.

They hurried to where Colin was standing beside his Jeep. Peter hopped into the rear seat.

“Kaitlyn invited me back to the Murphy house,” Emily said. “She said she wants to talk.”

“About what?” Colin opened the passenger door for her.

“Don’t know yet.” She climbed into the front seat, hoping the daughter could shed new light on the whole kidnapping and murder scenario.

“I’ll drop you by your house to get your car,” Colin said. “Then Peter and I can head to the station and see what I can get out of Kara St. James.”

“Any word from the hospital about Jake Mitchell?” Emily asked as Colin slid behind the wheel.

“Not yet,” he replied, sticking the key in the ignition. “I hope he doesn’t die on us before we get a chance to question him.”

Peter poked his head between the two of them. “Make sure I’m invited when you do. I think I earned it.”

~*~

By the time Emily arrived at the Murphy estate, the street and driveway were packed with cars. The front door stood open, while soft music and conversation spilled out to the porch, as Emily stepped inside. The house was full of people, presumably family, friends, and business associates.

A small crowd was gathered around the expansive mahogany table in the formal dining room, which was filled with fresh flowers and delectable finger foods and desserts.

Emily looked around for Kaitlyn, hoping to avoid having to speak to Patrick Murphy or his attorney. She would have liked to have seen Patrick Murphy also hauled down to the police station for questioning again, but until Colin got Kara’s story, Mr. Murphy certainly would have kept silent at the insistence of his attorney once more. However, in the next few hours, that could all change.

As Emily stood in the elegant grand foyer, her attention was drawn to the sound of Patrick’s voice in the living room. He was standing by the marble fireplace, talking to a couple of men and a woman, who appeared to be giving him their condolences.

“Emily?”

She startled and turned at the calling of her name. “Kaitlyn.”

“Thank you for coming,” the daughter said, putting her hand on Emily’s arm. “Let’s step outside.”

Kaitlyn led the way out and down the walkway toward the garages. “I don’t think we’ll be disturbed out here.”

“Again, I’m so sorry about your mom.” Emily kept pace as they moved to the end of the house. “I was just getting to know her, but I could tell she was a terrific person. She was helping me plan my wedding, you know.”

“I appreciate your saying that. I wish Patrick thought she was special.”

“What do you mean?” Emily asked, nearing the last garage door.

“I guess he loved her in the beginning,” Kaitlyn stopped and turned back toward Emily, “but in the last few years things changed. I’m not sure why. Mom said he was gone most of the time on business trips, but even when he was home, he was distant. He never wanted to have friends over, and Mom had to account for every penny she spent, which she never had to do in the earlier years. He had become very possessive of her when he was home, yet they slept in separate bedrooms.”

“Did he ever physically abuse her?”

“Not in the early years, and he never beat her unconscious or anything like that, but there had been times when he slapped her or grabbed her by the wrist or by the arm and left bruises. He was always sorry, claiming he didn’t know what came over him.”

“Did your mom have any idea why he changed?

“She suspected mental illness of some sort. Patrick’s mother and grandmother both suffered from it in their later years.”

“How is your relationship with him?” Emily asked.

“It was never that great. He’s my stepdad, as I’m sure you know. He wanted to marry my mother, but I came with the package, so he put up with me.”

“Your real father’s not in the picture?”

“No, he died when I was little, at least that’s what my mother always told me.”

“Doesn’t sound like you believe her,” Emily said.

“You know, with the internet and all, you can find out all kinds of things online. That Google is amazing. A few years back, I did some research on him, using the name on my birth certificate, and I found out he’d been in prison for dealing drugs for most of my life. I guess Mom just thought it’d be easier to tell me he was dead.”

“So she raised you as a single mom?”

“Yes, until she met Patrick. She was his administrative assistant.”

“I see.” Emily was starting to suspect a pattern. “At the cemetery, you said you wanted to talk. Was it about something in particular?”

“I hoped you could fill me in on how my mom died and how the investigation is going. I know she was shot, but how? And why? No one has told me anything.”

Emily mustered all the tact and sensitivity she could in telling this girl about her mother’s murder, trying to leave out the grisly details, yet give her the truth. As for why, well that was a bit more challenging. She and Colin had a lot of theories, but the fact was they didn’t know yet why Elise had been killed.

“I hate to ask this, Kaitlyn, but do you think your mother could have staged her abduction to get away from Patrick?”

The girl’s gaze drifted off in the distance and she was silent for a time, as if she was contemplating what to say next. “I guess it couldn’t hurt to tell you, now that she’s gone. Yes, she did stage it, and it was for that very reason.”

Emily nodded her head, not really surprised that Elise’s daughter knew about the fake kidnapping too.

Kaitlyn’s attention returned to Emily. “How did you know?”

“Just piecing the clues together.”

“You know, Emily, she warned me she was going to do it—she said some friends were helping her, so I was not to worry.” Kaitlyn’s eyes became watery and her bottom lip began to quiver. “But this wasn’t how Mom planned for it to turn out. She wasn’t supposed to actually die.”

“When you play a dangerous game—”

“No, you don’t understand, I think it might have been my fault,” Kaitlyn cried.

“I don’t understand. How could it be your fault?” Emily wondered if she was involved somehow.

“I accidentally mentioned something to Patrick about Mom divorcing him.” Kaitlyn looked down at her hands. “I needed some extra money for my living expenses at college, and he didn’t want to give it to me. He told me I should get a part-time job and learn to be more careful with my money. It got pretty heated. We argued and I told him I was glad I wouldn’t have to beg him for money anymore, once my mother divorced him. It just sort of slipped out.”

“Oh, Kaitlyn, don’t blame yourself.” Emily wanted to reach out and hug the girl, but she knew it would have been inappropriate. She pulled a portable packet of tissues from her purse and handed them to her. “This wasn’t your fault—not any of it.”

Emily tried to reassure her and bring comfort with her words, but Kaitlyn might be right. Her rash comments could have been the tipping point that unintentionally set this whole tragedy in motion.

“You said Elise had friends helping her. Did she mention who those friends were?” Emily already knew about Jake and Maggie, but maybe there could be others involved. Camille perhaps? She was Elise’s closest friend.

Kaitlyn glanced back toward the house, as if she was making sure no one was within earshot. “No, she never mentioned anyone by name, but she did tell me I should go away on a camping trip, away from cell phones, so no one could question me—not the police or the press or anyone.” She wiped the tears gathering under her eyes. “Mom was especially afraid Patrick and Uncle Russell would send someone to find me and force me to tell them where she was.”

“Uncle Russell?”

“Patrick’s attorney, Russell Gray.”

“Is that just a nickname or is he really related to you?” Emily asked.

“A little of both. He’s Patrick’s cousin.”

“They seem to be pretty close. Did they grow up together?”

“No, Russell got reacquainted with Patrick about five or six years ago. See, Patrick’s and Russell’s mothers are sisters. Patrick’s mom married well and he was raised with money, but Russell’s mother married a loser and she ended up raising him as a single mom, barely scraping by.”

“But now he’s an attorney and seems to be doing very well,” Emily said.

“Mom told me once that Patrick’s parents paid for Russell’s college education. They felt bad for his mom’s sister, you know, being the one struggling to make ends meet when they had plenty of money. Patrick’s mother wanted to do something to help Russell.”

“That was a generous thing for her to do,” Emily said, “paying for law school.”

“Even so, I think Russell resented Patrick, though, for having rich parents and getting whatever he wanted his whole life, from what my mom said anyway.”

“You think he’s envious?”

“Jealous is more like it. Even as a lawyer, I think he still feels like he’s from the poor side of the family, you know?”

“How do you know that?” Emily asked.

“Just his attitude, you know? Little digs or the way he says something. Maybe I’m wrong, but it always seemed like that to me.”