The Case of the Killer Divorce (7 page)

Chapter 23

My euphoria lasted all day
and I wanted to share the news with someone. I thought about calling Aunt Peg, but then decided not to. She's so pragmatic, I was afraid she'd start asking tough questions like, how did I know my dad wanted to hear from me? Not everyone would welcome the news of a grown daughter from a past life. And, did I really want to learn the details of his tragic life? And what if he needed help that I couldn't give him? Wouldn't I feel worse than I did before? So, I didn't call her. I called Duke instead.

"Hey Duke, how's it going?
"

"
Couldn't be better, Darlin'. The world is spinning, the sun is shining and I have a hot date tonight. How about you? We ready to roll with my new favorite client?"

"Yes, we
are. I'll e-mail you a summary and the contact info for Becca. I also have some news."

"
Hope its good news. I wouldn't want you to kill my buzz."

"Be serious,
Duke, nothing could kill your buzz!" I laughed.

"You got me there."
He chuckled.

"So, here's my big news, I'm close to finding my dad! He's living in Nicaragua and Grace is working on getting his ad
dress for me. Isn't that great?"

"That's terrific, Jamie. I'm very ha
ppy for you," Duke said, dully.

"Then why don't you sound happy?" I
asked, puzzled by his reaction.

"
I guess you figured Grace could help you more than I could. No problem."

Poor Duke! I'd hurt his pride. I can be so dense, sometimes.
How was I going to fix this?

"
But it was your lead that made it happen, Duke. Grace took a chance and called a friend at the Cuban Consulate who was able to track down my dad--but only because you did the groundwork. That's why I'm calling you first.

"You really called me first?
" I could hear his smile through the phone.

"Of course! I couldn't have found him without you.
You're the best!"

"
Yeah, I am, aren't I? Keep me posted on that. I want to be the first one to shake the old man's hand."

"You just want t
o hit him up for Cuban cigars."

"What's wrong with that?" He laughed. "
Congrats, Jamie, I mean it. Now, how about a little background on Becca Solomon?"

I filled him in on everything
, including the upcoming appointment with the State Attorney, but I asked him to hold off talking to Becca until after the funeral on Saturday, and he agreed.

After our call, I e-mailed
Duke the signed retainer from Becca, as well as other information he needed. It didn't take long, since I'd already given him a summary over the phone. When I was through, I pulled out the file for one of my other cases because, believe it or not, I had more than one client, and there was a hearing scheduled for the next day that I needed to prepare for. It was a relief to focus on something mundane and forget about Becca Solomon for a while.

Chapter 24

Wednesday passed uneventfully. My hearing went smoothly, my client was granted the relief he was seeking and I felt good about being a family lawyer. Hey
, it happens. And then Thursday arrived and it was time to meet with Becca. I was relieved to see she was dressed appropriately in a charcoal gray suit and that she seemed to be sharp and with it. I couldn't have handled it if she turned zombie on me again.

"How are you feeling, Becca?" I asked, once we were seated at my small conference table.

"I'm okay. I want to get this over with." She was bouncing her leg under the table. Her nervous energy had to escape somehow.

"
Me too." I smiled, reassuringly. "You need to prepare yourself for this, mentally, because it's going to be tough, I won't lie to you. The state attorney will ask you lots of questions--about Joe, your relationship, your sleeping pill prescription, anything he can think of. And he's going to try to rattle you into an emotional outburst."

She
looked panicky. "What do I do?"

"That's the easy part. After you provide your name and address, you're not going to answer any questions. Instead, you will say this: "I refuse to answer that on the grounds that it might incriminate me
."

"What?? Are you kidding? That makes me sound like a criminal and I didn't do anything wrong! Whose side are you on, Jamie?"

"Calm down, Becca. I'm on your side and nobody said you did anything wrong. I spoke with an excellent criminal defense attorney, Susan Doyle, and she advised me to proceed this way. The reason is that anything you say today can be twisted, taken out of context and used against you, and we don't want to give them anything they can use. If they think they have a case against you, let them prove it. Make them go look for evidence. Otherwise, they can go to hell, okay?"

She took a deep breath and let it out. "That
 makes sense, I guess. I'm sorry I yelled at you, my nerves are shot." She gave me a wan smile and I patted her arm.

Then Becca gave me a puzzled look. "But why not just leave, what's the point of staying
but not answering their questions?"

"
So we can find out what their game is," I answered. "Just remember, give them no reaction to anything. Got it?"

"Got
it."

We drove the short distance to the state attorney's office in silence, each of us absorbed in our own thoughts. I was also mentally preparing myself for a showdown
with Nick Dimitropoulos. If Becca stuck to the script, everything would turn out fine, but I didn't trust Nick. Dirty tricks were his specialty, and criminal law definitely wasn't mine.

We were ushered into a drab room where everything was brown, the carpet, the table, the chairs. Even the walls were beige. It looked like a room where hope went to die. We sat down and waited. It was a good fifteen minutes before the prince of snark,
himself, strolled into the room.

"Good morning, Ms. Quinn,
Mrs.
Solomon." He was already starting his head games with Becca.

"Hello, Nick." I said. Becca nodd
ed, but said nothing.

"Thank-you for coming in," he said. "I've asked you here to make a statement regarding Joe Solomon's death. Everything you say will be recorded and may be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand Mrs. Solomon?"

Becca nodded again.

"You have to answer audibly, for the record."

"Yes," she said. "I understand."

"I see you have chosen to bring counsel with you, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Please state the name of your counsel."

"Jamie Quinn."

"Please state your
name and address."

"Rebecca Solomon. 3700 S. 37
th
Court, Hollywood Hills, Florida."

"Do you believe your husband committed suicide, Mrs. Solomon?"

"I don't know," she answered. I glared at her and she flinched. She was off script already!

"Do you bel
ieve your husband was murdered?"

"I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate me," she said, as if each word
burned her mouth on the way out.

"I
nteresting," Nick commented.

"Do you know of anyone wh
o might've killed your husband?"

"I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate me." Becca was very pale and squirming in her seat.

Nick stopped to rifle through his papers, as if he had all the time in the world.

"Did you have any reason to kill your husband?"

"I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate me."

"Weren't you in the middle of a
nasty divorce when your husband died?"

"I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate me." Tears
were flowing down Becca's face.

Nick switched gears.

"Isn't it true you have a prescription for sleeping pills?" he asked.

"I refuse to answer on the ground
s that it might incriminate me."

"Are you aware that your husband Joe died of an overdose
of alcohol and sleeping pills?"

"I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate me." Becca was starting
to sway unsteadily in her seat.

Nick put his papers down and looked Becca in the eyes. "Do you have any idea how your sleeping pills ended up at Joe's house?
In an aspirin bottle?"

Becca let out a shriek before crying out, "Oh my God! No
-no-no!"

And then she fainted.

Chapter 25

I caught Becca before she fell out of her chair
while Nick's assistant ran to get some smelling salts. As soon as she cracked one open, the powerful ammonia smell permeated the small room, sending me into a coughing fit. One wave of that miniature stink bomb under her nose was enough to revive Becca. She sat up, looking dazed, as if she couldn't remember where she was.

I glared at Nick. "
We're done here.
And I hope you're proud of yourself!"

"You know what your problem is, Quinn?" he asked. "You take everything so personally. Are you sure she's not your cousin?"

"I may take things personally, but at least I haven't lost my compassion. Once you lose that, Nick, what's left?"

"A damn good attorney, that's what," he said, and walked out of the room.

I helped Becca to her feet and once she was steady, guided her to the door. Before we left the building, I insisted she drink some water from the water fountain in the hall. Thankfully, we made it to the parking lot without incident and I settled her into the passenger seat. 

"Are you feeling better now?
" I asked, as I started the car.

"Yes, thank
s. I don't remember what happened, though."

"The state attorney was asking you questions when you fainted. Do you remember what he asked you that made you so upset?" I knew it was a risky question, but a
t least she was in a safe place.

"I'm sorry, Jamie, I don’t."

"It's okay, don't worry about it," I said, wondering whether Becca was being sincere. She seemed to be. Either she was an extraordinary actor, or she had the capacity to instantly block out traumatic events. Either way, it was curious. Sometimes, I regretted not majoring in psychology; it would have been fascinating to learn how the mind works.

I didn't feel comfortable letting Becca drive, so I convinced her to let me drop her at home; she and Charlie could pick up her car later. I walked her into her house and then took Charlie aside to tell him Becca had fainted and to keep an eye on her. As usual, he was amiable and agreeable and said he would take care of her. I wondered what it would take to
rile Charlie up, but I couldn't picture it. Nobody could be that calm all the time, not even Mother Teresa or the Dalai Lama.

On my
drive back to the office, I called Duke.

"
Hey there," I said, "I just left the State Attorney's office with Becca and something interesting happened I thought you should know about."

"Ain't life strange? I've got something to tell you, too.
Ladies first."

I described the bizarre episode I'd witnessed and ask
ed him what he thought it meant.

"Well, it sounds like our girl Becca's feeling guilty about those sleeping pills in the aspirin bottle. But it also sounds like she was surprised to hear about it. I'd say that was good news, except for the other thing, her black-out. I think it's possible she's the killer
, but doesn't remember a thing!"

"But when would she have had
 the opportunity to kill Joe?"

"That's what I was going to tell ya, Jamie. I went to Joe's place, which is a fancy condo with all kinds of security
, and a guard sitting in the lobby to check in visitors. Me and him got to talkin', you know how it goes, and he shows me the list of Joe's visitors. Turns out Charlie Santoro paid Joe a visit the day he died. But what was even more interesting was the other visitor, a woman. According to the guard, this same woman visited every Thursday morning and stayed a while, if you catch my drift."

"Wow! What was her name?"

"You're gonna love this--
she said her name was Jamie Quinn!"

"What the hell? You're joking, right?"

"I wish I was, Darlin'. I asked him to describe this mystery lady and it didn't sound anything like you."

"Of course it wasn't me!" I was furious that someone would use my name like that.

Duke laughed. "You're funny when you're mad."

"Come on, Duke, you're killing me. Who was she?"

"I hate to tell you this, Jamie, I really do, but it was Becca."