Twelve to Murder (A Mac Faraday Mystery) (20 page)

“How did he know our suspect was a woman?” David asked. “That, plus the video on YouTube, and Zachery’s statement prove they knew each other, when Lenny pretended that they didn’t. A jury will ask why he pretended he didn’t know Sela.”

“The hostage situation was an act Lenny launched on the fly to divert suspicion from himself,” Mac said. “He was confident that he would be cleared since he had an alibi, and that it would be assumed that he had been set up. Sela got out of there. Then, she and Zachery had to regroup to complete their revenge against Lenny.”

Mac, David, and Chelsea waited for Ben’s verdict on their theory.

“It’s a great story,” Ben said. “But where’s the proof?”

“How about a confession?” Mac said.

“Do you think Lenny, as smart as he is, is going to give you a confession?”

“No problem,” Mac said with a grin.

“What makes you so certain you can get him to confess?”

“He’s a narcissist.” Mac chuckled. “What fun is there in outsmarting everyone if you can’t brag about it to someone?” He tapped his finger on top of Ben’s desk. “We’re going to make sure that when Lenny starts bragging, we’ll be there to hear it.”

Chapter Twenty-One

“We’re going to be right here, in the very next room,” David assured Derrick Stillman while the federal agent adjusted the audio surveillance wire that was concealed in his sports coat. “We have a camera in Lenny’s suite, so we’ll see and hear everything. If there’s any trouble, over a dozen agents and officers will be in that room in less than ten seconds.”

“Lucky thing for us that Lenny didn’t decide to head straight back to the city after the hospital released him,” Bogie said. “It would have been more difficult to have set up surveillance in his condo.”

“Not really.” Jeb Winkler stepped up to Derrick to ensure the wire was not visible. “We got a warrant for surveillance as soon as we found Carson Drake’s body. The gun used to shoot him was buried right along with his body. Serial number traces it back to Lenny’s father. That and Derrick’s statement got us everything we need.”

Recognizing him from years before, Derrick smiled wistfully at the elder agent. “I’m sorry.”

Jeb looked up from the jacket to meet Derrick’s eyes. “For what?” 

“For not telling you about what really happened back…” Derrick swallowed. “If I had, my folks…” He blinked back tears while gazing at the elderly man. “If I had told the truth—what price did you pay for my lies?”

“Doesn’t matter now,” Jeb said. “The past is gone. We can’t get it back, nor can we change it. All we can change is the here and the now and what is to come.”

“But because of my idiocy—”

Jeb clasped his shoulders. “We’ve all been idiots at one time or another. The trick is getting over it and making things right. That’s the difference between you and Lenny Frost.”

Mac slapped Derrick on the back. “It’s going to be tricky getting what we need.”

“That isn’t what you said when you asked me to do this,” Derrick pointed out.

Smirking, Mac shrugged. “In some ways, it will be easy. The sea of conspiracy surrounding the Stillman murders was filled with distrust and dishonor. Use that to your advantage, and he’ll believe everything you say. His ego won’t let him not tell you the rest, which is what we need to bust him.”

“The tricky part is that you can’t spoon feed him what we believe to be true,” David said.

From across the hotel room next to the surveillance equipment, Ben Fleming agreed. “You need him to do the talking. Get him to give us what we need. If you say too much, the judge won’t allow it.”

Mac said, “Pretend you already know everything and get him to talk about it.”

“That will be easy,” Derrick said. “Lenny loves to talk. He loves to prove how smart he is.”

“That’s what we’re counting on,” Mac said.

“It’s show time,” Derrick muttered for them to hear before rapping on the door to Lenny Frost’s suite at the Wisp.

Almost instantly, the door flew open.

Champagne glass in hand, Lenny Frost smiled broadly at Derrick Stillman. “You’re just in time, bro!” He took Derrick into a bear hug before leading him into the suite. “I was just pouring a glass. Join me.” He gestured to the bottle of champagne resting in the middle of the table. Next to it was a gold foil gift box that had been sealed with a red ribbon and a large bow. An open greeting card lay inside the box where it had been tossed after Lenny read it.

“No, thank you.” Derrick adjusted his sports coat, while checking to make sure the wire was not loosened during the hug. “I gave up booze a long time ago.”

“Leaves more for me.” Lenny shrugged off Derrick’s decline of his offer and poured the champagne into his glass. “I tell you, God must have heard my prayers in that hospital, man, because this was waiting for me when I checked into the room.”

“Who sent it?”

“A devoted fan.” With a giggle, Lenny gulped down the drink until the glass was empty. With a belch, he refilled the glass before plopping down into the chair next to the table. Seeing his guest, he blinked as if he had forgotten Derrick was there. “How are you doing?” He draped a leg over the arm of the chair. 

“Not so good,” Derrick said. “Between making funeral arrangements for both of my parents and going over their estate…”

“Yeah, that’s rough.”

While Lenny’s voice choked, Derrick saw no tears in his eyes. He moved to stand over him. “The night that my parents were murdered I was on a date.”

“Yeah?” A wicked grin crossed Lenny’s face.

“She had told me that her name was Madelyn Preston,” Derrick said, “but then, after I got to what was her place, and we got all nice and…cozy, she told me the truth. Nothing like a little lovin’ to bring out the truth in a woman, huh, Lenny?”

Lenny stopped drinking in mid-sip. “Are you saying she was married?”

Derrick grinned. “Let’s just say she switched teams by the time I left her place.”

“Switched teams?” A wicked grin crossed Lenny’s face. “You mean you turned her into a lesbian.” He laughed. “That’s pretty bad. I wouldn’t go spreading that around if I were you.”

“You know what I mean, Lenny,” Derrick said.

Lenny stared at Derrick, who returned his glare.

“You don’t know anything,” Lenny said in a low tone. With a chuckled, he sat back in the chair and took a big gulp of the champagne.

“Are you sure about that, Lenny?’

“She lied to you, Derrick,” Lenny said. “You were always so gullible—believing anything that anyone told you.”

“I saw the video on YouTube, Lenny,” Derrick shot back. “You know the one, where you behaved like a jerk trying to heckle Riggleman. Madelyn, aka Sela, was right there next to you. What would you say if I told you that the police dusted my key for the summer place and found your fingerprints on it?”

“She arranged all of this to frame me!” Lenny rose up out of his chair. “No one is going to believe anything that she told you. She’s dead. The police killed her when they caught her trying to kill me.” He laughed. “Looks like I came out ahead in that deal.”

“Well, it’s a hollow victory for you, Lenny.” Derrick stepped closer to him. “You’re fired.”

“You can’t fire me!” the comic raged. “I’ve got a lifelong contract with the club. It’s in your mother’s will.”

“No, it’s not,” Derrick said. “She changed her will before…” He stopped himself. “All you get is the condo and the trust fund.” He yanked an envelope from his suit coat. “Now, if you don’t want me to go to the police with everything that Sela told me, then I suggest you sign these papers turning it all back to me and get out of my life.”

“What Sela told you was hearsay. No judge will allow it in court.”

“It’s all recorded,” Derrick said. “Plus, I know about Kate.”

Lenny’s eyes widened.

“Sela’s mother, Drake’s wife, had told her everything.”

Seeing the truth in his face, Derrick shoved his old friend down into the chair. The champagne glass shattered when it hit the floor. “You killed Kate!”

“It was an accident!” Lenny yelled back. “I just wanted to talk to her. All I did was tell her about how I felt, but she refused to talk to me and I grabbed her and she tripped and fell and—next thing I know, there’s blood everywhere and she’s dead!”

“So you pushed her car off the mountain road and made everyone think she had killed herself?”

“It was Carson’s idea!” Lenny said. “I trusted him! Biggest mistake I always make is trusting anyone! Everyone I ever trusted turned against me. Carson had recorded everything when he came to her place, and then he edited himself out of it. Plus, it turned out, he saved my clothes that had Kate’s blood on them. Then, he turned around and blackmailed me. He left me no choice but to kill him for the tape. Wouldn’t you know it? Here, his wife had my clothes and knew what they were. I had to torture her for a full day to find out where they were so that I could burn them. I thought I was rid of that nightmare when suddenly their kids show up. It was like the spawn of Satan! Next thing I know, your mom was squeezing me out of the club with that second-rate bitch who calls herself a comic! But you know what?” He tapped his finger against his temple. “If you put your mind to it, then you can fix any problem. All you have to do is give everyone what they want—and they will trust you. That’s when you let them have it. That’s how you come out on top. First, you make them think they won, and then you bring them down.”

“Is that what you did, Lenny? You brought my parents down? For what? They gave you nothing but their support.”

Lenny jumped out of the chair and shoved Derrick. “Your dad always treated me like gum stuck on the bottom of his shoe.” Turning around, he picked up a fresh champagne glass with one hand and the bottle with the other. “Like Sela—” Catching his chest, Lenny set the glass down. “You said she formed an alliance with you,” he said while pouring the drink into the glass, “Well, let me tell you about Sela.”

Staggering, Lenny turned to Derrick and held up his glass to him. “She formed an alliance with me…to kill her own brother.” He dropped down into the chair.

Noticing how uneasy Lenny was on his feet, Derrick asked, “How much of that champagne have you had to drink?”

“I’m celebrating.” Lenny held up his glass in a toast. “To retribution!”

“Retribution for what?”

“For betrayal.”

“My parents and Kate did not betray you.”

Lenny’s good spirits dissolved. His tone dropped to a low, cold sneer. “Everyone I’ve ever met has betrayed me. It’s the way of mankind. Once you learn to know and expect that, then it makes life much easier.” He chuckled. “It even becomes kind of fun. A grown-up game of figuring out how to outsmart the other guy.”

Lenny guzzled down the champagne and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The room fell silent while he shook his head. “Where was I?”

“You were telling me about how life is one big game of outsmarting the other guy,” Derrick reminded him.

“Yeah,” Lenny said while grasping his head and then his chest. “This champagne has gone straight to my head…anyway, for example, on Saturday, I went to the Blue Whale to meet Sela. But before Zach got there, I saw your face all over the news saying that I killed your folks. Zach had double-crossed me by writing my name in your mother’s blood. The bartender recognized me, and that idea was toast.” He looked into the empty glass. “But if things had gone according to plan, when Zach got there, we were going to go up to my room to toast with champagne.” He flicked his finger on the bottle. “Sela had poison to slip into Zach’s drink. I brought the suitcase that we were going to put his body in. After he dropped dead, we would just take him away. Then, when we got to where we were going to bury him—” He laughed.

“What?” Derrick gasped out. “What, Lenny?”

“I don’t believe in splitting up families.”

“You were going to kill Sela after she helped you kill her brother.”

“Come on, Derrick. Don’t you get it? You can’t trust anyone!” Worked up into a full rage, Lenny struggled to push up to his feet, but instead dropped back down into his chair. “When are people going to learn? You mess with me and you’ll get burned.”

“Everyone I have ever cared about, you have ripped from my life!” Derrick was at Lenny’s throat. “I’m going to kill you with my own hands.”

Derrick grabbed Lenny’s throat in his hands and squeezed. He was shaking Lenny by the throat when the doors to the suite burst open. As David had assured Derrick, a dozen uniformed officers and agents swarmed in with their weapons drawn. Seeing Derrick strangling Lenny, David and Bogie pried his hands away from Lenny’s throat and pulled him back.

“It’s okay, Derrick,” David assured him while pushing him away from Lenny and back to the other side of the room. “We got enough. We got him for conspiracy and everything else. You did good.”

His heart racing, Derrick paced the sitting room. Over at the table, Mac and Jeb Winkler were bent over Lenny, who was still slumped in the chair.

Bogie grabbed his shoulder mic. “We need the medical examiner to come to the Wisp…”

“What’s going on?” David asked.

“He’s dead,” Jeb told David.

Mac sniffed the bottle of champagne while examining the card in the box.

“What?” Derrick grabbed his head with both hands. “Are you serious? I killed him?”

“There’s no way he had time to kill him—” David objected. “We were in here—”

“When you drink this, make a toast to retribution for those betrayed,” Mac read out loud from the card. “It’s signed S.D.”

“Retribution? Who’s S.D.?” Ben Fleming asked for anyone who knew the answer.

“What’s going on here?” a woman in a gray business suit with a nametag identifying her as the hotel manager pushed her way into the suite. Spotting David in his police chief’s uniform, she made a beeline for him.
“When we were asked to let you and your people pull this sting, you assured us that everything would be under control. Now I’m told that the medical examiner has been summoned. Is that having everything under control?”

Staying one step behind her, a chubby man in a dark suit had followed her in. He nodded his head vigorously in agreement with her every word.

Before David could usher her out of the suite in order to contain the scene, Mac grabbed their attention with a question. “Where did this champagne come from?”

“It was delivered for Mr. Frost,” the chubby man answered.

“He ordered it?” Mac asked.

“No, Saturday morning a woman came in with it wrapped and with a note,” the hotel employee said. “I remember because I spoke to her. She said that it was for Lenny Frost, but she left strict instructions that it was to be delivered to him on Sunday morning and not before.”

“Today is Tuesday,” Jeb noted.

“I know,” the employee said quickly while ducking the manager’s glare.

“Lenny Frost was in the hospital under observation from Saturday night until today,” Mac said.

“Exactly,” the employee said. “We had no address to send the champagne back to the woman. But we did have Lenny Frost’s home address. I had given orders to my assistant to pack it up and mail it to him when Lenny’s lawyer called us to make reservations for him to stay here tonight. So, I decided to have it sent up like the lady had requested.”

“Lady?” David’s eyes narrowed to a squint.

“What did this woman look like?” Mac asked the employee. “Would you recognize her from a photo?”

A grin crossed the employee’s lips. “Oh, yeah. She was a real looker.”

David pulled up the photo on his phone that Derrick Stillman had sent to him earlier. “Is this her?”

“Yep, that’s her,” he said with a nod of his head. 

“Sela Wallace,” David told Jeb and Mac.

“Also known as Sela Drake,” Mac said. “S.D. She dropped off the champagne for Lenny before going to the Blue Whale. How much do you want to bet it was laced with a suicide cocktail?”

“Oh, dear Lord!” the employee stammered. “We sent poison up here to Lenny Frost’s room?”

“It is not our policy to serve poison to our guests,” the manager said.

“I’m sure it’s not,” Ben Fleming assured her.

“Then I didn’t kill him?” Derrick asked.  

“That’s for the ME to decide,” Mac said. “But I don’t believe Sela trusted Lenny any more than her brother did. This bottle of champagne was her back-up plan. If they didn’t succeed in making him pay the day after the murder on Saturday, then—even if he killed them, they could still get their final revenge on Sunday—”

“Thinking he had come out ahead in everything,” David said, “just like we heard him telling Derrick, he’d drink the champagne—”

“Toasting his superiority,” Ben said.