The Big Exit by David Carnoy Read Free Book Online Page B

they dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s.”
    “I don’t want to go to the station house.”
    “Well, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
    “They think I have something to do with this,” she says. “Every time I answered a question, I could see it in their eyes.”
    “Whose eyes?”
    “The detective, the older guy. He knew me. He knew Mark.”
    “Madden?”
    “Yeah, Madden. I remember him from the trial.”
    “But he gave you my number?”
    “Yes. I said I wanted to speak to an attorney. Mark has a guy for contracts and stuff. But you were the only criminal attorney
     I knew. He had your cell number.”
    She thought of telling Beth that one of the reasons the detectivesmight have developed a suspicious gaze was that whenever someone close to a victim lawyers up quickly investigators tend to
     peg that as a sign that something wasn’t kosher. Her natural instinct is to concur, but she’s also willing to chalk up Beth’s
     paranoid behavior to other factors, most of which involve the shock of discovering her husband violently murdered. But she’s
     also sure that there’s more to the story—perhaps a lot more—that Beth isn’t willing to share yet.
    “Well, I know Hank Madden very well. I was involved in a case with him a few years ago.”
    “Your boyfriend, the doctor?”
    “Well, at the time he was my ex. Now he is again. Anyway, Hank’s a solid guy,” she says, wanting to change the subject. “Maybe
     you’re reading a little too much into his questions. He just wants to catch whoever did this.”
    Carolyn explains that she’s under no pressure to go to the station now, but she can’t stay in her house tonight. The most
     important thing to do is to give them any information she thinks may help them identify her husband’s killer. They’ll need
     the names and phones numbers of all the people who work in their home for them. Housekeepers, gardeners, chefs, personal trainers,
     anybody who’s regularly on the premises or has access to the house. Time is of the essence. But if she doesn’t feel up to
     it—or if there are extenuating circumstances—they should proceed very cautiously.
    She’s hoping the “extenuating circumstances” comment might elicit a reaction, but Beth just looks at her and without much
     emotion and says, “No, it’s okay, I want to help.”
    Carolyn decides to be a little more direct.
    “Now I don’t know the exact situation with your husband. But I’ll say this as politely as possible—I heard, well, there was
     some talk at the club, you know how people talk, about some possible problems. I don’t know how serious they were …”
    She lets her voice trail off, hoping Beth will pick up where she left off. But Beth doesn’t respond right away. She stares
     down at the carpet.
    “They were serious,” she says after a moment, lifting her head. “Some of the things I didn’t know. Mark seemed to be having
     some problems with his business. Or I should say businesses.”
    “And that put a strain on your relationship?”
    “Sure. He was working late. He was working all the time. A couple years ago he ended up in the hospital with chest pains.
     Spent the night there.”
    “But it wasn’t a heart attack?”
    “No, it turned out to be acid reflux. But he complained of having anxiety attacks. He’d smoke some pot sometimes, but then
     he got paranoid someone might find out and make him submit to a drug test.”
    “I thought he owned the company.”
    “He did. But in many ways you’re at the mercy of your investors.”
    “And how long was this going on?”
    “What?”
    “The acid reflux, stress, and whatnot.”
    “I don’t know. A couple of years. A while.”
    “What kind of business was he doing?”
    “Well, he had lots of stuff. You know, holdings and investments. But the bigger thing was this start-up. He was pretty secretive
     about it. Partially on purpose, you know, to create buzz.”
    “What type of