“If it makes you happy. I’m telling you, though, it’s a waste of perfectly good clothing.”
“In this case, I don’t care.” George couldn’t suppress a shudder. “Anything else I need to know?”
“Dominic McHill is an alcoholic. A heavy one. Which partly explains the state of his home. I’d say he’s lost whatever control he had over his life some time ago.”
George started the car. “Can you tell how bad it is?”
“You mean how long he has to live?” Andi sounded unbothered. “Something like that is hard to tell, but what I got from the ticks and mosquitoes, his liver has already started shutting down. Depending on how quickly his addiction has developed, he could have started early, like in his twenties, or only recently. Anyway, he’s headed for an early grave if he doesn’t get a handle on it, and I don’t know about you, but he didn’t strike me as the kind of person who has a handle on anything in his life.”
“No, certainly not.” George filed the information about the alcohol under “interesting to know.” Addictions tended to complicate cases because addicted people rarely made logical choices. Neither did angry people or people who had been grievously wronged, and there were plenty of those to be found in this case. He thought it may be time to take a step back and think about it all. “It’s already late. Why don’t I drive you home and we’ll see tomorrow if Evangeline has anything new for us.”
“A great idea. We can both sleep on what we learned today. I see a lot of digging into the personal interactions of the victims in our future.” Obviously Andi had come to the same conclusion, another sign of how well in tune they were by now.
George shuddered. “As do I. And I’m sure it won’t be pleasant.”
Andi simply nodded.
5. Theories
THE NEXTmorning saw Andi and George early in Shireen’s lair, where they hoped to get more information on the victims. Shireen greeted them with her usual disgusting cheer. The only reason Andi didn’t hate her for it was because he knew for her it was as much an armor as his grumpiness was for him.
“Good morning, Shireen. What do you have for us?” Andi still wasn’t sure if George was a morning person or not. When he picked Andi up for work, he had already done his early run, so for George it wasn’t technically morning anymore. For Andi, morning could stretch well into the afternoon.
“I’ve got a lot for you.” Shireen sighed. “Unfortunately, it seems to be only the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much to unravel about these men, it’s hard to decide where to start. I went for their financial information first because that’s often the most telling.” She started tapping at the ever-present tablet in her hand, making the large flat-screen on the wall flicker with pictures of documents. “At first glance, they are rich dudes who seem to be paying their taxes like they should, no shady business going on.”
“At first glance?” George raised a brow.
“In my experience people with that much money are never clean, and I’ve already found some promising leads to dealings that are more dubious.”
“What’s going to happen with all the money now that they’re dead?” It was a question every cop learned to ask early in their career. Money was one of the strongest motivators. Andi looked expectantly at Shireen.
“The testaments haven’t been opened yet, but I’m pretty sure the wives are going to be the beneficiaries. The victims didn’t have traceable contact with their sons, which led me to the conclusion they were estranged, and with what I’ve learned about the three men so far, I don’t think we’re going to get a surprise here. In Mr. Portius’s case there is a possibility that part of the money goes to the firm, but I haven’t verified it yet.”
“Did you find enemies who stand out?” Andi still wasn’t betting his money on the family alone.
“A lot of them. Mostly business related, though so far nothing that goes beyond the normal rivalries in their respective fields. I’ll keep digging.”
“Thank you, Shireen. Anything else we should know?” George had his forehead in a frown, a sure sign he was mulling the information over.
“Nothing that stands out. I’ve sent you everything I have so far.”
Andi nodded. “Thanks, Shireen. When you’re done with the victims, can you take a look at the wives and sons as well? I have a feeling this case is going to be more complicated than we initially thought.”
“Aren’t your cases always?” Shireen smiled sweetly at them. Just like Evangeline and Forard, she had learned to trust in Andi’s abilities, even though she didn’t know their true nature or extent. “You’re going to crack this case like you always do.”
Andi felt the weight of her trust heavily on his shoulders. Strange, how Chief Norris’s ire didn’t affect him nearly as much, but something so innocent made his knees almost buckle. Luckily for him, he now had George, who put a hand on the small of Andi’s back as if he had sensed what was going on in his partner’s mind.
“Yeah, Andi is going to crack this case, because he’s no longer alone. He has me now.”
Shireen’s happy laughter resounded in her tech room. “I’m sorry, George, I didn’t mean to leave you out. Andi can count himself lucky to finally have a partner, and one as reliable as you!”
George simply grinned and started leading Andi out of the tech room and along the floor toward the bullpen, where their desks were waiting. Shireen’s comment reminded Andi that George’s reliability was only temporary, that the man would leave him as soon as the next promising step in his career popped up. Strictly speaking, Andi couldn’t afford to get too used to George’s presence, and yet he already had, relying on his partner more than was good for him. He really should be maintaining his independence, but every time Andi tried, George somehow disarmed him and made himself even more invaluable in the process. So much that Andi had decided to simply go with the flow. He knew the end would be terrible, but he had come to the conclusion that since he couldn’t change how bad it was going to be, he could at least enjoy what he had at the moment. There was no sense in ruining it all just because part of it was rotten.
They reached their desks, where George grabbed his beloved marker to add information on the whiteboard. Andi sat down, woke up his PC, found the files Shireen had sent, and started scanning them, reading the important bits out loud so George could jot them down.
“Okay, let’s start with Harry Alexander McHill, married to Sophia McHill, formerly Sophia Ansel, an old family around here. Seems like Harry married for money and status. He made his fortune in real estate, apparently more successfully than a certain orange-skinned ex-president. According to the list Shireen sent, he has his hands in many pies, and not a small number have been baked by Lawrence Miller.”
George made a snorting sound that had Andi looking up. “What?”
