The waiter approached, somewhat diffidently. The tension in the air must have been clear to everyone in the restaurant, considering the many glances and whispered conversations that were no doubt centered around us.
I ordered the first thing my eyes landed on—salmon this time—and handed back the menu. Greg ordered the lamb and a bottle of wine and then waited for the waiter to withdraw before he turned back to me. “I can tell what you’re thinking.”
No doubt. It didn’t take genius. I didn’t say anything, though, just quirked a brow for him to go on.
“You’re wondering whether your stepson could have killed Nick.”
Yes, I was. Or at least I was wondering whether it was a possibility. That it could be one hadn’t crossed my mind until just now—why would it?—but Kenny’s feelings for Jacquie had been writ plainly on his face, and now I had to wonder what else might be going on.
“I didn’t even know they knew each other,” I said. “Or rather, I didn’t know they knew each other socially. That he knew her as anything other than his father’s mistress.”
“No, why would you?” Greg said. He leaned forward, his voice low. “I’m sure you know this, Gina, but him being here with the dead man’s girlfriend less than forty-eight hours after the murder is either very poor timing or really suspicious behavior.”
No kidding. “I wonder how he found out? It must have hit the papers, I assume, but I wouldn’t have guessed Kenny kept up to date on the news.”
.
“You told your admin,” Greg asked, “didn’t you? And she’s sleeping with Kenny’s uncle, isn’t she?”
She was. Pretty literally, too, this morning. My face puckered. “So Rachel must have told Daniel and Daniel told Kenny. That makes sense.”
Greg nodded. “That’s if he didn’t already know because he committed the murder.”
Yes, of course. “Let’s say for the sake of argument that Kenny wanted Jacquie,” I said. (Which it was pretty clear that he did, if you asked me.) “Couldn’t he just have waited for her to break up with Nick? Or tried to woo her away with money and status, the way David did?”
Greg tilted his head. “Does he have a lot more money and status than Nick? I didn’t think his inheritance from your ex was that substantial.”
Substantial enough, if nothing like what David had had before the assets got split into four. Then again, who knew how much of Kenny’s share was left after the Bronco and the bar?
“Nick was fine with Jacquie screwing David,” I said. “I’m sure he would have been fine with her screwing Kenny, too.”
“But would Kenny have been fine with it?” Greg leaned forward to emphasize his point. “He had the opportunity to see what happened with your husband, after all. How Jacquie went back to Nick after David’s death. What was to keep her from doing the same to Kenny if he ran out of money?”
Nothing at all, as far as I could see. If the bar didn’t make it off the ground, Kenny wouldn’t have a whole lot to recommend him anymore.
“Maybe he was the one who pushed the idea that Nick was cheating,” Greg continued. “Maybe he tried to break them up that way first.”
Maybe. Although that had sounded very much like it was Jacquie’s own idea, based on her impressions of Nick’s changed behavior. And how would Kenny have known about Megan, anyway? Especially if she were, as I suspected, an undercover cop? Those are not circles Kenny travels in.
“She hired you to look into it,” Greg continued, invested in his scenario now, “but you told her that you didn’t think Nick was cheating. Kenny had to employ stronger measures to get what he wanted.”
I thought about that. “It’s not impossible. I considered whether he might have killed David back when David was murdered. For the money, in that case. He’s spoiled, and he doesn’t like to be told no, so it’s definitely not a case of, ‘oh, no, he’d never.’”
Greg nodded. “One more for the suspect list, then. The mob, Jacquie, and Kenny.”
And possibly Sal, and Mrs. Miller, based on her proximity and access to the crime scene.
“I suppose we’re either looking at Kenny killing Nick so he could be with Jacquie,” I said, “or Jacquie killing Nick so she could be with Kenny. If it isn’t the mob, I mean.”
Greg nodded. “Or them killing Nick together, although I can’t think of a reason why they would. He didn’t have any money he was leaving her, did he?”
I snorted. “Judging from the way he lived, he had a hard enough time just making ends meet. And we know he gambled and lost, because that was how the mob got their claws into the Body Shop. He was in debt. Any excess money he had would have been in the coin jar on his counter.”
“Not likely to be that, then.” Greg sat back as the waiter arrived beside the table to do the production number with the corkscrew and cork and sip of wine. When he’d left again, Greg clinked his glass against mine across the table and continued, as if there had been no break in the conversation. “Here’s another angle to consider: What if Kenny’s involved in the money laundering?”
“Kenny? Why would he be?”
Again, it wasn’t necessarily something I would consider an impossibility, but the suggestion still took me by surprise.
