“A man in mourning came tometo talk business,” Oakland shot back, poking his own chest. “I didn’t go to him, he came tome. If he wasn’t ready to play the game, he shouldn’t have stepped onto the court.”
Ziya scoffed as Amie worked to suppress her own temper.
“What did he say?” she asked, her voice flat. “When you told him Savannah was planning on selling to you?”
Thinking back, Oakland said, “Not much. He let me do most of the talking. Told him what I’d told Savannah back when I first offered to her: I could get the bookstore back on its feet, even sell it back to him once it started turning a profit again—at a much higher selling price, of course.”
Oakland chuckled. “He didn’t seem very interested in that part of the offer. He did ask if anyone else knew that Savannah hadbeen planning on selling to me. I suspected there was a good chance Madeline would speak to him at some point, so I told him that she knew about it.”
His tone shifted, as if he was giving a lecture to a rapt audience instead of two women glaring daggers at him. “Planting seeds of doubt about your competition to a seller can give you a leg up when the time comes for them to make a decision. If Madeline tried to claim Savannah wanted to sell toher, but I’d already told him she wanted to sell tome, he’s more likely to believe the person he heard from first.”
“Not necessarily,” Amie said, feeling argumentative.
“No? You were so quick to believe Madeline when she said Savannah sold the store to her. Did she show you any proof?”
“No,” Amie admitted. “But—”
“You believed her because you heard from her first,” Oakland said. “In business, timing is everything. First impressions can be more valuable than an already-signed check. I wasn’t given any time to try to plead my case; you’d already concluded that I was the liar.”
“You also gave up pretty much right away,” Ziya said drily.
Oakland pointed at her. “That’s fair, I’ll give you that. Once you said the papers had been signed, I realized there wasn’t much more I could say.” He spread his hands. “Can’t win them all. Madeline won out this time. I’ll just have to keep myself busy with my eight other flourishing small businesses and various other investments.”
He sat back in his chair, looking pensive. “I suppose this means I’ve returned to being a suspect. Who else is on the list?”
Now it was Amie’s turn to scoff. “I’m not telling you!”
“Fine, fine.” Oakland chuckled again. Amie hated how enjoyable a time he appeared to be having. “Oh, to be young and unemployed with all the time in the world to run around trying to solve a mystery.”
“I’m not unemployed,” Amie said, knowing the truth of that statement had a looming expiration date.
“Really?” Oakland studied her. “I usually pride myself on my ability to read people. It’s a big reason why I’m as successful as I am. You work from home?”
Amie frowned. “Yeah.”
“Do you enjoy your work?”
“Not really, no.”
“I could tell,” Oakland said. “People who enjoy what they do have a certain … well, it sounds cheesy, but the best way to describe it is aglow. You don’t have that glow.”
“It’s been a rough week,” Amie deadpanned.
“You know,” Oakland continued, “I could give you a discount on my entrepreneurship course.”
“Really.”
“Of course! In just a few short weeks, you’ll—”
“God, do you everstop?” Ziya scowled at the man. “Seriously, give it a fucking break. We came here to ask you about a woman who was murdered, and all you’ve done is treat everything like it’s a game.”
Oakland seemed unaffected by the outburst, with the unflappability of someone accustomed to being yelled at. “Have I been unforthcoming with my answers?” he asked calmly. “I’ll admit I made a small fib, but otherwise I believe I’ve answered everything asked of me with truth.” He looked at Amie for confirmation.
“I …” She didn’t really want to validate the man, especially if it would seem like she was siding with him against Ziya. Opting for a change of subject, she said, “Is there anything else you can tell us about Savannah? Any concerns she had about anyone, worries she expressed …?”
“She was worried about a lot of things,” Oakland said breezily. “Though she pretended not to be. She was worried about losing the store, worried about her incompetent staff, worried she was doing everything wrong. But if you’re asking if she told me about any enemies, or expressed a fear for her life, then no, she didn’t mention anything like that.”
He spread his hands. “Any other questions?”
