The detective's eyes stay on mine and I hold them.
'Are we done here?' my lawyer asks, looking at his watch. ‘My client has an alibi and so does Miss Novelle. I suggest you check it. He’s just lost his father. I'm sure you can appreciate that the family is in disarray.'
'I'm actually not quite finished,' the detective says with a smirk at my lawyer. 'Where has your sister been, Mr. Novelle?'
'What do you mean?' I ask.
'I mean, she's enrolled at Richmond University, but no one's seen her in weeks.'
'She was ill,' I say. 'She was staying at the Novelle estate and doing her classwork remotely. As the head of STEM at Richmond U, Fin Applegate, can corroborate. She’s been feeling better, which is why I decided to take her to London.’
My lawyer stands up. 'I suggest you detectives do your jobs, check the alibis, and stop wasting my client's time.'
I get to my feet with my lawyer and the detectives rise.
'Don't leave town, Mr. Novelle,' Detective Spencer says.
'Wouldn't dream of it,' I say.
My lawyer and I leave the building in silence.
Sauvage's car is still waiting for me out front, and I frown at it again.
I'm gonna need to talk to the French fuck, figure out what's going on, what he wants in return for all this help.
I rub my eyes. I massage my temples with my fingertips.
'They have nothing,' my lawyer says, shaking his head. 'Nothing at all. Don't worry about this, but if they contact you again, let me know and I'll get them for harassment.’
I nod. ‘Have you heard from Andrew?'
He shakes his head. 'No, but I expect to today.’
He looks apologetic. 'Obviously, we'll be having the will reading sometime in the next couple of weeks, once your father is?—'
'Yeah,' I say, opening the car door and staring back at the police station.
As I do, I realize that the detective never answered my questions.
'What happened?' I asked the lawyer. 'I still don't know. Where was my father, and what kind of accident took out him and Joseph Banderville at the same time?'
The lawyer gives me a look. 'Helicopter crash.'
‘Was it an accident?’
‘The police have opened an investigation. That’s all I know.’
Gritting my teeth and hating the fact that I still have no answers, I get into the car.
It takes me back to the hotel, and I go straight to Sauvage's office.
The Frenchman is sitting behind his desk, staring at his computer screen when I’m let in.
He glances up at me, one brow raised.
'What the fuck is this?' I say without preamble.
He sits back and regards me like I'm a child who’s just interrupted his father at work and is speaking to him in gibberish.
