Denton tilted his head slightly. “Are you certain about that?”
“I couldn’t be more certain. I witnessed several times when Louise stormed out of Albert’s manor in a heated temper. She flung insults at him and yelled at him when he didn’t give her what she wanted.” Courtney shrugged. “Louise was the youngest, and therefore, the most spoiled.”
“Yes, I’ve witnessed her tirades a few times.” Denton shook his head. “But did you ever hear her threaten her father?”
Courtney frowned. “Louise told Albert that she wished he was dead so that he wasn’t such an embarrassment to the family. But then, the woman said that so often, I knew she didn’t mean it.”
Denton leaned forward on the table, resting his arms on the wood. “Why did Louise think her father was an embarrassment?”
“Because he was marrying a woman who was younger than Louise.” She shrugged. “All of his children felt that way. Even Terrance had a few heated arguments with his father.”
“Yes, Terrance told me of a few.”
There was silence for a few moments, and Courtney hoped she had given him enough information. Sadly, that still didn’t point Denton in the murderer’s direction. She sipped her cooling coffee as she stared at Denton’s confused expression.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t much help.”
“You may have been.” He took hold of her hand gently. “Yesterday, after I had talked to everyone at the house, I tried to decipher what could possibly motivate them to kill Mr. Greenwood. I had ruled out his children from being suspects because they were all wealthy in their own rights, and with their father splitting his wealth four ways, I’m sure they wouldn’t have ended up with an abundance. However, because they were all embarrassed because their father was marrying such a younger woman, that would give them all motivation to end the man’s life.” He tapped his finger on her knuckles. “Of course, I would hope that they didn’t hate him enough to murder him.”
“Actually,” Courtney said hesitantly, “Albert didn’t leave his children any money.”
Denton hitched a breath and snapped upright. His eyes widened. “Not one penny?”
“Albert told me that I would inherit his wealth after we were married. As you can surmise, this was a heated topic between Albert and his children, and I begged Albert to reconsider. I knew that was why they all hated me.”
Denton pushed away from the table and paced the floor, pushing his fingers through his thick black hair. “So, upon your marriage, the will stated that the children would get no money?”
“Correct.”
“But, since Mr. Greenwood didn’t get married, the children would still be heirs.” He stopped and looked at her. “Right?”
She nodded. “Of course.”
“And you saw the will?”
“No, but Albert told me what was in it, which is why I tried to convince him to change it. I didn’t want his money, and I certainly didn’t want his children to hate me any more than they did.”
“Which meant, Greenwood’s children knew, as well.”
The energy shooting from his eyes made her hopeful that he had a plan. She pushed away from the table and moved to him. “Denton, what are you thinking?”
“My feeling is that one of his children is responsible. Whether they did the deed themselves or hired someone to do it, they are the only ones with the motivation for killing their father before his wedding.”
Excitement pulsed through her, and her eyes watered again. “Oh, Denton. Do you really think so? I don’t dare hope too strongly that the truth will come out.”
He took hold of her hands as he stepped closer. “Courtney, I’ll try my hardest to prove your innocence, but it might take some time.”
Thank you,she mouthed since her throat was choked with emotion and no words were forthcoming. She tried to keep her heart from bursting with gratitude, but she couldn’t stop her feet from stepping closer to him as she rested her head against his chest. Right away, his arms wrapped around her. She trembled but for different reasons this time which she couldn’t explain. All she knew was that she finally felt at ease for the first time since she saw Albert’s dead body.
