then said, “It must be something urgent. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right.”
Mark left Barlow’s place at twenty minutes past eight. He wasn’t mad at the lawyer for wasting his time as he believed that circumstances beyond Barlow’s control had prevented him from telling Mark he would be late. Alice promised to ask her husband to call him as soon as he came home.
Mark didn’t hear from Leonard Barlow that night.
Chapter 10
1
“See you tomorrow, Leonard,” Sharon said from the doorway.
Leonard looked at his secretary and replied, “See you tomorrow.” Then he continued reading the police incident report lying on the desk in front of him.
He called it a day at five-twenty. As he rode the elevator down, Leonard thought about Mark Hinton. He was going to meet Hinton in less than three hours. Was he doing the right thing by telling Edward Phillips’s secret to him?
But was it a secret? Edward had never asked him to keep quiet about this.
The doors slid open, Leonard stepped out of the elevator and went outside through the back entrance.
The parking lot was silent except for the clatter of Leonard’s shoes. A gust of cool wind blew the fallen leaves across his path and ruffled his hair. He parked in the corner farthest from the building to get additional exercise. He had lost six pounds in the last four months, and he suspected that he had burned at least one of them by walking to and from his car.
When Leonard was twenty feet from his Lexus, he took out his car keys and unlocked the doors.
How would Hinton react to Edward’s story?
He’d probably laugh. And he’d call Edward crazy.
Leonard opened the driver’s door, put his briefcase on the passenger seat, and got behind the wheel. There was a knock on his window, and a male voice said, “Excuse me, Leonard, can I talk to you?”
The voice belonged to a young long-haired man in sunglasses and a baseball cap. Leonard rolled his window down and asked, “Do I know you?”
The man put his right hand in his jacket pocket. “I need to show you something.”
“What—”
Before Leonard could finish, the man stabbed him in the heart with the knife he had taken from his pocket. Leonard let out a groan and started to reach for the knife, his blue eyes bulging. The man pulled out the blade and severed Leonard’s carotid artery. The lawyer exhaled his last breath, and then his hands fell into his lap and his head dropped. The man wiped the knife on Leonard’s suit jacket, put it in his pocket, and walked away.
Leonard’s body sat in the car for two hours before it was discovered.
2
At ten o’clock on Tuesday morning, Mark called Leonard Barlow’s office, but no one answered the phone. He tried the lawyer’s cellphone and got voice mail.
When Mark was about to leave work, he dialed Barlow’s home number. Alice picked up the phone.
“This is Mark Hinton,” Mark said. “We met last night. Can I talk to Leonard?”
“Leo…”
Mark heard Alice crying.
“Leo’s dead,” Alice wailed. “He was murdered last night.”
Shocked, Mark was silent for a moment. Then he said, “I’m very sorry.”
On Wednesday morning Mark read the initial police report in the Leonard Barlow murder case to find out what had happened to the lawyer. He learned that Barlow had been murdered in his car in the parking lot of the building where his office was. The killer had stabbed him in the chest and cut his neck open.
The killer hadn’t taken the lawyer’s wallet or briefcase, so it wasn’t a robbery.
Was Barlow’s murder spontaneous or planned?
Barlow might have been killed by a madman or by a hot-tempered stranger he had offended in the parking lot, but Mark was inclined to believe that this murder was premeditated.
The killer hadn’t bothered to make it look like a robbery. Perhaps he had wanted to flee the crime scene as soon as possible.
Had Leonard Barlow been killed because of what he knew about the Phillips case?
“It’s all right.”
Mark left Barlow’s place at twenty minutes past eight. He wasn’t mad at the lawyer for wasting his time as he believed that circumstances beyond Barlow’s control had prevented him from telling Mark he would be late. Alice promised to ask her husband to call him as soon as he came home.
Mark didn’t hear from Leonard Barlow that night.
Chapter 10
1
“See you tomorrow, Leonard,” Sharon said from the doorway.
Leonard looked at his secretary and replied, “See you tomorrow.” Then he continued reading the police incident report lying on the desk in front of him.
He called it a day at five-twenty. As he rode the elevator down, Leonard thought about Mark Hinton. He was going to meet Hinton in less than three hours. Was he doing the right thing by telling Edward Phillips’s secret to him?
But was it a secret? Edward had never asked him to keep quiet about this.
The doors slid open, Leonard stepped out of the elevator and went outside through the back entrance.
The parking lot was silent except for the clatter of Leonard’s shoes. A gust of cool wind blew the fallen leaves across his path and ruffled his hair. He parked in the corner farthest from the building to get additional exercise. He had lost six pounds in the last four months, and he suspected that he had burned at least one of them by walking to and from his car.
When Leonard was twenty feet from his Lexus, he took out his car keys and unlocked the doors.
How would Hinton react to Edward’s story?
He’d probably laugh. And he’d call Edward crazy.
Leonard opened the driver’s door, put his briefcase on the passenger seat, and got behind the wheel. There was a knock on his window, and a male voice said, “Excuse me, Leonard, can I talk to you?”
The voice belonged to a young long-haired man in sunglasses and a baseball cap. Leonard rolled his window down and asked, “Do I know you?”
The man put his right hand in his jacket pocket. “I need to show you something.”
“What—”
Before Leonard could finish, the man stabbed him in the heart with the knife he had taken from his pocket. Leonard let out a groan and started to reach for the knife, his blue eyes bulging. The man pulled out the blade and severed Leonard’s carotid artery. The lawyer exhaled his last breath, and then his hands fell into his lap and his head dropped. The man wiped the knife on Leonard’s suit jacket, put it in his pocket, and walked away.
Leonard’s body sat in the car for two hours before it was discovered.
2
At ten o’clock on Tuesday morning, Mark called Leonard Barlow’s office, but no one answered the phone. He tried the lawyer’s cellphone and got voice mail.
When Mark was about to leave work, he dialed Barlow’s home number. Alice picked up the phone.
“This is Mark Hinton,” Mark said. “We met last night. Can I talk to Leonard?”
“Leo…”
Mark heard Alice crying.
“Leo’s dead,” Alice wailed. “He was murdered last night.”
Shocked, Mark was silent for a moment. Then he said, “I’m very sorry.”
On Wednesday morning Mark read the initial police report in the Leonard Barlow murder case to find out what had happened to the lawyer. He learned that Barlow had been murdered in his car in the parking lot of the building where his office was. The killer had stabbed him in the chest and cut his neck open.
The killer hadn’t taken the lawyer’s wallet or briefcase, so it wasn’t a robbery.
Was Barlow’s murder spontaneous or planned?
Barlow might have been killed by a madman or by a hot-tempered stranger he had offended in the parking lot, but Mark was inclined to believe that this murder was premeditated.
The killer hadn’t bothered to make it look like a robbery. Perhaps he had wanted to flee the crime scene as soon as possible.
Had Leonard Barlow been killed because of what he knew about the Phillips case?
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