Read Online Debts and Debtors: (A Geeks and Things Cozy Mystery Novella #3) (Geeks and Things Cozy Mysteries) by Sarah Biglow - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sarah Biglow
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“Don’t apologize. She was my friend. She came to me and I let her into my home, offered her support.”
“People change. And they do things for all kinds of reasons. Neither of us knows what was going on in her life or her marriage to prompt her agreeing to let someone murder her husband.”
“I want to know why she did it.”
Kalina offered a hand to her sister. “Come on. We can watch from the bull pen. I think you need some closure as much as Thomas.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The sisters walked back inside hand in hand. It appeared they hadn’t missed much at all. Jimmy was just settling into another chair beside Chris. Savannah’s cheeks were flushed and she kneaded her hands together nervously.
Chris leaned back in his chair. “So what has your client decided?”
“I’ll tell you what I know.” She sat up a little straighter and licked her lips. “A couple months back, the head of the development company came around our neighborhood and offered to buy a bunch of people out so they could build the condos. Thomas said no like most everyone else. I wasn’t home when they came by the first time so I didn’t know how much was being offered.”
“I’m guessing it was a pretty nice sum.”
“More than the house was worth. Thomas got it appraised every couple of years. He says it’s out of habit. It was in his family for three generations. His grandfather built it maybe seventy years ago. He took full ownership around the time he married his first wife. When we married he put the deed in my name.”
“Why did he do that?” Chris asked.
“He said that, since life is so short, he didn’t want me to be without a place to live if something were to happen to him.” Tears spilled down Savannah’s cheeks. She let them fall, hands still clasped in front of her.
“What happened next?” Chris prompted.
Savannah took a shaky breath. “The developer sent a man to try to convince us to sell.”
“This man?” Chris held his phone out.
Kalina couldn’t see what he was showing her but she had to assume he’d managed to snap a picture of Victor Mackland.
“Yes, that’s him.” She dabbed at her eyes. “I don’t know … I guess they thought if we went along with it, other people might follow suit. But Thomas was still against selling. When the man came by again, he offered Thomas the opportunity to work for them and in exchange they’d pay him anything he wanted for the house. I told him he should take the job, work for a little while and then we’d cash out. They wanted thirty thousand dollars for the debt package. We didn’t have that kind of money.”
“Not jointly. You had it in your inheritance.”
“I told Thomas we could use my money but it meant he had to take the job and do what they said.”
“Did you know he was going to die?” Jimmy interrupted.
Savannah shook her head. “No, I swear. Last week Thomas came home and told me that he was done working for them and he’d been forgiving loans. I don’t know how but maybe Mr. Mackland was following him because they found out. Mr. Mackland contacted me and said we needed to keep Thomas in line. He said he’d handle it. He was just supposed to talk to Thomas. Scare him a little bit.”
“And instead he ends up dead.”
“I swear I really was going to report him missing when I came in. I lied about when I’d seen him last but I really was worried.”
“What did you get out of this, besides being able to sell the property without him objecting?”
“They were going to pay me three times what the house was worth. I could go anywhere; do anything I wanted with that money. I’m not proud of it but it’s the truth.”
Chris drummed his fingers on the metal table for a beat and then leaned back again. “We didn’t find any prints in the house when we searched after the break-in. Were you involved?”
Back in the bull pen Jillian shook her head, tears of her own shining in her eyes. Kalina kept a firm grip on her
“People change. And they do things for all kinds of reasons. Neither of us knows what was going on in her life or her marriage to prompt her agreeing to let someone murder her husband.”
“I want to know why she did it.”
Kalina offered a hand to her sister. “Come on. We can watch from the bull pen. I think you need some closure as much as Thomas.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The sisters walked back inside hand in hand. It appeared they hadn’t missed much at all. Jimmy was just settling into another chair beside Chris. Savannah’s cheeks were flushed and she kneaded her hands together nervously.
Chris leaned back in his chair. “So what has your client decided?”
“I’ll tell you what I know.” She sat up a little straighter and licked her lips. “A couple months back, the head of the development company came around our neighborhood and offered to buy a bunch of people out so they could build the condos. Thomas said no like most everyone else. I wasn’t home when they came by the first time so I didn’t know how much was being offered.”
“I’m guessing it was a pretty nice sum.”
“More than the house was worth. Thomas got it appraised every couple of years. He says it’s out of habit. It was in his family for three generations. His grandfather built it maybe seventy years ago. He took full ownership around the time he married his first wife. When we married he put the deed in my name.”
“Why did he do that?” Chris asked.
“He said that, since life is so short, he didn’t want me to be without a place to live if something were to happen to him.” Tears spilled down Savannah’s cheeks. She let them fall, hands still clasped in front of her.
“What happened next?” Chris prompted.
Savannah took a shaky breath. “The developer sent a man to try to convince us to sell.”
“This man?” Chris held his phone out.
Kalina couldn’t see what he was showing her but she had to assume he’d managed to snap a picture of Victor Mackland.
“Yes, that’s him.” She dabbed at her eyes. “I don’t know … I guess they thought if we went along with it, other people might follow suit. But Thomas was still against selling. When the man came by again, he offered Thomas the opportunity to work for them and in exchange they’d pay him anything he wanted for the house. I told him he should take the job, work for a little while and then we’d cash out. They wanted thirty thousand dollars for the debt package. We didn’t have that kind of money.”
“Not jointly. You had it in your inheritance.”
“I told Thomas we could use my money but it meant he had to take the job and do what they said.”
“Did you know he was going to die?” Jimmy interrupted.
Savannah shook her head. “No, I swear. Last week Thomas came home and told me that he was done working for them and he’d been forgiving loans. I don’t know how but maybe Mr. Mackland was following him because they found out. Mr. Mackland contacted me and said we needed to keep Thomas in line. He said he’d handle it. He was just supposed to talk to Thomas. Scare him a little bit.”
“And instead he ends up dead.”
“I swear I really was going to report him missing when I came in. I lied about when I’d seen him last but I really was worried.”
“What did you get out of this, besides being able to sell the property without him objecting?”
“They were going to pay me three times what the house was worth. I could go anywhere; do anything I wanted with that money. I’m not proud of it but it’s the truth.”
Chris drummed his fingers on the metal table for a beat and then leaned back again. “We didn’t find any prints in the house when we searched after the break-in. Were you involved?”
Back in the bull pen Jillian shook her head, tears of her own shining in her eyes. Kalina kept a firm grip on her
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