Dani retrieved the latest reports from her fax machine and scanned them before reaching for her cell phone.
"Didn't you find anything on Mindy James?" she asked Tom Sanders.
"The information's just coming in. I had a rough time getting a handle on her. Her given name is Melissa. It took me a while to find the connection."
"Anything interesting?"
"Well," he drawled. "She's two levels above Franklin."
"Oh?" So Mindy James was a Fed too.
"She's been with them sixteen years."
"How long have they worked together?"
"Ten years."
"When can I get her file?"
"It should be in your hands in thirty minutes."
Dani waited for the information on Mindy James, read it quickly then returned to the Franklin Estate. There seemed to be more pieces to this puzzle than she had initially thought. She was looking forward to questioning Jeremiah Franklin, but first, there was the matter of the other bullet.
"Good afternoon Miss Hayward," Maria greeted at the door.
Dani stepped into the foyer. "Hello Maria. Is Mrs. Franklin at home?"
"No Miss. I don't expect her back until this evening."
"What about Jeremiah?"
The maid shook her head. "I'm sorry Miss."
Dani went to the living room doors. "Maria, has Mrs. Franklin purchased any new furniture for this room since Mr. Franklin died?"
"No Miss," Maria replied from the brunette's side. "Mrs. Franklin is not one who likes changes, especially in her living quarters. She's had the same furniture and the same carpeting for more than fifteen years."
"Does she rearrange furniture?"
The maid looked confused. "You mean, does she move the sofa and chairs around?"
"Yes."
"No Miss. That sofa has been in the same place since the furniture store delivered it." She smiled slyly.
"I do move it to clean but I put it right back."
Dani offered an understanding smile. "Does Jeremiah still live at home?"
"Yes Miss he does. When he's here."
There was that overtone of disgust again. "I gather he's not home very often."
"Not as much as he should be considering,.." She stopped, then cleared her throat abruptly. "If there's nothing else Miss I have duties in the kitchen." The maid turned and hurried down the hallway, disappearing through one of the doors at the far end.
So Maria was not happy that Jeremiah Franklin was away from home so much. As Dani went into the study, she guessed it had something to do with Brian. Why was everyone harboring the lad? Certainly they weren't ashamed of him. He was a bright little boy with very good manners. Then she recalled that Jeremiah Franklin's son would have been about four years old when his grandfather 'went away'. They must be trying to protect him from the pain he would feel at the realization that his Grandfather was dead.
With that thought tucked into the back of her mind Dani turned her attention to finding the missing bullet. An hour later, after searching almost every square inch of the study walls, Dani Hayward sank to the settee in disgust. If, whoever fired the first shot had been standing in front of the desk, the bullet would be in the wall behind the desk. But there was no bullet in the wall or in the Grandfather clock and the glass on the doors was original. Dani got to her feet and moved to the middle of the room. She aimed her finger toward the desk in gun fashion then followed the trajectory a bullet might have taken. "Damn," she muttered. There just were not any bullet holes. What if, instead of someone coming into the study, they were already here? What if Joshua Franklin had been having a meeting with someone. They argued and the visitor shot Franklin. Maybe he was going through Franklin's files when the wounded man regained consciousness. The visitor shot Franklin again, then left, taking the gun with him. That would account for the time gap between the shots and the absence of a murder weapon. Dani sighed. But it would not account for the missing bullet or for how the murderer had gotten out of the study.
Suddenly Dani's gaze rifled to the bookcase. There was another way in and out of the room and it did not require a key. It would be a perfect escape route. But that meant the murderer would have to be someone who was intimately familiar with the house. Of course Brian knew about the passage. But certainly he,... Dani's thoughts shifted to her encounter with Brian Franklin. He had said they liked to play soldier. What if they had been playing soldier and,... She sank to her knees in the middle of the floor and maneuvered her fingers into the form of a gun again. If they were playing soldier that evening and, somehow, Brian had gotten his hands on a real revolver. Dani lifted her hand as if aiming up toward someone then followed the trajectory. After searching that section of the wall she followed an invisible line around the wall stopping on a dark spot a fraction of an inch above the glass doors. Was it part of the metal framework? It was difficult to tell from that distance. Dani pulled over a chair, slipped off her tennis shoes then climbed up on it and examined the spot at close range. "Bingo," she whispered and pulled a pocket knife from her jeans. Seconds later, she held the bullet in her hand. "A thirty-eight slug," she announced before dropping it into her pocket. After moving the chair back Dani sat down on the settee to put her shoes back on. Was it Brian who had fired the first shot? Or the second? Or both? Dani heard the soft purr of a car engine seconds before,...
"Maria?"
The front door closed with a resounding bang and Dani listened to the unfamiliar voice as someone tromped across the foyer.
"Maria? Where the hell are you?"
Staccato footsteps neared.
"Hello Mr. Jeremiah. I was in the kitchen helping the cook."
So Jeremiah Franklin had finally come home.
"Whose truck is that in the driveway?"
"It belongs to the detective."
"What detective?" Three footsteps and Dani was sure Jeremiah Franklin was standing in the living room doorway. "I don't see any detective."
"She's in the study Mr. Jeremiah."
"What?" His cry was livid.
Dani rushed to the glass doors and was looking through them when the study doors were flung open.
"Who in the hell are you and what are you doing in here?"
Dani turned casually and studied the man who was framed in the doorway. Jeremiah Franklin, who was dressed casually in a thin, light gray sweater and black slacks, was a good-looking man with short dark hair and large brown eyes. He was approximately six feet tall and carried himself well. Dani thought it was probably how Joshua Franklin had looked when he was that age and how Brian Franklin would look in thirty years. She thought he looked like he is DEA. "I'm Dani Hayward. You must be Jeremiah Franklin." She looked past the man to the woman who was standing in the foyer. "Thank you Maria. That will be all for now."
The maid gave her a thankful smile then retreated down the hallway at an accelerated pace. Dani gestured to the settee. "Sit down Mr. Franklin. I'd like to ask you a few questions."
Jeremiah Franklin closed the doors abruptly. "I'm not answering any damned questions. But you will. What are you doing in here?"
Everything Thompson had said about Jeremiah Franklin seemed to be true. He was belligerent and rude and could probably be one of the most obnoxious people she had ever met. Was it a front? And, more importantly, would he be as contentious after she got done with him? "I'm investigating your father's murder."
"The police gave up on that case seven years ago."
"They gave it to me yesterday."
"You're not a cop?"
Dani produced her identification. "I'm a private investigator."
He examined the ID with a deep frown before handing it back. "The cops couldn't find a damned thing and you won't either."
"I think you might be surprised what I've found."
"You haven't learned a thing," he snapped tersely. "There's nothing here the cops don't already know."
"Really?" Dani met his determined gaze. "Do they know about Brian?"
Jeremiah Franklin's
expression fell before he went past her to the glass doors. When he spoke, his voice was low and guarded. "Why don't we take a walk on the grounds."
Questioning Jeremiah Franklin away from the house where little ears could not overhear was fine with her. If the Franklin family wanted to protect Brian from learning the truth about his Grandfather she would oblige. Dani wondered, as she followed Jeremiah Franklin outside and around the corner of the house, how long it would stay that way.
"What do you know about Brian?" Franklin asked in a tone that mirrored his twisted expression.
"A lot more than I intend telling you," Dani wanted to say. Instead, "He's quite a talker."
The dark gaze rifled to the brunette. "You've met him?"
She nodded.
Jeremiah Franklin was suddenly more than a little nervous. "I doubt if my mother paraded him past you. She has always been very protective of Brian. How'd you meet him?"
"That's not important."
"No I guess it isn't. What else do you know?"
Dani studied the half-turned face. This was a new Jeremiah Franklin that stood before her now. Not only was he more docile, he seemed almost frightened. Dani wondered if it was his fear of being found out or if it was something more. There was only one way to get that answer. "I know you work for the Federal government."
He spun on her instantly. Any color his face had been regaining was gone. "That's not exactly public information," he said flatly. "Even the local police department doesn't know that."
"I doubt if your family does either."
Franklin looked away. "No they don't. It's safer that way." He seemed caught up in his own thoughts for a moment. "You must have some good connections to gain that kind of information."
"They're adequate."
"Yes I'd say they are." He searched her face deliberately. "Do you know who killed my father?"
"I haven't completed my investigation."
"But you've got an idea."
Dani nodded.
His expression twisted into a painful grimace. "Brian didn't kill him," came in a faint whisper.
Jeremiah Franklin displayed nothing but worry and concern for his son now. Was it warranted? And why did he seem so positive his son was innocent? "According to the police report you weren't home that evening."
"That's true. I'm sure you know I was at the racetrack."
"With Mindy James."
"What do you know about Mindy?" His tone filled with concern again.
"I know you've worked with her for ten years."
His sigh was a deflated one. "I'd say your source is more than just adequate Miss Hayward." He searched the horizon. "We were on a stakeout." His voice softened and he looked at her with a deep frown. "My superiors would have my butt in a sling if they knew I'd told you that."
"To say the least," Dani thought. Aloud, "They won't hear it from me."
Franklin displayed a taunt smile. "I had a feeling you were going to say that." His gaze shifted back to the horizon. "What questions do you have for me?" he asked passively.
Her knowledge about him had taken away the belligerent attitude. "What do you know about your father's death?"
"Probably not as much as you do," he admitted. "The police think I'm a hell-raiser. That's part of my cover. They don't like me and they trust me even less."
Dani was not sure if she liked Jeremiah Franklin either. But she did know one thing for sure, he was hiding something and, whatever it was, it was something she was going to have to learn on her own. Jeremiah Franklin did not seem like the kind of man who would offer any more information than necessary, no matter what the circumstances. "Has anything in the house changed since your father died?"
He looked at her with a frown. "Changed? In what way?"
"Has Mrs. Franklin replaced any furniture?"
Franklin shook his head slowly. "My mother isn't the kind to change her surroundings. She doesn't move furniture either if that's your next question. She likes things orderly and unchanged."
"What about the lamps in the study?"
The man nodded. "About six months after my father died Brian broke one of the lamps beside the couch. He'd been told not to go in there but he did anyway. We heard the crash and went running. Mother replaced the lamps. She's kept the doors locked ever since."
"Does Brian know his Grandfather's dead?"
Jerry Franklin's head swung. "We decided it'd be best if he didn't know. He was so young and there would have been questions we could not have answered. We told him his Grandfather had to go away and left it at that."
"Whose decision was it not to tell him?"
"I guess it was my mother's. She and Maria are the ones who take care of Brian most of the time. I'm afraid my work keeps me away from the house a lot. I don't get to spend very much time with him." His face brightened slightly. "But that's going to change soon. Mindy and I are getting married and moving to D.C. this fall. We've both been offered jobs in the main office."
"Does your mother know?"
"No. We're trying to find a way to tell her." Jeremiah Franklin turned away as he sighed exaggeratedly. "It's so damned hard once you start living a lie. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger until, one day, you find yourself all caught up in it and you can't get out. I've got the chance to get out and I'm going to take it."
"Maybe you should tell her just like that," she suggested as she studied the man's profile. "She might be more understanding than you think." Dani told Franklin to make himself available for further questioning and he gave her a telephone number where he could be reached.
"If I'm not there they'll know where to find me," he told her before she left him at the gazebo.