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“The fake kidnapping? Extortion?”

Harvey shrugged. She figured she didn’t have a lot of leverage to force him to give up the truth, especially when he might not know much of anything.

“Tell me why you weren’t invited in on the kidnapping for ransom scheme. Why did Wendell get a piece of the pie and cut you out? Why take a couple of his buddies instead? Each of them got twenty-five thousand for the affair.” Monica hoped that approach might work instead.

Harvey’s eyes widened a bit. Then he folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. “They didn’t get that much.”

So he did know about it. “You already have hefty drug charges against you, not to mention possessing a firearm as a felon and the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer. Do you want to add obstruction charges?”

Tilting his chin up, he didn’t say anything.

“Okay, look, Mr. Marquart, Denny and your sister made the most out of this deal. They ended up with five hundred thousand apiece.”

Harvey’s jaw dropped, but he quickly snapped it shut. “No way.”

“So here’s the thing: everyone else is getting in on the gravy train but you. Your cousin and your sister.”

“I don’t know what they had planned. That’s all I can say.”

“But you knew something was going to happen.”

“I had a beer with Helen at the motel, and she brought it up, okay? But like a joke. Not like anything they were going to do.”

“So what did she say exactly?”

“Pierre had loads of money, and she was thinking she would scam him by faking her kidnapping, and Denny would be the kidnapper.”

“You know she’s back with Denny then?” Monica wondered who really knew the true story.

“Nah, she’s with Pierre still. She needed Denny to act as the kidnapper since she knew he would go along for the money. But hell, she never said she was going to make that much. Believe me, Denny wasn’t going to make that.”

“That’s what Teague and Lionel said.”

“Helen wouldn’t have told any of them how much she would make off the deal. She and Pierre were splitting the funds.”

Now Monica didn’t know what to think! Since Pierre was in the wind, did that mean Helen got her share, or was he supposed to keep it to spend on them? Which meant he ran off with the money and left her behind, or was she with him?

“You know that for certain?”

Harvey shrugged again. “That was the plan. I told her it was damn risky. Denny would want more if he learned she was getting all that money. I didn’t know she would involve our cousin Wendell or our buddies. She didn’t tell me that part, and none of them mentioned their involvement.”

“Okay, well, let me know if you think of anything else.”

Then Monica left the interview room and had the officer lock him back up.

“How more twisted could this be? Do you want to go for a drive?" Andy asked as they left the police department.

"You mean in the direction of where the officers lost Eloise's car?"

"Yep. If you want to and feel up to it."

"Yeah, let's go. We need to unravel the whole story and learn the truth, which means we have to catch them now before they disappear for good."

18

On the drive to Denny’s grandparents’ cabin, Andy had the niggling concern that Wendell and Helen might have gone to the motel to hide out.

Before he could voice his concern, Monica echoed his own thoughts, "Do you think they're at Harvey's motel?"