Page 34 of Calculated in Death

“You threatened her.”

“Maybe I said some things. I was upset. It’s the trustees that’re the real dicks. And my grandfather for being such a tight ass. And my parents, for God’s sake, because—”

“I don’t care about the trustees, your grandfather or your parents, though I pity them all. I care about Marta Dickenson.”

“I didn’t do anything. I just said how I’d give her money, like a favor. You do this, I pay you. I pay lots of people to do stuff.”

“Lieutenant,” Aston began.

“Quiet.” She glanced down at a familiar sensation to see the white panther cub rubbing and winding itself between her shins. Weird. “You contacted her numerous times, threatened her if she didn’t cooperate.”

“I was upset! I was nice to her at first, and she was pissy to me. So I got pissy.”

“You were going to make her sorry.”

“Damn right. I know people who’d make sure she was sorry.”

“Is that so?” Eve questioned when Aston moaned quietly.

“I was working on it, too. The tight asses always want me to make wise investments, right? So I’ve been working on buying that stupid place where she works. Then I could fire her ass.”

“Your plan was to buy the firm and fire her?”

“Damn right! Tony said how they weren’t interested in selling, but people always fall in when you hand them enough money. And he said—Tony—that even if they did, the stupid courts would just get another firm for the stupid audit, but it was the principle. I’ve got principles just like anybody.”

“And knowing people like you do, maybe you know people who’d know how to scare her. Rough her up a little.”

“Huh? Like—” Candida mimed punching. “Come on!” Now she laughed. “If I wanted to smack her, I’d smack her myself. But if I smack anybody for another like eighty-one days, I have to take more anger management, and that’s so frigging boring I can’t stand it. Probably she pissed somebody else off. I figured that out when I heard somebody killed her. People who mess with other people’s money piss people off.”

When the cub tried to climb up Eve’s leg, she gave it an absent scratch between the ears, then nudged it away. When it moved away, stretching then curling up in a ball, she concluded it had more brains than its owner.

“All right.”

“All right what?”

“That’s what we need for now. We’ll be in touch if we need more.”

Aston gripped his hands together. “Should I call the lawyer?”

“Not at this time. Sending flowers is nice; bribery’s not nice,” she told Candida. “It’s illegal. Try to remember that. Peabody.”

When they stepped back into the elevator, Eve sighed hugely. “Conclusion?”

“I thought she’d be cagey and canny. I mean all that money, you’d think she’d be smart. But she’s dumb as a brick. Dumber. Too stupid to have arranged murder—or if not, too stupid not to admit it—like she was just paying somebody to do her a favor.”

“Agreed. Buy the firm so she could fire the auditor.” Eve shook her head. “Because she’s got principles.”

“And her Fifth Amendment rights—or whatever.”

“Yeah. She should’ve invoked it instead of incriminating herself on the bribe.”

“But she was just being nice.”

Eve shook her head on a laugh. “So, how was the Andes snowmelt water?”

“Wet.”

CONSIDERING THE TIME, EVE OPTED TO SEND Peabody to interview Jasper Milk. She wanted a follow-up with Alva Moonie. Bradley Whitestone’s date and co-witness might add more insight into the three partners.