Page 135 of Dead Man's List

Ramsey stilled. For a moment he didn’t even breathe. Then the smirk returned, but it seemed more fragile now. “Who would do such a thing, Detective?”

Navarro made a displeased sound. “He thinks he’s clever.”

Sam agreed. Luckily Kit was far cleverer.

“Maybeyoudid,” Kit said. “Hugh Smith knew you were being blackmailed.”

Ramsey’s expression didn’t change. “He told you this?”

Kit shook her head. “No, sir. The first time we encountered Hugh Smith in person, he was too dead to speak to us. Throat was slit ear to ear. Nasty business.” She settled in her chair, getting comfortable. “Thing is, he’s the fifth victim killed exactly this way. Doyouown a knife, Mr.Ramsey?”

The attorney shoved her legal pad into her bag. “We’re finished here.”

“No, we’re not,” Kit said, her focus still on Ramsey. “Your client has been accused of conspiring to murder Brooks Munro. Two separate individuals have specifically mentioned Mr.Ramsey in connection with encouraging the contracting of a hit man.”

“I did no such thing,” Ramsey said smoothly. “Whoever said so is lying.”

“We’ll check your financial records, sir,” Kit said. “Will we find regular withdrawals in cash around the same time every month?”

Ramsey looked almost amused. “No, you won’t. Because blackmail never happened. Murder for hire never happened.”

Kit sighed. “You have a separate account for such transactions, then. One we’re not going to find easily. I hate when thishappens. But we will find it, Mr.Ramsey. I promise you this. If I have to upend your life and put it on display for every Tom, Dick, and Harry in San Diego to see, I will find it.”

Ramsey’s eyes had narrowed, ever so slightly.

“Bingo,” Navarro murmured.

“Check the Caymans,” Sam said dryly. “Maybe he banks at the same place that Veronica and Grossman did.”

On Kit’s side of the glass, Ramsey said nothing, maybe finally listening to his attorney.

“Why was Munro blackmailing you?”

No answer.

Kit slid a photo of Walter Grossman across the table and Ramsey’s nostrils flared.

“Okay,” Kit said. “You know him. He was Munro’s PI. He managed to dig up a lot of dirt on a lot of people. Unfortunately, he too was a loose end.” She then showed Ramsey the photo of Grossman with his throat cut wide open. “This is what he looks like now.”

Not a single flicker of emotion whatsoever crossed the man’s face.

“Wow,” Sam murmured. “He’s a sociopath for sure, but that doesn’t mean he’s a killer. He could just be a CEO with an ironclad stomach.”

“He is very good,” Navarro murmured back. “That’s a hard photo to see.”

Sam shrugged. “He was a Marine. Maybe he’s seen his share of dead bodies.”

“So have I,” Navarro said. “But I still had a reaction to Grossman and Hugh Smith and even Munro. Bastard that Munro was, I couldn’t look at his mutilated body and not feel some degree of…disturbed.”

“Where did you meet this man?” Kit asked, tapping thephoto of Grossman. When Ramsey said nothing, she remained calm. “Mr.Ramsey, there were ten people in Hugh Smith’s living room that night. Now there are nine, because Smith is dead. Smith was missing a finger, by the way. I don’t think he was forthcoming with the combination of his safe until his killer chopped it off. That had to have hurt. A lot. Munro was missing all his fingers and all his toes in addition to twenty-five stab wounds and the mutilation of his genitalia. Whoever killed them isn’t fooling around. They’ve also killed some innocent people who have been unfortunate enough to get in their way. Now, I imagine this doesn’t alarm you because you have bodyguards. Our police officers met them when they brought you in for questioning. Apparently, they’re former Marines, just like you.”

Ramsey narrowed his eyes to mere slits. “Not aformerMarine, Detective. I’ll be a Marine long after you’ve been demoted back to walking a beat.”

Kit smiled. “Some days, walking a beat would be a blessing. I hate sitting at a desk. My point was, Mr.Ramsey, that of the ten people in that room, nine are left. Three have already named you as co-conspirator with Hugh Smith. With your military background—and bodyguards—I’d imagine you’d have resources at your disposal. Resources who might know hit men. That you and Hugh Smith were conspiring together isn’t a huge stretch. You certainly had the motivation, as you were also being blackmailed.”

“I wasnotbeing blackmailed. I don’t know where you’re getting your information, Detective, but I’ve done nothing that would put me in a position to be blackmailed.”

“Munro’s dead-man’s-switch list would beg to differ.”