Page 44 of Don’t Say a Word (Angelhart Investigations #2)

Chapter Thirty-Three

Margo Angelhart

It was after two by the time I arrived at the office. I had gotten a lot accomplished since I left my house at five thirty this morning.

“We have a party tonight,” Tess said as soon as I walked in. “I wanted to leave by now.”

“I’m sorry. I spent too much time at Mrs. Osterman’s house, but I might have found something.” I held up the flash drive. “Let me see what’s on this first, then we’ll talk, okay?”

“Five minutes, max. I have information too, and you’re going to want to hear it.”

Then she turned on her heel and went to the conference room, where Jack and our mom were talking.

First, I plugged Megan’s phone into an outlet to charge.

I then put the flash drive into my computer. There were three video files. I clicked on one and... it wanted a password. Shit.

I put the drive in my top drawer and as I walked to the conference room, I texted Luisa.

I need you to get info from a password-protected file. I’ll bring it tonight to the party.

Luisa immediately sent a thumbs-up emoji.

Mom said, “Margo, I know you have been working hard to find out what happened to Elijah, but we need to touch bases more often. You have a theory, but haven’t shared it with anyone.”

“Happy Birthday, Mom,” I said.

She blinked, then gave me a little smile. “Thank you, dear. But you’re not going to distract me from lecturing you.”

“Of course not,” I said as I sat down.

I looked at the stacks of paper on the table and three open laptops. They’d all been working as hard as I had.

“I’m really sorry that I didn’t explain everything clearly, but I was running on a hunch that I couldn’t quite articulate.”

“It’s fine,” Tess said. “But I do want to get to the house, so let us all know what you discovered.”

“I’m pretty certain that Elijah uncovered drug-related illegal activity at the Cactus Stop.

” I told them about Megan Osterman’s overdose and how Elijah started taking pictures at night of everyone who came in and out of the store.

“Megan’s boyfriend was Scott Jimenez, the teen who went to prison for shooting Eric McMahon. ”

“That gives us a connection to Coach Bradford’s former operation,” Jack said, “so why are you not focused on the school?”

“Because Elijah was taking pictures of people going in and out of the Cactus Stop, and not people on campus. My primary goal was to retrace his steps Friday night. And I’m stuck, because no one has come forward to say they saw him or were with him.

I have no idea where he was after he left work until he died in the park.

So going back to the photos—why was he taking them, what was he planning to do?

Was he caught taking pictures Friday night, and that person drugged him?

Megan Osterman’s death was the catalyst, and learning from her mother that she was connected to Coach Bradford through her boyfriend brings us back to Sun Valley High. ”

“Where does Lena Clark fit in?” Tess asked.

“She’s connected to Elijah directly, and indirectly to Coach Bradford because they were colleagues,” I said. “Lena was asking questions, so I figure she saw or heard something that made her suspicious, or someone became nervous because of her interest in Elijah’s death.”

“Conjecture,” Mom said. “But go on.”

This was one of the problems with bouncing ideas off a lawyer’s brain. I wasn’t trying a case, I was working through facts and theories. I wanted to talk things through, not have to prove anything yet.

“I shelved Lena’s murder,” I said, “because I don’t have access to the information the police have. However, I want to talk to Parsons, her boyfriend. He might know who she was talking to, maybe she said something to him, something that he doesn’t realize is important.”

“The police would have asked him the same thing,” Jack said.

“No,” I countered. “Because the police aren’t thinking about Elijah.”

“You think he was murdered,” Mom said.

“Yes, but I can’t prove it,” I said. “There’re reasons to support this theory. The photos he took. The fact that his phone and backpack are missing. His behavior—yes, different, but not addict different. He was preoccupied and quiet, but not erratic or irresponsible.”

My mom didn’t interject—score one for me.

“Elijah had taken a picture of a license plate. I asked a friend to look it up, the car is registered to John Brighton. I have the address. But Elijah had the address as well—he looked it up on his computer the night before he died.”

“Who’s John Brighton?” Jack asked.

I turned to Tess, and she immediately said, “I haven’t had time to run him yet.”

“Tomorrow’s soon enough,” I said. “But Elijah had the address. Maybe that’s where he went Friday.”

Mom said, “I don’t know that I would jump to the conclusions you have, but I see where you’re going. We’ll run Mr. Brighton, but you still don’t have evidence that Elijah went to his house.”

“I want to ask Brighton.”

Mom nodded, though glanced at Jack as if for confirmation. I tried not to let it irritate me.

“A good idea,” Jack said. “I’ll back you up, Margo. In fact, I’ll check out his house first. I won’t confront him, just get a lay of the land.”

“Thanks,” I said, and meant it. There were some definite advantages to working on a team.

Mom said, “Why did you have Tess tracking down more than a dozen softball players from Sun Valley? This is all tedious, time-consuming work that doesn’t directly connect to Elijah.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, and this time I really meant it. “It was a tickle I had when I saw that Coach Bradford’s daughter was on the softball team—and my gut tells me she’s the one who called in the anonymous tip against him.”

“It wasn’t that time-consuming,” Tess said.

“I found most of the girls, so if we need to follow up with them when we can. I also learned that Scott Jimenez was released a year after his arrest, put on probation. But I couldn’t find a current address or employer.

Scott has an older sister named Desiree Jimenez. ”

I blinked, then it came into focus. “Desi.”

“And she works at the Cactus Stop,” Tess said with a smile.

“Small world,” I muttered. “I talked to her today.”

“Here’s her address,” Tess said and slid over a printout. “She lost her license because of two DUIs, spent six months in jail for the second. That was four years ago. No drug arrests, and she hasn’t had a ding in four years.”

“Desi could have known Megan Osterman,” I said. “Megan dated her brother for at least a year, maybe longer. Maybe McMahon knows more—I reached out, and I hope his family will give him the message.”

“What do you expect to learn?” Mom asked.

“Eric may suspect another teacher or staff member was involved, even if he doesn’t have proof.”

“What incentive would McMahon have to talk to you?” Jack asked. “He was shot, he probably wants nothing to do with any of those people.” He glanced at Tess. “Has he kept his nose clean?”

“Yes,” Tess said.

“So he’s keeping a low profile.”

“I’m still going to ask,” I said. “Megan’s mom let me take her phone and a flash drive I found hidden in her room. I’ll go through those and see what I can learn. Megan’s file has a DEA case number attached, so I think there may be a bigger investigation that we know nothing about.”

“We don’t want to step on the toes of a federal investigation,” Mom said.

“Yes, we do,” I said. “Elijah is dead because of something that was going on at the Cactus Stop. If there was an investigation, where are they? Why didn’t they take over the death investigation?

Or talk to his mother? And then Lena Clark—why was she killed?

Just a random coincidence ten minutes after she called me?

I’m not going to sit back and wait for some lazy ass fed to maybe solve the case. ”

Mom said, “In four days, you have learned a lot of information that may point to a criminal enterprise, but very little to give to Mrs. Martinez about what happened to her son that night.”

“I know.” And I was frustrated. “But I think Elijah’s activities after work are directly connected to his death. I need to follow through and see what I can learn.”

We all looked at Mom. She nodded. “It’s suspicious, and a good avenue of investigation. When do you feel we should tell Manny Ramos what may be going on?”

“When we have something definitive,” I said.

“Or if we’re stuck, maybe we bring it to him.

The EBT fraud angle seems weak, based on what I’ve learned.

That would show up in their financials. But if Desi or Tony are involved in some sort of scam, or dealing drugs and Elijah caught on, that would give them motive to kill him. ”

“Okay,” Mom said. “But when you have solid, actionable evidence, we turn it over to the police.”

I agreed.

“One more thing to discuss,” Mom said. “I met with Madison O’Neill’s legal team.

I’m inclined to take the case. The arrest was a rush to judgment by the police, and the indictment is weak.

I’m not saying she’s innocent, but this is the reason I became a lawyer—to maintain the integrity of the justice system.

Because I was a prosecutor and then a private defense lawyer, I am uniquely qualified to assess the evidence.

If we take it, I need all of us on board.

It’ll be weeks of work—maybe months. Work that will fund pro bono cases like Elijah Martinez.

I’m going to write up what I know, then we will vote. ”

“Mom,” Tess said, “we trust your judgment on this.”

Mom was looking at me, and I read between the lines. “We start soon, don’t we?”

“I need to give them an answer next week. But it’s important that all three of you are on board.”

“Do you think she’s innocent?” Jack asked.

“She says she is. And I want you all to assess what we have. If any of you are uncomfortable with it, we’ll pass on it.”

“Fair enough,” Jack said.

I didn’t need to assess anything—the O’Neill case sounded interesting.

Mom said, “Tess, send me everything you have on the Jimenez family and the Bradford investigation. I’ll go through the legal documents, see if anything else jumps out at me.”

“It’s your birthday, Mom,” Tess said.

“And I said I’d take tonight off,” she countered. “Besides, you’re having the party, I just have to show up, right?”

Tess glared at me. “You’d better help.”

“I’ll be there at five thirty.” I jumped up and made a beeline for the door.

“Where are you going?” Jack asked.

“To talk to a friend of Megan Osterman’s. She might know who she was close to before she died.”