Page 37 of The Paternity Puzzle
Diego discreetly nodded his head in deference to Royce, signaling for him to take the lead.
After letting the question hang in the air for an uncomfortable silent stretch, Royce squared his shoulders and focused his full attention on the Matisse women. “Because Dr. Matisse’s fingerprints were nowhere on the pill bottle found by the pool. He didn’t ingest whole pills. He consumed benzodiazepines that had been ground into a fine powder and mixed into a smoothie. There were two other sets of prints on the prescription bottle, and we need to know who had handled it.”
His dramatics paid off when their neutral masks briefly slipped to expose their genuine reactions. Alyssa’s mouth dropped open in shock, and she turned her head to look at her daughter, which meant she caught the devastation that temporarily twisted Julia’s features. Mother and daughter met one another’s gaze, and something flashed between them, but it was gone in the next second. Royce had to give it to them though. Both Julia and Alyssa quickly popped those cool, unreadable masks back into place. The entire range of emotions lasted mere seconds, and if he hadn’t been watching them closely, he would’ve missed their reactions entirely. Had they acted together? It was something he couldn’t ignore.
“You need better legal advice than I can offer,” Richard said. “I told Jean Claude the same thing when he called me on Friday afternoon to tell me about the impending exposé.”
“I told you to stop talking,” Julia snarled.
“I’m not breaking privilege because I wasn’t acting as your father’s attorney on Friday, and I’m not acting as yours now. I’m a retired estate attorney, Julia. The best I can do for you now is to give you the name of a criminal attorney.”
Julia snorted. “As if I trust your recommendations.”
“Stop acting like a spoiled brat, Julia,” Alyssa said. “There has to be an explanation that doesn’t include murder. There’s no way to get around the warrant?” She’d aimed her question at Richard, who shook his head. “Fine. Let’s give them our fingerprints. The quicker these people get what they need, the faster they’ll leave.”
“What time did you speak to Dr. Matisse on Friday?” Royce asked the lawyer.
“It was around noon,” Richard replied. “I returned his call during my lunch break.”
“Do you know if Dr. Matisse was at home at the time of the call?”
“To the best of my knowledge, he was,” Richard said.
“Stop offering information,” Julia said.
“I’m not obstructing this investigation,” Richard Todd told her. “Even if my conversation with your father fell within the scope of client-attorney privilege, the time and location it occurred isn’t privileged information.”
“Fine,” Julia said. “I refuse to answer questions without legal representation present. And since Richard has clearly and repeatedly stated that he can’t advise us properly, any conversation you wish to have with us will have to wait until we can find an attorney who can.” She held out her hands in front of them. “Print us and get out.”
Royce shrugged and reached for the fingerprinting field kit the CSU team had set on the island for him. “The evidence will talk loud enough for everyone,” he said.
Julia went first. Defiance stiffened her resolve and her fingers, making it harder to roll her prints onto the card. She snatched the alcohol packet he handed her once he finished.
“You aren’t under arrest, Ms. Matisse, but I need to ask you not to leave the area until we’ve solved the investigation.”
“Fuck off,” Julia snarled before storming from the room.
Alyssa stood quietly and watched her daughter’s dramatic exit before sighing and willfully complying with the process. “I’m sorry about Julia’s outbursts,” she said. “This entire ordeal is extremely upsetting.” Her bottom lip trembled, and Richard swept in to place a comforting arm around her shoulders. “Finding Jean Claude in the pool the way she did, and now these dastardly character assassinations…”
“I’m not offended, Mrs. Matisse,” he assured her. “And I am terribly sorry to add to the duress your family is suffering. We’ll be out of here soon.”
Alyssa nodded weakly. “I think I’ll just go back to my room.” She turned to Richard. “Do you mind supervising all of this?”
“It’s not a problem. Elliott and I will clean up after they leave. You won’t even know they were ever here.”
“Thank you,” she sighed.
Richard pulled her into a tight hug, and Royce saw a telling expression wash over his features before he clawed it back. Richard Todd was in love with Alyssa Matisse. Did she return his feelings? It was hard to say just from looking at her expression and body language. Richard met his gaze and slowly pulled back from the embrace. “Go on up.”
Alyssa nodded again and moved toward the hallway, but Royce called out to stop her. She looked over her shoulder and said, “I won’t leave town either.”
Left with just the men, one angry and the other quietly contemplative, Royce and Diego joined in the search and seizure. They didn’t want to be there any longer than necessary, and it had nothing to do with it being a holiday weekend. The house was cold, sterile, and downright hostile at times. They could keep their money and misery, and Royce would go home to the warm and amazing life he’d built with Sawyer.
Sawyer flopped onto the sofa on Monday morning and noted the way his pets watched him with pitying expressions. “What? I’m entering my Moping Era,” he told them. “And that’s capitalMand capitalE, in case you’re wondering.”
Dolly and Bones looked at one another, and he would’ve sworn a silent communication passed between them. What were they saying about him? He growled in frustration over his own ridiculousness. Dolly and Bones weren’t human, even though he treated them as such. Sawyer needed to stop projecting his anxious, self-pitying thoughts onto his pets because they couldn’t think and reason like he did. But that didn’t stop him from talking to them like they understood his struggles.
“Yeah, I’m a mess.” He’d tried to hide his melancholy by pretending to be asleep when Royce kissed him before leaving. But the ruse hadn’t worked, and Royce nuzzled his nose in Sawyer’s neck before kissing a path up to his ear.