Murder With A Twist Part 17

twenty-nine.

Marcy arrived soon after the other police. She found me and I told her what I knew. Which, admittedly, wasn't much.

"So, Audrey says she couldn't find Leo and went to look for him?" Marcy asked me.

"Yes. I guess they were about to cut her birthday cake."

"And she went looking for him in the men's room why?"

I shrugged. "I think she was suspicious that he might have been entertaining a guest there."

Marcy raised an eyebrow. "In the men's bathroom?"

"Well, in the men's bathroom at the Ritz. You have to admit, it's a cut above your average bathroom. But, to answer your question, yes. She thought he might be in there with someone. Apparently, he'd done it before."

Marcy shook her head in disgust. "Real cla.s.sy guy, this Leo was."

"That he was," I agreed.

"So, she finds him on the floor, covered in blood. She grabs the knife-why?"

"I have no idea. I think she was in shock. She ran out of the bathroom and into the ballroom and started screaming. I went into the bathroom and saw Leo on the floor. I made sure the hotel posted security at the bathroom's entrance and called you. What do you think they're going to do to Audrey?" I asked.

Marcy looked over to where Audrey sat talking with the lead detective, Tom Cutter. Marcy didn't look optimistic. "I don't know, Nic," she said. "Cutter's a nice guy, but he's also pretty cynical. I don't know if he's going to buy her story about trying to catch Leo in the act."

I looked at her. "Do you buy it?"

Marcy didn't answer right away. "I don't know, Nic. I wish I could tell you different, but I just don't know. But it's not up to me. It depends on whether Tom Cutter believes her."

_____.

As it turned out, Tom Cutter did believe Audrey, but he made it clear that it was not a binding decision. Olive was, to say the least, outraged that Audrey could in any way be considered a suspect, and to prove her point screamed at the police. When they finally left, she turned her fury on me. It was only after Nigel and I returned to our rooms and took the phone off the hook that the yelling stopped.

thirty.

The papers had a field day with Leo's murder and Audrey's discovery of the body. They all stopped short of setting themselves up for being sued for libel, but only by a hair. There were two schools of thought. One was that Audrey killed Leo in a drunken fit fueled by jealously. The second was that she deliberately killed him to rid herself of a two-timing cash hound. The only difference between the two theories, really, was a few drinks.

Nigel and I sat in our hotel room reading the various versions of the story. "This one says Leo was stabbed in the chest," said Nigel. "And this one," he pointed to a different paper, "says he was stabbed in the neck."

"Well, he wasn't," I said. "Not that it matters in the end. He was stabbed, and he's dead, and everyone thinks Audrey did it. Why the h.e.l.l did she pick up the knife? Who does that?"

"Audrey, apparently," said Nigel.

"This isn't good, Nigel," I said. "In fact, this is really bad."

"Yes, dear. I know. I might be new to all this, but I did gather that much. The question is, what are we going to about it?"

A knock on our hotel door saved me from having to answer this. It was Daphne.

"I'm sorry to bother you like this, Nic," she said.

"Not at all," I said. "Come on in. Nigel and I were just reading the paper. How's Audrey?"

Daphne followed me into the front room where Nigel was sprawled on the couch. "She's finally sleeping, thank G.o.d. We gave her a sedative from Mother's private stash." She took off her coat and laid it over the back of the desk chair. For once, she seemed a loss for words.

"Can I get you a drink?" Nigel asked.

"Yes, please. Do you have any vodka?"

"I think so," I answered.

"Fine," said Daphne. "Mix it with anything you've got, or I'll take it straight."

I glanced at Nigel. As it was only 9:30 in the morning, I had been thinking more along the lines of coffee. Nigel shrugged.

While I made her a drink, Nigel said, "What's wrong, Daphne?"

"Besides the fact that someone killed Leo and the police suspect Audrey?" she asked.

"Is there a besides?"

Daphne looked down. I finished making her drink and handed it to her. She took a long sip. "Yes," she finally said. "There is a 'besides.' This is really awkward, but I need to ask Nic something about Leo."

I sat down next to Nigel. "Fire away."

Daphne took another sip. "When you found him, was there ... was there any money on him?"

"Money?" I repeated. "I don't know. I checked his pulse, not his wallet. Why?"

Daphne's cheeks flushed red. "It's just that ... this is awkward, but I'd given Leo money earlier that night. A great deal of it actually."

"Why?" I asked.

Daphne glanced down before answering. "Blackmail. Leo saw Audrey leaving that woman's apartment. Lizzy. You know, the one who was killed?"

"I'm familiar with the situation, Daphne," I said.

"Right. Of course you are. Sorry. Anyway, Leo saw Audrey coming out of Lizzy's apartment. Audrey didn't see him. He went in after she left and found Lizzy dead. Leo told me that unless I paid him off, he was going to go to the police and tell them that Audrey killed Lizzy. I told him he was crazy and that no one would believe him, but then he said that if I paid him, he'd leave. Forever."

"Why did he come to you?" I asked. "I would have thought he would have gone to Max or your mother."

Daphne raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding? Can you imagine the scene my mother would create if Leo tried to blackmail her? Leo had gumption, but not that much gumption."

"Point taken. When did this happen?" I asked.

"He called me the morning of Audrey's party," Daphne said. "He said that I was to give him the money at the party or he'd go to the police. He promised to stay for the party, and then he would leave Audrey for good."

"Just like that?" I asked.

"Well, not exactly. He wanted me to deposit money into an account for him every month. The amount wasn't outrageous. We could afford it."

"Who's we?" I asked.

"The family," Daphne said, flushing a little. "I was going to talk to my dad about it and see what we could do."

"Did Audrey know about this?" Nigel asked.

"Of course not! I couldn't tell her. But I agreed to it. I didn't want Audrey hauled up on charges of murdering that woman! Audrey didn't kill her. I know that, but the police might not see it the same way. And here was a chance to get Leo out of her life. For good!"

"Seems that happened anyway," said Nigel.

"Well, yes," agreed Daphne. "But I didn't know that was going to happen. I just wanted to protect Audrey."

I tried to piece together what Daphne was saying. "How much money did you give him?" I asked.

When she told me the amount, I stood up and made myself a drink with vodka as well. "Better make me one, too, darling," said Nigel.

When I returned to the couch, I handed Nigel his drink. "Where did you get that kind of money, Daphne?" I asked, hoping I was wrong about the answer I suspected I was going to hear.

Daphne flushed red. "Audrey's trust fund. I took it out of the trust."

thirty-one.

I excused myself and left Nigel to deal with Daphne. From the bedroom I called Marcy. "Money?" she repeated after I asked her my question. "No, there wasn't any money found on the body. Why?"

I repeated what Daphne had told me. Well, minus the part where Leo was blackmailing Daphne about Audrey's presence at Lizzy's. I just left it that Daphne was paying Leo to leave. Marcy let out a low whistle. "Lord, Nic. That complicates things a bit."

"It might. But then again, it might help Audrey's case. If Leo was killed for the money, then it lets Audrey off the hook."

"How so?"

"Audrey didn't have to kill Leo in the men's room if she wanted the money. She could have just taken it out of his pocket when they got home."

"Or she might have found out about his plan to leave her and killed him out of anger. G.o.d knows, I'd be tempted if I were her. Who besides Daphne knew about the money?"

"I don't know if anyone knew."

"Well, clearly someone knew," said Marcy. "Because it's gone now."

_____.

When I returned to the living room, I told Daphne and Nigel that no money had been found on Leo's body. "But no one else knew about it!" Daphne said. "At least, I don't think anyone did."

"Obviously, someone did, Daphne," I answered.

"Do you think whomever murdered Leo knew about the money, or do you think they found it ... afterwards?" she asked.

"I don't know. But I suspect it's an important distinction. Does your father know what you did?" I asked.

Daphne shook her head. "I didn't tell him. I was ... I was too ashamed."

"He needs to know. Audrey needs to know as well."

Daphne finished her drink. "I know. I'll tell them."

"Do you want us to come with you?" asked Nigel.

Daphne's face brightened a little, and she nodded. "Would you?"

Nigel said that of course we would. I said nothing. I finished my drink and mulled over what Daphne had told us. I most certainly did not want to accompany her to tell Max and Olive the latest wrinkle in this mess. I could only imagine Olive's wrath at discovering that not only had Daphne taken money from Audrey's trust, but that the money was now gone. It was sure to be ugly. However, at this point, I couldn't figure a way-polite or otherwise-to excuse myself from the scene. So, I did the only thing I could. I got up and headed for the shower.

thirty-two.

"You did what?" Olive screamed at Daphne from the throne-like perch of her toile chair later that afternoon.

"I took money from Audrey's account to pay for Leo's silence and for him to go away," Daphne repeated for what must have been the fifth time.

Max stared at Daphne, his expression inscrutable. "You did this?"

Daphne glanced at him sharply. "Yes. I just told you that. I took out the money and gave it to Leo. And now it's gone."