Chapter 19
Over the next couple of days I weighed my options and sulked a great deal. When I returned Dad's vehicle I brought Kelly along as a buffer to avoid talking about the case. Dad tried to draw me into a discussion over lunch a couple of times, but Kelly, sensing my reticence to talk, did a fine job of putting the spotlight on him.
Mom always possessed an instinctive radar for problems. When I directed Kelly to stay with Dad while I helped Mom clear the lunch dishes, she cornered me in the kitchen and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“What makes you think something’s wrong?”
“I’m your mother, I know these things. The only time you ever volunteer to help with the dishes is when you want to get away from your father. I don’t need to be a detective to figure that out.”
“Can we just drop it? I don’t feel like talking,” I said and returned to the living room. I made up a lame excuse to leave and we were in the Acura and out on the road in just a few minutes.
“Are you going to go to work for Nigel now that you have the time?” Kelly asked.
“Probably,” I replied. “I still feel funny accepting employment from a guy I haven’t eliminated as a suspect in a murder investigation.”
“Wouldn’t it give you a chance to stay involved in the case?”
“Yes and no,” I said. “I’d remain in contact with the band and could pick up on some things I otherwise wouldn’t know about. But my attention would be on prospective band members and management personnel, and not on the murder investigation.”
“Let’s see if I’ve got this straight. Nigel wants you to check out people he’s thinking of employing – right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then why shouldn’t he expect you to do the same thing and check him out thoroughly, as well as the rest of the band and staff, before you decide to go to work for them?”
“Good point,” I said, giving her a look that told her I found my way.
“Does this mean you’re officially finished feeling sorry for yourself?”
After dropping Kelly off at her condo I swung by the office.
Jeannine greeted me and said, “Delbert brought in a package from the same guy who dropped off our computers. It’s on your desk.”
The Terry Tucker dossier was thick and disorganized. I could see that Chofsky did a few things to try to bring order to the file, but it was apparent that Vandevere was a slob.