Tampa, Florida
Monday 1:00 a.m.
January 25, 1999
“I circled his block a couple of times because there was a car pulled up on the side of the house and I didn’t want to meet anyone there, or” and she looked a little sheepish, “interrupt him if he was busy.”
We all knew what she meant.
“Anyway, on about the third pass, I saw Mr. Worthington leaving the house, pulling off a pair of surgical gloves. He dropped a gun into his pocket.” Her breath caught. She gulped air. “I left right away. But I’ve been afraid he saw me. I think he trashed my apartment.”
I sat dumbfounded. George was, too. No one said anything for a long time.
Not that I believed her. O’Connell wouldn’t have committed murder.
Nor would I allow Carly to accuse him. Probably seeking to divert attention from Grover, a much more likely suspect.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” I asked her, quiet steel in my tone.
Carly looked down at her hands. Seemed to have difficulty answering the question. She’d twisted George’s handkerchief into a thin rope, and then pulled it as if she could shred the linen into pieces the way she’d done with her paper napkin that first day.
A dark stain spread over her neckline, wet with tears. She refused to meet my gaze.
“I told Christian.”
My temperature rose about ten degrees. George lay a calming hand on my shoulder. He should have covered my mouth.
Sarcasm. “Because he’s such a trustworthy man, I suppose?”
Two hiccups. More nose blowing.
She whispered, “We’ve been secretly living together for about a year. Don’t feel left out. No one knew.”
George’s hand on my shoulder squeezed hard. Not as good as duct tape over my mouth, but I got the message.
“Okay,” I said, drawing out the word into three syllables.
“Not about Morgan’s research. I wouldn’t tell Christian that.” More sniveling. “But about Worthington. He said no one would believe me. Worthington’s reputation is impeccable. Except for my relationship to you, which isn’t even legal, I’m a nobody. I’d had an affair with his nephew, which he disapproved of. Why would anyone believe me?”
I’d have politely disagreed, but why lie?
Carly nodded. “See? Even you think so. Christian was right.”
She took an enormous amount of air into her lungs and rushed the rest. “And we thought they’d find his body quickly and forensics would prove Worthington did it and then I wouldn’t have to say anything at all.”
She began crying again, but this time her tears flowed silently. We waited while her wave of tears passed. She blew her nose one more time.
“But then, they didn’t find the body and when they finally found it, they didn’t know who it was. The time dragged on and on. I got so stressed I couldn’t function.”
George asked, “What were they looking for? In your apartment?”
She smiled, albeit weakly. Reached into her pocket and pulled out a computer disk. “I’m not sure, but I think he was looking for this.”
“What is it?” George and I asked at the same time.
“I think it’s Dr. Morgan’s solution report. I think it lays out all of his data and conclusions. He gave it to me the last time I saw him.”
“Why?”
“He said someone was trying to kill him, but I thought he was kidding.”
George frowned.
“He wanted you to hide this in your apartment?” I asked.
She shook her head. “He asked me to have it encrypted. We have sophisticated equipment for that. Thwarts intellectual property theft.”
“I see,” George said.
Carly seemed on firm footing now, discussing her work instead of murder. “If it checks out, and I’ve convinced MedPro to analyze it, Morgan said his solution vindicates all of the defendants. He planned to put an end to this litigation. Stop the bleeding, he called it.”
She looked up and met my gaze, much stronger. She’d found firmer footing. Seemed almost okay.
“We may be the evil empire,” she smiled, “but we’re striking back.”
After a few moments of silence, Carly said, “So what should we do now?”
It was well after midnight. I was dead tired. Not in the mood to traipse to the police station again. Hathaway wouldn’t release Grover on the strength of a statement from his lover, even if George and I vouched for them both.
Robin’s tapes beckoned.
Let’s be honest. I wasn’t about to accuse O’Connell Worthington, Tampa’s most prominent legal figure, of something that couldn’t be proved. CJ was on my back over a parking place mix-up. I could only imagine what he’d do to me after I accused his brother-in-law of murder.
No, I wouldn’t act on Carly’s story without more.
I admit my ego was involved, too.
I’d been with O’Connell Worthington almost every day during the trial, and never guessed he’d recently murdered a man. He appeared less distraught than Carly did now. In fact, his work defending his client had been excellent.
He believed in the manufacturers’ cause. Worthington wouldn’t suppress evidence proving his clients were right. Carly’s theory there made no sense.
Beyond all of that, I didn’t trust her. She’d been withholding information from me all along. Why take her at her word now? Wouldn’t that make me an even bigger fool?
But then I remembered Worthington’s temper tantrum the day of the Bar meeting. And his opulent surroundings.
Maybe money corrupts absolutely.
But for O’Connell, the code of honor he lived by was strong.
No, I didn’t believe he killed for money. No matter what Carly thought she saw.
She waited for my answer.
I stood, stretched, yawned.
“We’ll see Chief Hathaway in the morning, but not tonight, Carly. Let’s get some rest first. It’ll be a brutal meeting. We’ll need all the strength we can muster,” George said.
She agreed to wait, but she wasn’t happy about it.
“You can see Hathaway without us, Carly. Or you know where the guest room is. I’m exhausted,” I said.
She pouted all the way to her room and slammed the door. Her petulance made me feel better because it felt normal.
George and I fell into bed.
During the night, I either dreamed or hallucinated Morgan’s murder over and over, like a tape loop.
Never did I see O’Connell Worthington shoot Morgan. I couldn’t visualize it; couldn’t rationalize it, either.
O’Connell was small and slight, not to mention old.
He could have shot Morgan, sure. But no way he could he have moved the body into the trunk of his car.
O’Connell’s car? White BMW. Not dark blue sedan.
I couldn’t make it add up. When I stopped trying, I must have finally dozed off. But not for long.
After a couple of hours, I gave up. Padded to the kitchen. George was already there with the coffee, looking more exhausted than I felt.
“Can’t make the facts fit. Even if he would have done it--which I don’t believe--he couldn’t have done it. O’Connell couldn’t have put removed and dumped the body. He’s not big enough; strong enough.”
“Adrenaline can do that,” George reminded me.
“I don’t believe it. The effort would have killed O’Connell, too.” I plopped my head in my hands, bleary eyed, and wired.
George looked no better. We were on the same mental wavelength, though.
He said, “Unless he had help. If he didn’t do it alone.”
“A conspiracy? How could he trust anyone to keep quiet about such a thing?” Lifted my head, swigged the last of my coffee. Took my cup to the pot for a refill. The pot was empty. I started a fresh one.
“Maybe it’s time to look at those video tapes Robin gave me. I’ll bring your coffee if you’ll set up. The red box is on top of the television.”
George grunted; left to get the television in the den organized. None of the other tapes would play on our home equipment. For the rest, we’d ask Frank Bennett to use his editing booth at Channel 8.
The coffee brewed, I carried both cups toward the low sound emanating from the tapes. When I reached the perfect vantage point, I saw the television screen filled edge-to-edge with an older, male version of Carly Austin’s face.
I dropped both mugs of coffee all over George’s favorite of Aunt Minnie’s wool antique rugs.
“God Damn it, Willa! What’s the matter with you?” George jumped up, ran to gather wet towels to soak up the coffee before stains grew dark and permanent.
George pushed the “mute” button on the remote. No sound distracted.
I stood transfixed.
Morgan’s blue eyes sparkled, as Kate said, just like Carly’s. His red hair was identically curled. His complexion was ruddy where her skin was flawless, but that might have been from age or drink. His smile was hers, and so were his teeth. Even the nose, although he could have afforded a more substantial one.
Why didn’t I know this earlier?
Morgan. Carly’s father. The best explanation for her fixation on him.
Anything less would never have captured Carly’s attention to the same extent.
So many clues. Why hadn’t I figured it out? I’d seen photographs of him, certainly, but always black and white. I’d never met him. Yet, I should have known. I felt like an idiot.
George returned with his wet towels, saw me still staring at the television.
“What the hell?” he said.
I grabbed his arm and pointed his gaze toward the screen.
“Look, George. Look at him. Who do you see?” I whispered.
“Michael Morgan, I presume,” he said, mocking the old “Dr. Livingston” routine. “But if he upsets you that much, I’ll turn him off.”
He collected the remote and did just that.
George still didn’t see it.
I guess if you didn’t know, maybe it wasn’t so obvious, and I felt a little less like the loser in the old “I spy” child’s game: One child picks out something in plain sight and the others try to find it.
Having a good grasp of the obvious is a positive character trait.
I’d always believed I possessed it.