Sedona Law 4 by Dave Daren (ready to read books TXT) 📕

cooler,” he said. “What if all the cases you’ve worked on tie together in some sort of puzzle?”

“I don’t think that’s the case,” I said as I rounded the corner into the parking lot adjacent to our office.

“No, dude, think about it,” he said. “So the whole thing with your sister, with those Russian mobsters trying to do an art scam.”

“Uh-huh,” I said as we walked the half block to the office.

“And then, there was the big thing with Clifton that had to do with…” he whistled and shook his head, “my head is still reeling. I mean, an embezzlement scheme with the city council, geez, and then there was the thing with a lady trying to steal the zebra’s money, and the kombucha factory that got it all.”

“What are you trying to say, Landon?” I asked. He was wearing on my patience as we arrived at the office door.

“I’m just saying, what if these are all connected?” he said as we walked in. “It’s all part of one big plot.”

“I don’t think so, Landon,” I said.

“Then what other explanation could there be, all these crimes, in one town and all around the same time?” he asked.

“It could be,” I said. “That people commit crimes all the time, and since I work in the legal field, I know about them.”

“Nah,” he shook his head. “I think it’s bigger than that.”

“Bigger than what?” AJ asked.

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t worry about it. Where are we with Erin Kramer?”

Erin Kramer was the young woman who was supposed to host Beowulf and Julianna on the night of the murder. Neither of them made it to her house, but I thought that she might be a marginal source of clues.

“I had coffee with her,” she said. “She didn’t have much in the way of information, although she said she did get the impression that Julianna never intended to stay with her.”

“How’s that?” I asked as I set my bag down and settled into my desk.

Landon had the camera open, and AJ squirmed a bit under its gaze. Vicki was on the phone and avoided the conversation altogether.

“Erin said in the correspondence with Julianna, she wanted to know what kind of breakfast foods they would like, and how they wanted their sleeping arrangements, and Julianna only provided details for Beowulf. And when she asked questions about Julianna’s preferences, they went unanswered,” AJ said.

I nodded. “Not a large clue, but we can gather that Julianna never intended to stay with Erin.”

“Right,” AJ replied, “which enforces her story that she had planned to leave with Gabriel.”

“And this was e-mail, Facebook, text, how?” I asked.

“E-mails,” she said.

“Okay,” I said. “Get printouts of those from her. I don’t see them being particularly useful, but they could come in handy. So let’s have them just in case.”

“Got it,” she said.

Vicki was off the phone now, and I turned to her. “What happened with John Malone and Michael Knapp?”

“That was Malone’s office,” she said. “We’ve got an appointment with him next week.”

“Perfect,” I nodded as I toyed with a pencil in my hand. Landon lounged in a chair and zipped back and forth between subjects.

“And Michael?” I asked.

She sighed. “Okay, so, I met with Michael. He basically confirmed everything we already know.”

“Which is?” I asked.

“Iakova is a publicity hog,” she said. “Knapp said he booked the performance, and it was supposed to be at the Horace’s theatre.”

Vicki smirked. “Why does that not surprise me?”

Horace Uvalde was one of our former clients, who owned a small theatre. He had a good heart, but the theatre was a bit on the other side of experimental.

“That would actually be an excellent place for an act like Ghoti,” I said.

“I was surprised they got the PAH,” AJ said. “Big acts play there. I saw Carrie Underwood there.”

“You went to a Carrie Underwood show?” Landon stared at her. “That’s it. We’re broken up. I just can’t look at you the same.”

“Leave me alone,” she blushed.

“Right,” Vicki said, “it was supposed to be a small show, mainly a favor for Julianna, because she had been a bit of a high school superstar, it sounds like. Then Iakova found out about it, took over, and turned it into three dollars short of a celebrity wedding.”

“How did Iakova find out?” I asked.

“How does Iakova find out about anything?” she asked. “His own media, plus he lives here, and it sounds like the media outlets here are sort of his darlings.”

“We’re not much of a big media market here, though,” I said.

“No,” Vicki said. “But for a small town, I’ve been impressed. The media here is really well done.”

“That’s true,” I said.

Our community news site, The Herald, had given us leads on cases more than once.

“Alright,” I said to Landon’s camera, “You got it on film, Matt Chelmi, do we get the endorsement check?”

Everyone laughed, and Landon said from behind the camera, “You heard him, man, pay up.”

“So more on Michael,” I prodded Vicki.

“Yeah,” she said. “Iakova took it over, and it was all about boosting sales, and then he said there was a conference call between Iakova and Malone. He didn’t know what was discussed, but after the call, that’s when all the controversy started.”

“What controversy?” I asked.

“Well,” she said, “we’ve been so busy chasing zebras and tigers through town that we never bothered to read any news stories. But, Starbright publications ran op eds either way on the performance and stirred up quite a buzz on social media.”

“Iakova straight up told us that,” I said.

“But,” she said, “he didn’t connect it to Malone.”

“So,” I concluded, “you think Malone is behind the controversy?”

“We know he’s pro-first amendment expansion,” she said.

“But,” I said, “it would