Sedona Law 6 by Dave Daren (ebook pdf reader for pc .TXT) 📕

problem,” Tony said. “James figured out that Roy and Kelsi were together. So, he decided he was going to leave her and the whole band. He said they all betrayed him, and that he hated them all, and was going to start all over in Las Vegas. He told Roy that night at the taping and they had a big fight.”

“And did Roy Oberland kill James Matthews, then?” Agent Winslow said.

Tony looked down at the table.

“No,” his voice cracked. “James Matthews….died of a heart arrhythmia.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“But you said earlier you knew who killed James Matthews,” Agent Winslow said.

“I lied, okay,” he said. “I just wanted to keep the immunity deal.”

“And did you lie about anything else you told me?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “The rest is all true. I just thought that Mr. Irving would drop me after I ran. I knew that he thinks James Matthews was murdered, and so I told him what he wanted to hear.”

He turned to me, but didn’t look at me.

“I’m sorry, Henry,” he said. “I don’t know who killed James Matthews.”

I nodded slowly. There was not a person in that room that believed him.

“Well,” Agent Winslow said. “The investigation on the death of James Matthews is not our jurisdiction so you’ll have to deal with SPD on that.”

“So,” he rubbed his palms together. “Are we done here?”

Agent Winslow sat with her hands on her hips and nodded slowly.

“For now,” she said. “But we’ll keep in touch.”

Tony breathed a sigh of relief and eyed the door.

“Yeah,” Agent Winslow said. “You’re free to go.”

“I’ll see you out,” Vicki stood and Tony followed her. I stayed with the agents, who remained seated.

“If he’s lying about the smuggling ring,” Agent Winslow told me, “it invalidates his immunity deal.”

“He’s not,” I said. “Everything he said corroborates with our own investigation.”

“Ours too,” she said.

“So we’re done with Kelsi, then?” I asked.

“As a prime suspect, yes,” she said. “As a person of interest, no.”

“I’ll take it,” I said as I rose. “For now.”

I left the room and joined Vicki, who had joined in the reunion with Ana and AJ. Ana pummeled him with questions interspersed with scolding. Tony took it all in stride.

“How did he do?” AJ asked me.

I nodded slowly.

“He gave them what they needed to hear,” I said. “He’s holding back, though.”

“Is he going to jail?” AJ asked.

I shook my head. “Not unless he lied.”

“Do you think he lied?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I said.

She watched him and Ana for a moment.

“Thanks, Henry,” she said. “For everything.”

“Oh, no, AJ,” I smiled. “Thank you for everything.”

“No, seriously,” she said. “When I went to the art gallery that day and I met you, I was confused. I didn’t know what I was doing with my life. My little blog, it was just a stupid little project, for fun. And then you walked into my life, and then everything changed. Now, I’m a scriptwriter for a movie studio? I didn’t see that coming.”

I laughed. “Well, I own two businesses, and you’re smack dab in the middle of both of them. So, I couldn’t have done it without you either.”

She laughed. “Yeah, what’s with that? The Irving’s are taking over the town.”

“Damn straight,” I said.

“AJ,” Ana interrupted. “We’re going to lunch. Come.”

“Yeah, mom,” she said. “Well, I’ve got to go. I’ll see you around.”

“Oh, you sure as hell will,” I said.

She chuckled and went off with her family, arms wrapped around each other. Vicki sidled up to me.

“I’m glad we could help them,” she said as we watched them leave the police station.

“I don’t think Tony’s off the hook, though,” I said.

“Oh no,” Vicki said. “Not by a long shot.”

“You think he killed James?” I asked her.

“No,” she said. “But he definitely knows who did.”

I shook my head and sighed long.

“Well,” Vicki perked up as we walked out to the parking lot. “Now we’ve got one last errand for our Saturday.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“We get to meet the wedding planner,” she smiled.

Chapter 20

“Love that,” Jessica Owens gushed. “It’s original, it’s gorg, and so perfect for you.”

“Isn’t it?” Vicki gushed. “It’s so perfect. I am so in love with this location.”

We were in Jessica’s office in Flagstaff and finally pinning down a wedding location.

It was an airy office, all done in pink and white, and fuzzy rugs and black and white framed art on the wall. I did, however, notice among the photos of Edgar Degas style ballerinas and nautilus shells, a movie still of Benedict Cumberbatch dressed to the nines as Sherlock Holmes. I chuckled.

My old firm had a client that was working with the BBC on that series. I got to fly to London for a day, and spent a couple of hours hanging around the set of that show.

“The Million Dollar Studio will be done with the renovations by the end of this year,” Jessica said as I tuned back into the conversation, “And the photos so far are stunning. Just stunning. Oh my gosh.”

The Million Dollar Studio was a luxury movie theatre built in the 1920’s, the golden age of film. It had been declared a historical landmark, given that they held lavish parties that had been attended by everyone from Greta Garbo to Marilyn Monroe. They went bankrupt in the late 1960’s, and the building had been largely shuttered ever since. The historical society ran a museum in the front part of the building, but most of it had been condemned until recently. Now, a private investor bought it with the intention of restoring it to its original glory.

“Here’s what they have posted online,” Jessica set down a tablet in front of us, and