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“So you can confirm that Daphne was here with you all weekend—and more specifically that particular night?”

“Yes. She was staying in the guest room, and we’d just gone to bed when the call came in that something had happened. She left immediately.”

“And what time was this?”

“Oh, I don’t know—two o’clock in the morning? We’d stayed up late talking, and I’d just fallen asleep when she woke me up and said Rose had called and said something terrible had happened and she had to leave immediately.” She frowned. “I don’t understand why you’re asking all these questions, though. Dino committed suicide, right? So what does it matter where Daphne was when it happened?”

“Rose doesn’t believe her father killed himself. She thinks he was murdered, so it’s important to determine where everybody was at the time he died.”

“Oh.” Mrs. Ojala looked perturbed. “So you think—or Rose thinks that… Daphne killed her husband? Is that it?”

“These are just routine questions, Mrs. Ojala,” said Odelia with a smile. “At this point in the investigation I’m just trying to collect as much information as I can.”

“Right,” said the woman, who didn’t look convinced. “Well, I can honestly tell you that I’m greatly surprised. Daphne said Dino committed suicide, so I don’t really understand…”

“I’m not saying Dino was murdered,” said Odelia. “All I’m saying is that we want to find out what happened. And if Mr. Wimmer really killed himself, that’s what my investigation will bear out. And if he didn’t…” She let the words hang in the air, and Grace Ojala’s eyes widened.

“Murder,” she said. “Do you really think so?”

“Like I said, I don’t know. But I intend to find out.”

“Well, I can assure you that if Dino was murdered, Daphne had nothing to do with it. In the first place she was right here when it happened, and in the second—Daphne isn’t a killer. She adored her husband. She would never do anything to harm him, or Rose.”

“Well, thank you for your time, Mrs. Ojala,” said Odelia as she got up. “You’ve been very helpful.”

All I could think was: where was that bowl of kibble?

Chapter 19

Odelia was seated in her editor’s office, going through her notes while Dan stared off into space and digested what she’d just told him. She liked to bounce her ideas off the experienced editor, and not just her story ideas but the results of her sleuthing efforts, too. Oftentimes Dan could come up with something she hadn’t thought of, or point her in an entirely new direction.

The editor had been playing around with some new gimmick on his phone when she walked in. It was a video from one of Dwayne Johnson’s movies, with Dan’s head transposed over that of the actor. It was done in such a neat way it looked amazingly real. It was called a deepfake video, and was the work of Dan’s computer geek nephew.

“So the wife was out of town,” said Dan now, “the daughter was the only one in the house and she noticed nothing of this so-called murder, and the alarm was on and the door locked and bolted.”

“Yep, that seems to be about the gist of it,” said Odelia.

“I’d say the girl is way off base saying her dad is the victim of murder,” said Dan. “Unless she killed him, which seems very unlikely.”

“Yeah, I don’t think she’d ask me to investigate if she killed her dad.”

“What about physical evidence? Fingerprints, footprints, DNA evidence, that kind of thing?”

“The only fingerprints found on the pill bottle belonged to Dino Wimmer, and the prints on the glass on his desk, too. No evidence of a breakin at the house was found, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t one. Dino could have opened the door to his killer himself.”

“You’re thinking about this business partner—this…”

“Romney Knight. Yeah, he seems the most likely candidate. If he was heavily invested in the idea of lending money to Leo Kemp, and if he thought Dino was standing in the way, he may have figured it was in his best interest to get rid of the man.”

“I know Leo Kemp. Well, superficially, at least. He’s what you might call a shark. Has been known to dabble in some unsavory business dealings. So Wimmer was taking the right course of action when he decided not to get in bed with the guy.”

“You think Kemp might be involved?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me. He needs the money and he needs this deal. Without the profits he stands to make when this project goes through the future of his company hangs in the balance.”

“That bad, huh?”

“That bad,” Dan confirmed. “So if I were you I’d take a closer look at Mr. Kemp—but be careful. This man likes to play dirty.”

“Including murder?”

Dan raised a meaningful eyebrow. It spoke volumes.

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Once Odelia had left the office, Kimberly entered Dan’s lair. “Odelia still working on that Dino Wimmer case?” she asked.

“Yep. Still trying to figure out whodunit,” said the editor.

“Look, I know it’s probably not my place to tell you this, Dan,” said the junior reporter, “but are you sure this is a good idea?”

“What do you mean?” asked Dan, now giving his latest hire the benefit of his full attention.