“Michael and Yolanda Greene are here.”
Surprise lit Jules’s eyes. “No one else? Not their son, Ivan?”
Manning said quietly into the receiver, “Not unless he’s invisible.”
“Funny. Give me a second before sending them in.”
Jules couldn’t help wondering what had brought the Greenes to her office. But first she had to get rid of her investigation wall. Using her remote, she turned off the screen. And, just in time. The door opened, and a couple she knew to be Michael and Yolanda Greene walked in.
She crossed the room to greet them. “Mr. and Mrs. Greene. I’m glad you’re here.”
“We know you came to the house to see us, but Ivan forbade you from talking to us. We decided to come to you, since we have nothing to hide.”
Jules nodded, remembering that was the same thing Vance Clayburn had said earlier. “Then would you mind answering a few questions?”
“Not at all,” Michael Greene said. “We told Ivan that we wanted to be open and honest, and he understood, but he thinks he has to protect us.”
“From what?”
“People who want to ruin his chance to be mayor.”
“Oh, I see.” It sounded to her like Ivan was trying to protect himself...or at least his political career. “Please have a seat.”
“So what do you want to know?” Yolanda Greene asked. She and her husband were holding hands, as if giving each other support.
“I know about the affair between you, Mr. Greene, and Sylvia Granger. Further, my assistant was able to verify your alibi about being on a cruise at the time of the murder.” She looked over at Yolanda Greene and saw pain etch her features.
“Were you aware that Sylvia was involved with another man at the same time?” Jules continued.
Michael Greene’s features tightened. “No, but it doesn’t surprise me. Sylvia only wanted an affair with me to gain information.”
“About what?”
“My work at Granger Aeronautics.”
“Could you tell me about what that work involved?”
“I was manager of the information systems department. Today, most businesses refer to it as the computer technology department.”
Jules nodded. “What did Mrs. Granger want to know?”
“She was interested in a lot of computer stuff, which I admit I should not have shared with her...like what the company was doing to protect themselves from Y2K. What computer programming we were using. What software was out there to combat such a thing.”
Jules didn’t say anything. So far, according to what she knew, the two lovers Sylvia Granger was reported to have had were both connected to the computer industry, and her main point of interest had been Y2K.
“Did she say why she was interested? It seems like an odd thing for someone like her to take an interest in,” Jules remarked.
Michael Greene shook his head. “No. I figured she had been hit with the Y2K scare like a lot of people at that time. Our affair only lasted for a few months, and then she dropped me. Then Sheppard Granger found out, and I was fired immediately.”
“And where did you and Sylvia meet when you got together?”
“At different hotels in the city.”
“Never at the boathouse?” Jules asked.
Michael Greene shook his head. “No, never at the boathouse.” He paused a minute and then added, “I made a mistake with Sylvia Granger, a terrible mistake, and I almost lost Yolanda because of it. We’ve worked hard over the past fifteen years to rebuild our marriage and have put that time behind us.”
Jules nodded. “I can respect that, but at the same time, an innocent man has been in jail for over fifteen years and—”
“He’s not innocent,” Michael Greene said.
“You don’t think so?”