“Thanks, Zach,” Lucy murmured as she read the article.
Jolene had gone to her father’s house Sunday night. Witnesses—unidentified—said that she was upset about the will. According to other sources, Worthington’s assets were split evenly between his wife and stepdaughter, and in addition his wife would get the house and Jolene the business. Jolene and her husband, Dr. Scott Hayden, were unavailable for comment. The congresswoman had released a brief statement.
Jolene is distraught over Harper’s death, which is completely understandable given the circumstances. Sometimes, the people we think we know best disappoint us. I will, of course, not be pressing charges. I’m sure in the morning Jolene will be aghast at what transpired, and I hope to mend fences.
The article ended with:
Harper Worthington, CEO of HWI, a respected San Antonio CPA firm that specializes in corporate and government audits, was found dead early Saturday morning in a San Antonio motel known to be a downtown hub of prostitution. The cause of his death is unknown, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation is working closely with the San Antonio Police Department. Neither the FBI nor the SAPD responded to questions regarding the circumstances of Worthington’s death, but a source close to the investigation said, on condition of anonymity, “Worthington’s death has been unofficially ruled a homicide and the FBI has taken over the investigation.”
Someone at SAPD had talked to the press. Maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise, but Lucy was angry—not just because there were a few details that would be better to keep out of the media, but because it put the FBI in a negative light. Only a local cop would say the FBI had “taken over” the investigation.
But it couldn’t have been someone high up or directly involved with the investigation—the responding officers knew that their chief had requested FBI assistance.
Barry walked through the squad room and dumped his briefcase and keys on his desk. “Kincaid, Jolene Hayden is here early. I assume you read the article?” He motioned to the newspaper on her desk.
“Yes. Is she upset?”
“Understatement. Let’s go, interview room two.”
Lucy reached into her bottom desk drawer and pulled out a minibag of peanut M&M’s. As she passed Zach’s desk, she tossed the bag to him. “Thanks,” she whispered.
He grinned without comment and immediately opened the bag.
“Who talked to the press?” Lucy asked Barry.
“Don’t know. I’ll find out, but dealing with it is Juan’s problem. To keep the peace, he’ll probably let it pass. I’m very interested in what happened last night between the daughter and the congresswoman. It puts another spin on the case.”
“We should talk to Mrs. Worthington again.”
Barry stopped outside the door. “Why?”
“She called the police on her stepdaughter. That doesn’t say happy family to me.”
Two people were waiting in the interview room—Jolene and her husband, Scott Hayden. Barry introduced himself and Lucy and slid over a set of business cards to each of them. “Thank you for coming down,” Barry said.
Jolene had made an effort to pull herself together in a businesslike way, but her blond hair was limp and her face pale, even under the makeup. Her husband was dressed in a suit, sans tie, and held her hand.
“Tell me what happened to my father,” Jolene said. “I have to know.”
“We’re sorry for your loss,” Barry said.
Her eyes teared, but her jaw clenched. “You told Adeline, but didn’t tell me.”
“It’s policy to tell the next of kin, which in your father’s case was his spouse.”
“I’m his daughter.”
“Honey,” Scott said quietly. He didn’t need to say anything else. Jolene nodded, her bottom lip quivering. Scott said, “Harper and Jolene were very close. Harper raised her after her mom died. The last forty-eight hours have been extremely difficult.”
Barry said, “I’ll share everything we know, but in turn, I need you to be completely honest when answering our questions.”
“Of course—why wouldn’t I be? I need to know what happened. It’s not what she said, I know it. And the paper—they said he was murdered.”
“That isn’t public information,” Barry said. “We don’t have a definitive cause of death, but we are treating the investigation as a homicide.”
Jolene sucked in a breath and squeezed her husband’s hand.