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“Not long before Naomi’s murder.”
“Did you tell Felicity about Kurt?” she asked.
“Who?” Edmond kneaded his brow. “Oh, the author. Yes. She took my picture, and I haven’t gotten it back yet.”
My picture… He made it sound like Felicity snapped one of him, but Amanda suspected he meant she took a photo Edmond had in his possession. “What was the picture of, Mr. McCormick?”
“All the interns that year. They were a good bunch.” His eyes glazed over as his mind had taken leave.
Had Felicity suspected, like Amanda and Trent, that Chapman’s killer may be among them? “Would you have any other copies of this picture?”
“Nah, sorry. And don’t bother to ask me their names. No chance I’ll remember any besides Kurt.”
“Would you have any of their names on file in storage? We could look it up that way,” Trent said.
Edmond shook his head. “Nah. So much time has passed. And it’s not like I need backup for audits at this point.”
“You held on to the picture though. It must have meant something to you,” Amanda said.
“It did. I had it framed, and it hung there.” Edmond pointed to a nail on the wall.
There was no framed photo recovered from Felicity Kelley’s house showing a bunch of unfamiliar faces. All that adorned her walls were unnoteworthy and impersonal prints picked up from department stores. The only pictures of any meaning were the ones on her mantel of Felicity with her sister. Had the killer taken the one of the interns? If so, it would suggest yet again she and Trent were on the right path—possibly the same one that had gotten Felicity Kelley murdered. “You mentioned Kurt. Do you have a last name for him?”
Edmond pressed his lips, tapped the top of his head. “Nope.”
She and Trent would find this Kurt guy, even though Edmond said he’d left before the promotion was handed out. He might give them the names of the others he’d interned with prior to leaving.
Amanda stood, not feeling they were going to get any more out of Edmond.
“You should know something else.” Edmond’s voice cut through clearly, more lucid than he’d been this entire time.
She turned to him. “What is that, Mr. McCormick?”
“Naomi didn’t deserve that promotion.” Shadows crossed the older man’s face and aged him. “It’s been a regret I’ve had to live with all these years.”
“If she didn’t earn it, why give it to her?” Trent asked, still seated and leaning forward.
“Not proud of myself, you see, but I had a problem back then.” He paused as if he expected Amanda or Trent to interrupt. When they didn’t, he continued. “I was a chronic gambler, in hock up to my eyeballs. I was close to losing everything—my house and my wife. Her dad offered me a way out.”
At this point, Amanda didn’t need Edmond to say any more as she was quite certain she could see where he was headed. Regardless, she remained silent.
Edmond added, “He paid me a lot of money to promote her, but I was to make a big deal as if she’d earned it. His daughter was never to know what he’d done. But he saved me. All my debts were paid off, and I’ve never rolled the dice since.”
That tidbit could have added more fuel to an already volatile situation. Take a jealous intern, putting in the hard work, then Chapman gets a handout. “Thank you for your honesty and trusting us with this information. Did you happen to mention this to Felicity Kelley as well?”
“Who?” His eyes clouded over. “And what can I do for you two?” His brows angled down like pointed arrows. “Please get out of my home.”
“Sorry to have bothered you, Mr. McCormick,” she said and made for the front door with Trent.
They loaded into the car, and Trent got the air conditioning running.
He slid his hand around the steering wheel. “That poor man is losing his mind. No one should ever have to go through that.”
“I couldn’t agree more. But even still, he gave us tremendous leads.”
“Uh-huh. Chapman only got the promotion because her father paid for it.”
“Did one of the other interns find out and take issue with the bribe? I know I would, but even if they didn’t know that part, McCormick just told us Chapman wasn’t the best candidate for the job. Her fellow interns would have observed that much.”
