Connor thought for a moment.“Warren always looked flush.”
“A quarter of the rich people in this county just play pretend.”
Connor let that sit.“How did the partnership end?”
“Badly.We split the company down the middle.Properties, contracts, debt exposure, everything.It took months.Lawyers made a fortune.”
“Were you still entangled legally?”
“Not really.”
Connor leaned in.“That means yes.”
Ray gave a short laugh without humor.“It means a few old documents hadn’t been cleaned up.Nothing worth killing over, if that’s what you’re here to ask.”
“People have killed for less.”
“I didn’t kill Warren.”Ray looked straight at Connor, unblinking as he said those words.
“I haven’t accused you.”
“Not in words, fella.”
Connor stared at him until Ray looked away.
“Where were you last night?”Connor asked, taking out his notebook from his shirt breast pocket and scribbling down the details.
“At home.”
“Anyone with you?”
“My wife until around nine.Then she went to bed.I stayed downstairs watching a ball game.”
“Can she vouch for you all night?”
“She’s a light sleeper.She’d have heard me leave.”
“We’ll ask her.Anyone else who’d want Warren hurt that you know about?”
Ray’s fingers tapped once on the desk, then stopped.“Derek Lyle for one.”
The name came back from somewhere in Connor’s memory.“He was a former employee of you both, wasn’t he?”
“Few years ago.I liked Derek.Still do, in a way.But he got caught with his fingers in the jar, and Warren let him go.”
“What did he steal?”
“Cash from the office safe, supposedly.Some paperwork, too.Warren handled it before I knew the details.”
“Supposedly?”
Ray’s mouth tightened.“That was Warren’s word.Derek denied it until he was blue.Took us to civil court over wrongful dismissal and lost.”
“You think he could have turned violent over it?”
“If someone carried bad feeling toward Warren, Derek did.Losing that job hurt him bad.He works in Osmond’s Coffee House down the street.Maggie hired him when nobody else would.You’ll catch him if you’re quick.They close earlier than most.”
Connor stood.“Thanks, Ray.If I need anything else, I’ll be in touch.”He didn’t trust Ray, not one bit.But did that mean he was a killer?Connor felt eager to find out, but his anger over Warren wasn’t quite enough to make him step beyond his duty.Not yet.
