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It was a long wood-paneled room with few books but a roaring fire in the fireplace and clusters of seating areas full of plush furniture that looked custom made and probably was.
Marks was standing near the fire with a drink in hand, with two other men and three women clustered around him. Decker recognized his daughter, Jenny. She was in her twenties, tall and blonde and vapid, at least in his estimation. She’d already done more falling in love than most people did in a lifetime. Her only problem had been that all these men had loved her father’s money far more than they’d loved her.
She looked at Decker with unfriendly eyes, he thought. She was probably pissed that he knew more about her and her failed relationships than she wanted him to. Jenny was the product of Duncan Marks’s second marriage to a younger woman who had called it quits and left after Jenny was only three years old. To his credit, Marks had raised her. But he’d given her more than he should have, was Decker’s opinion. And with that, he had taken away any ambition she might have had.
“Decker,” called out Marks, waving them over.
“This is my friend, Melvin Mars,” said Decker. “I think you’ve met. I didn’t think you’d mind if he came too.”
“Right, right. You were with Rachel.” Marks shook his head sadly. “That was so tragic. I hope she’s going to be okay.”
“She’s hanging tough,” replied Mars. “I’ve been with her at the hospital and things are looking up.”
“Good, good.” He waved to the others in his group. “Decker, I think you know Jenny, my daughter.”
Jenny Marks gave Decker a small nod.
“And these are some of my business associates.”
Decker ran his eye over the small group of men and women. They all looked intense, well-heeled, and unimpressed by him and his appearance. The women were elegantly slender and dressed expensively with earring-draped ears and necklace-draped necks, and they looked condescendingly at the plain Lancaster. One of them leaned into her friend and said something to make the other woman smile.
Decker saw Lancaster clutch her jacket more closely around her.
They were served drinks and gathered closer by the fire. They could hear the wind whistling down the chimney.
“God, Ohio winters, here we go again.” Marks laughed. “Gets right into my bones.”
“Dad, you spend winters either in Palm Beach or Palm Springs,” his daughter pointed out.
“Well, I spent enough of themherein the past,” he retorted with a smile. “You ever been to Palm Beach, Decker?” he asked.
“No, I never have.”
“It’s beautiful there.”
“If you have a lot of money,” said Jenny.
Her father said, “No, it’s beautiful even without money. The scenery and weather are free. But the money makes it a lot more fun, I’ll grant you that.” Marks turned back toDecker. “Now, do you have any leads on what happened to Rachel? I mean, what sick bastard would have done something like this?”
“Wehavethe sick bastard who did it.” Decker pointed to Lancaster. “Thanks to my partner here, who shot him dead before he could kill me, at great personal risk to herself.”
Now the other women looked at Lancaster quite differently. The one who had made the joke, probably at Lancaster’s expense, paled and took a step back, staring at the detective with far more respect.
“Nowthat’simpressive,” said Marks. “The onlykillingI’ve ever made is in the real estate business,” he added, without a trace of humor. He raised his glass to her. “Thank you for your bravery, Detective Lancaster.”
The others followed suit. She smiled, blushed, and took a quick sip of her gin and tonic.
Decker continued, “We believe it was a murder for hire.”
Marks snapped, “A murder for hire! Who in the hell would want Rachel dead?”
“I don’t know.” He looked around at the group. “You did business with her. Did she have any enemies?” He looked at each of them as they slowly shook their heads.
“I’m really the one who had the business relationship with her, Decker,” said Marks. “Although we don’t do much together anymore. She has her financial backers and really doesn’t need someone like me. I can’t say that I knew everything about the woman. But it never occurred to me that she had enemies. I mean, I know what happened to her husband, but that was a long time ago. And he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, if I remember correctly.”
The butler came in and announced dinner.
Marks grinned at Decker as they filed into the dining room. “I know, it’s quite British, the butler thing, I guess. And silly. But what the hell. I like it.”
