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“No,” she said, wondering if that was a delay tactic, if he was stalling in order to construct a story. But if he really was the killer, wouldn’t he have had a story, already? “I do have somewhere to be after this,” she lied.
“Okay,” he said, running the machine and bringing a mug with his brew to the table. “So, it was just us guys at first. Then some women came on. I didn’t know them, and they weren’t really my type, if you know what I mean. So Lionel—he’s my business partner--- he and I just talked shop at the bar while the other guys went at it, gambling and trying to impress the girls.”
“So you weren’t with Tate the whole time?”
“No. Very little, actually. I was in the bar across the way, with Lionel. I only met up with him on the promenade, by the shops, when he and the other guys were done.”
“The other guys . . . you mean Franklin, Matteo Frenzi, Dirk Buckner, and . . .”
“Dorry. Dorrance Calloway. He’s kind of a self-important little snot. The only one of us from old money. Thinks it’s his job to teach us how to act upper-crust.” He rolled his eyes.
Daisy skimmed her notes. So Dorry was the only unemployed, perpetually rich one of them? The rest of them were self-made? “That brings me to another question . . . how do you all know each other?”
“We were all part of an entrepreneur’s group.”
“TheFrati?”
“Yeah, that’s what they called it. The brotherhood. I think Franklin started it, but back then, we were all new and knew nothing about running our businesses. He was getting into shrink-wrapping and really over his head. Brought Dorry on—they knew each other from college—and decided to start a group to empower each other. So he gathered us up and we’d have lunch every other week. We got to be friends. This was—oh, twenty years ago.”
“And all of you were part of it?”
“Yeah . . . well, not Matteo. He came on later, when Frankie had already made his first million. But we all got along really well. And we all got more successful than we’d even dreamed. Except Dorry, of course. He was already from money. He bankrolled and invested in a lot of us.”
“But he’s not an entrepreneur, correct?”
“Oh, he was. He’s had about a hundred new businesses, but all of them failed.” His lips twisted. “Hey. Maybe he was jealous of Tate’s success. That’s a thought. He travels down to South America all the time, too. Has a house there.”
Daisy made a note of that. “Hmm, but I heard he was pretty drunk, the entire time.”
“We all were, I guess,” Mooch said, sipping his coffee. “Come to think of it, I don’t even remember him getting off the plane at Lyon. But I guess it’s easy enough to pretend to be smashed. Just pretend to pass out in the corner. And then, when everyone else is away, he could’ve spiked a drink. Were traces of the residue found in his glass?”
“The police were still waiting on the toxicology report from it, last I heard. But some white residue was found on Tate’s chin which was the same color as his morning breakfast drink, so it’s assumed it was in there.”
Mooch narrowed his eyes, then nodded. “Morning breakfast drink. I remember that stuff—green and white. Couldn’t get me to touch that with a ten-foot pole.”
“You saw it?”
“First day, yeah. The flight attendant made it for him. I got off the plane after midnight and stayed in Lyon, so I don’t know if he had it the next morning. Guess he did.”
“Did everyone know he had that stuff each morning?”
He nodded. “He made a big show of telling people how one a day kept him young.”
She skimmed her notes. “His housekeeper said it prevented headaches.”
“Well, sure. Probably would’ve had a headache, considering how much alcohol was being consumed. I know I had a raging hangover.” He shrugged. “How’s his wife doing?”
“Not well. She’s upset.”
“I’d imagine she should be. I don’t think she very much liked him going off, leaving her alone like that.”
“Did you hear anything about a fight they had?”
He nodded. “But they made up, he said. Just a minor lover’s quarrel. He might have enjoyed being with other women, but he did love Kiki. I mean, those earrings.”
Daisy’s ears perked up. “What earrings?”
“Oh, he bought them in the jewelry shop at the casino down the street. I was there with him when he picked them out. They were unique, black diamond teardrops. Cost a pretty penny. I remember telling him she couldn’t stay mad at him for long if he gave her those.”
