AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We may. But at the moment, we need to hear why you did it and what lengths you took to cover it up,” Jo said.
Julia dropped into a tan armchair, arms still tucked tightly around her. “You know I’m getting divorced. You know it’s not amicable. I’m sure you’ve looked into all of my financial records, so you know how little I make working for a non-profit and with clients who usually can’t afford to pay me. What you don’t know is I was too stupid to see the divorce coming, and started stashing money away far later than I should have.”
“You make enough to survive,” Arnett said.
She nodded, and held his eyes. “Living in squalor, yes. But I’ve spent the last twenty years of my life living a certain type of lifestyle, and while I don’t expect to maintain designer dresses and vacations in Turks and Caicos, I’m not willing to go back to roach-infested apartments and ramen noodles. I just want a warm house in a safe neighborhood with a car that doesn’t break down every other week. And the ability to retire somewhere down the road.” She threw a hand up to stop what he was about to say. “And, yes, I could go work for another company or with wealthy clients, but I don’t want to do that and I shouldn’t have to. I just want what I’m entitled to for the work I put into helping build the Gagnon empire. But until the court settles that alimony, I need to survive.”
“You want to help these women, but you have no problem stealing from them?”
Julia sat forward and threw up a single finger. “Wait just a minute. First of all, I fully intend to pay back every cent, in some form. Second, it isn’t stealing fromthem. That grant runs from January first to December thirty-first and if the money isn’t all used, it goes back to NIH. It’s a use-it-or-lose-it situation, and we’re almost to the end of the year.”
“Doesn’t the money returned to NIH go back into next year’s pot?” Jo asked. “So you’re just delaying the impact.”
“That depends. Next year it may go to fund research investigating the mating habits of the midwestern iguana. And, yes, I’m really okay with diverting money away fromthat.”
“Until your alimony is settled,” Jo said. “When will that be?”
“You can’t ever know how these things are going to go.” Julia stared off toward her kitchen.
Jo’s mind flew back to Julia’s glance up and down the street, and her sudden willingness to let them inside. “Your husband’s investigating you. He’s looking for grounds to get out of spousal support.”
Julia nodded, face blank, and didn’t speak.
Certain she’d hit on something important, Jo pushed. “He wouldn’t spend that sort of money without reason. What’s he hoping to find?”
“Ask him.” She crossed her hands in her lap.
But Jo was now familiar with this version of Julia—she was deflecting. “I’m askingyou. And not so muchaskingas giving you a chance to come clean. Because from where we’re standing, it’s highly probably that the person who forged those forms tried to cover it up by murdering Madison, Naomie, and Helen.”
“I could never—” Julia’s face and neck went white, and her brow knit. “How would killing Helen cover it up?”
Part of what had been bothering Jo came together in a rush. “Helen’s murder was different in important ways. We believe it was conceived and executedafter the factto distract attention away from the real motive for the first two murders.”
Julia’s eyes flicked frantically from Jo’s face to Arnett’s, who did a masterful job of not showing surprise at Jo’s novel pronouncement. “For fuck’s sake, it was onlysix thousanddollars. Why would I murder someone over that?”
“Six thousand dollars that could land you in jail. And apart from the fact we’ve just established you’re not crazy about the idea of downgrading your lifestyle, that would severely undermine your reputation, end your career, and give your husband excellent character evidence to take into a divorce court.”
Julia’s eyes dropped, and her voice came out barely above a whisper. “I would never have hurt Naomie. I’d rather go to jail for the rest of my life. I’d rather somebody murderme.”
Jo squatted down in front of her, trying to reestablish eye contact. “Then I need you to tell me the truth. All of it. What is your husband trying to get on you?”
Julia’s head bobbed in an involuntary nod. “Adultery. He’s looking for proof I cheated, because that would violate our prenuptial agreement.”
Jo knew the answer before she asked the question. “Did you?”
Julia hesitated a moment, then nodded.
A few more pieces fell into place. “And you’re still seeing him. That’s why you didn’t want the policeman assigned to you, because what you were doing would come out.”
She nodded again. “And that’s where I really was last night. With my boyfriend. But I didn’t kill anybody. And if I were going to kill someone to cover it up, I’d’ve—” Her jaw snapped shut.
“You would have what?”
She pulled her arms tighter around her, and shook her head. “I’d have killed Rhea, too. Because she knew what I was doing.”
CHAPTERFORTY-SEVEN
“Rhea knew you were forging the grant disbursements?”
