AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No. The office down the hall. I never go in there anymore. My mom and brothers were out that night, so it was just me and him. Someone broke into our home. Went into my father’s office and slit his throat.”
“Do you know how they got in?”
“The room next to my father’s office is a mudroom. A place where us kids could come in from the backyard with our muddy boots and wash our hands in the utility sink. Police believe that’s where the intruder entered. It was the only door that was unlocked in the house.”
“So, this person may have had knowledge of your home’s layout.”
“Yes.”
“Or they thought no one was home and were startled when they found your father. Did a lot of people know the layout of your home?”
I shifted. “A lot of people did. Family. Friends. Staff. Business associates. Not to mention strangers and acquaintances that would attend my father’s elaborate parties.”
“Did the killer take anything that night?”
“No. After my father was murdered, the assailant fled. Presumably out the same door he’d come in.”
“He. So, they know it was a man?”
I shifted. “Yes, I saw him.”
“Was he masked?”
“No.”
“They have you work with a sketch artist?”
“Not enough detail to make an ID.”
Barry scratched his ear. “The driveway leading up to your home isn’t just long; it’s secluded, winding.” Which should have been gated, I noted. But Dad had never put in a gate around the estate. Mom almost put one in after his death but settled for a state-of-the-art security system and security team instead.
Barry continued to pull more details about my father’s case from me, the ones I could remember, at least. I tried to stick to the facts, attempting to avoid any, as he said, unconscious biases that I may have formed throughout the years.
“And there was no evidence, no DNA, no fingerprints left behind?” Barry said.
“None.”
“Did your father have any enemies?”
“None that I’m aware of. My father was the kindest person I had ever met. I had never once seen him lose his temper or even yell at my mother. Or us kids.”
“What about his business?” Barry asked.
“From what I understand, his employees revered him. I was only a child when he died, so it’s possible there’s something I’m unaware of, but no other private investigator found anything that would point toward a likely motive for his death.”
Not a thing.
When someone takes the life of the person who is the center of your universe, and you have no idea why, it haunts you day and night.
Barry continued to ask me clarification questions before finally winding down the meeting.
“What is your initial gut feeling telling you?” I asked.
Barry frowned. “It’s dangerous to form hypotheses this early in the case. My next step is to read everything you provided me, and then go to the police station to read through all the police reports.”
Barry stood up, as if he’d forgotten the urgent request I had for him earlier.
“What did you find about Franco Hopkins?”
