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Brook politely turned down the offer.
It was rather odd that Lizzy hadn’t given Kyle notification before leading a guest back to his office. The receptionist walked past several offices before Brook changed her mind regarding the layout. Several office walls had been left out of the design. In its place was a very long and wide trading desk with three individuals spread out so they had room to work. While their monitors couldn’t rival the ones in Bit’s domain, she was quite impressed with their modern technical equipment.
“Kyle, Brook Sloane is here to see you,” Lizzy announced as she entered an office on the lefthand side. Lizzy hadn’t even bothered to knock. “Are you sure that I can’t get you something to drink?”
“I’m sure, thank you,” Brook murmured, stepping inside the doorway so that Lizzy could exit. She walked away, leaving Brook to her business. “Kyle, I’m sorry to drop in on you like this, but we’ve been looking through footage of last night’s fundraiser. Did you leave right after you overheard what was being said about Millie?”
“No,” Kyle replied as he leaned back in his chair. He pushed slightly away from his desk, where he’d been looking at several spreadsheets on the monitor. “I stayed for maybe another thirty minutes or so. Did you figure out who was behind me?”
“Not yet, but a timeline will definitely help us.” Brook didn’t want to waste his time any more than necessary. “I won’t keep you. Thanks.”
Before Kyle could say anything else, Brook retreated and began to walk down the hallway. She could sense the weight of everyone’s stares. They were curious as to why she would visit Kyle during the day. It was only a matter of time before rumors began to swirl amongst this particular group.
“Ms. Sloane. Is everything alright?”
She stopped abruptly when Chet Johnson stepped out of his office directly in front of her. Considering firms like this one always gave different sized offices to their employees based on position and seniority, Chet was most likely at the lower end of the payroll.
“Hello, Chet.” Brook figured that he thought she was here to discuss investing in their hedge fund, but that was far from the truth. While this past year had been a bit tenuous with financing a new firm, she was actually in the best position moneywise than she’d been in a very long time. Unfortunately, that figure wasn’t what this firm would consider a high-net-worth individual. “Yes, everything is fine. Thank you for asking. I’ve got to get back to my office now. Have a good day.”
Brook didn’t waste any more time.
She had the information that the firm needed to narrow the search of the footage. While none of their current scope aided her in finishing the profile, she’d spent the morning attempting to take a step back from the various directions that the others were taking in the investigation.
Fortunately, Brook didn’t have to use the biometric scanner to gain access to the office. Kate had caught sight of her and used the electronic buzzer. The lock disengaged, and Brook pulled on the door handle.
“You have a call on line one.”
Brook didn’t bother to go into her office. She walked up to Kate’s desk and held out her hand for the receiver, waiting for the button to be pressed.
“Sloane.”
“This is Murphy down at the medical examiner’s office. I just notified Detective Raines. We’ve received the toxicology reports back from the lab, and we finally have a cause of death for the other three victims.”
“And?” Brook asked as her phone vibrated in her hand. A quick glance at the display told her that Detective Raines was calling her with an update. “What have you ruled as cause of death?”
“Cyanide. My best guess? Someone used the old standby…rat poison.”
Chapter Thirty
Brooklyn Sloane
December 2022
Tuesday — 6:02pm
“IsitThursdayyet?”
“It’s probably not what you’re after, but I keep a bottle of my favorite Moscato in the lower lefthand cabinet of the kitchen,” Brook divulged to Sylvie, who seemed to seriously consider collecting the sparkling wine and pouring them both a glass. “It’s been a hell of a day, hasn’t it?”
Brook was sitting at the conference room table, her chair half-turned so that she could see both the wall and the 4k LED monitor. She’d almost completed her profile, but nothing fit the way that it should given what they knew of the case thus far.
Sylvie had spent the majority of the afternoon at the station with Millie. Detective Soerig had peppered their client with questions that she hadn’t been able to answer. Upon the realization that the interview had garnered nothing with the exception of upsetting Raines and Theo, the detective had finally relented and eased up on the interrogation.
Brook had asked Sylvie of her opinion on Hadley’s change of heart, and apparently the directive to push Milliehadcome from above. Former Senator Ponzio had been pushing for the upper brass to leave the Kolsbys and Cranstons alone.
It appeared that Dr. Cranston had just as many political connections as Dr. Kolsby.
“Did I miss something?” Sylvie asked with curiosity as she pulled out a chair. She had a cup of tea in her hand, which indicated that she didn’t plan to leave the office anytime soon. Bit had gotten sidetracked with the autopsy report and instructions from Brook to see if he could locate any active serial killers in the area with that type of signature. “I don’t think that I’ve ever seen Theo in such a bad mood. That’s saying something considering we were all there for his previous eye surgery.”
