The Perfect Frame Read online

  “I’m glad Mack sent you to me. My spirits needed a lift.”

  “Now, let’s get some sleep. I’ve got some strategy for my subconscious to work out.”

  * * *

  Mack had a headache to top all headaches from his overindulgence in drink the night before. And added to that he was unhappy to wake up and find himself alone in his big bed. He wanted Toni beside him, beneath him, or himself beneath her, making love.

  He had to stop thinking like this and find evidence to clear her so they could be together. When this whole mess was over, he was going to marry Toni. Together they would fulfill their fantasies.

  Right now he had to get past the obstacles standing in the way of that happiness, which wasn’t going to be an easy task by any means. He left the bed and headed for the shower. After finishing dressing, he ventured into the kitchen to brew a strong pot of ambition. That was exactly what he was going to need to face the day.

  Although Marc could handle the routine paperwork, Mack knew he’d have to go into the office and do the rest. He’d call Bob and see what his schedule was like. With any luck they should be able to come up with something conclusive about the Clifford murder today.

  * * *

  Mack was seated in front of his computer screen concentrating on the Townsend files when his friend Bob entered his office.

  “Daphne said I could come right in.” He gazed at the Townsend logo emblazoned on the screen. “I thought you’d been taken off the Townsend investigation.”

  “I was, but I’m just going over the information before returning the disks to Townsend’s.”

  “This is Bob, your ex-partner. If I know you, you’re weeding out all the possibilities, looking for mistakes or overlooked facts and misplaced clues.”

  “Ah, you know me so well. As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what I’m doing. So when do we—when do you start questioning all the people involved?”

  “I was waiting for you to get around to asking that. The coroner’s findings are incomplete right now, but we should have the results of the ballistics tests sometime this morning.” He pushed up the sleeve of his jacket and glanced at his watch. “In another hour or so. But in the meantime, I’m going to start with all the people who might have had it in for Clifford.”

  “I can help you there. Only half the company is suspect. He was that kind of guy.” Every time Mack thought about what the man had done to Toni, he wished he were alive so he could kill him.

  Mack went over the list of suspects with Bob as he had with Toni. When they finished, he glanced at his friend.

  “So what do you think?”

  “I’d say you were as thorough as always. This case is loaded with corporate intrigue, not to mention office politics, with a little murder mixed in. Now, the thing is to sort out this mess and slip each piece of the puzzle into place.”

  “The key is to put them into place, not to force them.”

  “Mack.”

  “All right,” he groused. “Who do you want to start with?”

  * * *

  Mack noticed the tense, frightened look on Pat Davis’s face when he and Bob entered the office.

  “Pat, I—Lieutenant Barnes and I would like to talk with you,” Mack said in a tone of voice meant to soothe away her apprehension.

  “We can use Mr. Clifford’s old office. Hank—Mr. Warren, the acting CEO, isn’t in yet.”

  “CEO? When did that happen?” Mack queried.

  “Yesterday. He is now acting CEO.”

  Bob glared a warning at Mack before asserting his authority. “Can you get someone to cover your desk while we talk, Ms. Davis?”

  “Yes, of course. We have a temporary assistant until Toni—ah, I’ll get Connie to cover the desk,” she finished nervously. Pat rose from her seat and walked into Toni’s cubicle and returned with Connie.

  Mack’s mouth tightened in resentment when he saw the petite blonde woman come from Toni’s space. He didn’t like the idea of someone replacing her. She should be there doing her job, a job she was damned good at, and still would be doing if not for Frank Clifford and his cohort.

  Mack and Bob waited for Connie to settle in at Pat’s desk before they and Pat went into Clifford’s office.

  “Have a seat, Ms. Davis,” the lieutenant invited once they were inside.

  Pat gazed from one to the other before taking a seat.

  “Now, Ms. Davis, tell us about your relationship with Frank Clifford, starting from the time prior to your working in this office.”

  “I worked downstairs as a receptionist when I first came to Townsend’s six and a half years ago. I’d worked my way up to junior secretary in personnel when I first had any contact with him. He seemed impressed with me—my work—and asked Mazie, my immediate supervisor, if he could borrow my services. Eventually it led to a promotion to executive secretary to the CEO.”

  “Why did he pick you, as opposed to others who had been with the company longer?” Bob probed.

  “I—I—ah…”

  “You can be honest with him, Pat,” Mack encouraged.

  Bob’s eyes narrowed suspiciously and he glanced from Mack to Pat.

  “I thought it was because…” She looked embarrassed. “I found out he had a specific reason later.”

  “A sexual one?”

  “Not precisely.”

  “What?”

  “He wanted me to keep an eye on someone on his office staff.”

  “Who?”

  “Toni Carlton,” Pat reluctantly replied.

  “And did you?”

  “I didn’t feel right about it because Toni and I are friends.”

  “But Clifford insisted.”

  “Yes, he did. He said executive secretary jobs didn’t grow on trees and if I wanted to keep mine I’d better do as he said. I was tempted to tell Toni what was going on, but he said my husband was up for the position of mail room manager and if I wanted him to have a fair chance at getting it, I’d better cooperate, so I complied.”

  Mack’s jaw tensed as he listened to the questions Bob put to Pat Davis, but he let things continue without interfering.

  “Did he also have personal intentions toward you?”

  Pat bit her lip and squirmed restively in her chair.

  “You’re going to have to tell us the truth. You can do it here or down at the station, whichever you prefer.”

  Pat sat twisting her hands in her lap for a few moments. Then tears slid down her cheeks. “He—ah—I can’t,” she sobbed.

  Mack covered her hands with his. “Calm down, nobody is going to condemn you. Come on, tell us the truth.”

  “Well, one of the few nights I ever worked overtime, when Toni was out sick, he—oh God. He—he forced himself on me,” she cried.

  Mack growled. “Why that dirty son of a—”

  Bob cut him off. “Mack, you’d better let me handle this.” He sent Pat a compassionate glance. “When did this happen, Ms. Davis?”

  “Six—six months ago.” She sniffed, gazing at them with wet, red-rimmed eyes.

  “Did you report him to the police and file rape charges against him?” Lieutenant Barnes asked.

  “No, I couldn’t do that.”

  “Why not, Pat?” Mack probed gently.

  “I was afraid. It wasn’t because of anything Mr. Clifford threatened to do or say or that I didn’t think anyone would believe me.”

  “Then what was it, Pat?” Mack encouraged.

  “It was my husband Joe. I was afraid of what he might do if he found out. He’d have k—” Pat’s eyes widened in horror at what she’d started to say.

  Mack and Bob traded speculative glances. The more they found out about Frank Clifford, the more he disgusted them.

  “Where were you the night he was killed?” Bob asked.

  “At home with Joe and the kids watching videos and eating popcorn. Oh, and my mother-in-law joined us.”

  “And neither you nor your husband left the house?”

  “Well
, Joe did go out for some beer.”

  “At what time?”

  “I don’t remember. Eleven o’clock, I think.”

  “One last question. Do you know for a fact that Frank Clifford was framing Toni Carlton for embezzlement?”

  “Actually, no, but Toni told me he was, and I believe her.”

  “That’ll be all for now, Mrs. Davis.”

  Pat swiftly left the office, not needing any further encouragement to do so.

  “What do you think?” Mack asked, turning to Bob.

  “I don’t think she had anything to do with the killing.”

  “Who’s next on the list?”

  Hank Warren walked in. “What are you doing in my—here? I already gave the police a statement, Lieutenant.” He glared at Mack. “What’s Jessup doing here?”

  “He’s here as an observer. I’m glad we ran into you. I have some questions for you.”

  “I thought I’d answered all of them.”

  “Why did you give the gun to Ms. Carlton?”

  “She told me she didn’t want to be the victim of an assault. That was when she decided to take self-defense classes. I gave her my gun when she mentioned her neighborhood had been plagued by a stalker.”

  “You’re lying and you know it, Warren,” Mack ground out.

  “You’d like to think so, wouldn’t you?” he shot back. “I gave her the gun during the time we were—ah, involved.”

  “She was never involved with an asshole like you.”

  “Is that what she told you?” Hank laughed. “And you believed her?”

  The phone buzzed, snapping the tension. Hank stepped behind the desk and picked up the receiver. “Yes, Pat?” He glanced at Lieutenant Barnes. “It’s for you.” Then he handed him the phone and glared at Mack.

  “Barnes here. Thanks, Sid.” He hung up and glanced at Hank. “According to the ballistics report the bullets taken from the body came from your gun, which was fired at point blank range at approximately 11:30 p.m. to 11:40 p.m. the night of the murder, which means that your alibi may or may not be made public.”

  “Since I was nowhere near the scene of the crime I don’t see why it has to be. As I said before, it could cause a lot of problems for the person I was with.”

  “May I remind you that this is a police investigation, Mr. Warren. We’re not concerned with your personal problems. We’re answerable to the people of this city. Not reporting all the facts could be misconstrued to look like we were suppressing evidence.”

  “I didn’t kill him, Lieutenant.”

  “So you keep saying,” Mack added.

  “Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?”

  Lieutenant Barnes took out his notepad. “I want you to tell me your story one more time.”

  A frustrated growl left Hank’s throat. Mack could tell that the other man wasn’t anxious to spill his guts in front of him and drew some measure of satisfaction from the man’s reluctance. After everything Toni had told him, he deserved what he got.

  “My lady friend and I—we spent the evening at my apartment in, shall we say, pleasurable pursuits.”

  “All evening? Can you prove it?”

  “The security man at my apartment building saw us come in.”

  “At what time?”

  “Nine-thirty or ten.”

  “Until when?” Mack questioned.

  “Listen, Jessup, I don’t have to—”

  “Who is this mysterious lady friend of yours?” Mack probed.

  Hank vaulted angrily from his chair. “It’s none of your damned business, Jessup.”

  “It was Nina Townsend, wasn’t it?” Mack persisted.

  Hank glared daggers at Lieutenant Barnes. “No one was supposed to know the identity of the person I was with.”

  “I made you no promises that it wouldn’t become public knowledge. So far, the media hasn’t gotten wind of it.”

  “That’s not to say they won’t.” Hank stared venomously at Mack.

  “Oh, I won’t say anything to them if you cooperate with Lieutenant Barnes.”

  Bob silenced Mack with a look. “At the moment we only have your word on who you were with, and we will be questioning Mrs. Townsend and the security guard at your apartment building.”

  As Mack and Bob made to leave, Hank couldn’t resist one final dig.

  “I have to say that Nina is an improvement over my ex-lover, who happens to be your present one,” Hank taunted Mack. “And believe me, I’m in a position to make comparisons.”

  “Why you…” Mack made a grab for Hank.

  Bob restrained him with a police hold. “Let him go, Mack.”

  “You’d better call your dog off, Lieutenant.” Hank sneered.

  Bob hurried Mack out of the office.

  “Mack, if you can’t—”

  “I know, Bob. It’s just that the guy is a complete bastard. He’d like nothing better than to see Toni go to jail. Then the field would be clear and he could further his aspirations to take over the company.”

  “You may be right, but beating him to a pulp won’t help Toni. In fact, it might hurt her. I know you don’t want to do that.”

  “No, I don’t. Damn it, Bob, she’s innocent.”

  “I know you believe that, but it’s not up to you to judge. Now let’s go down to the mail room and have a talk with Joe Davis.”

  * * *

  “How did you talk your sister-in-law into helping us, Mariah?” Toni asked.

  “That’s my secret. Rachel and the kids are going to be our decoy while we get what you need from the house.”

  “What if Mack comes home?”

  “He won’t. Marc said he was busy helping Bob—Lieutenant Barnes—question the Townsend employees. And he has plenty of work to plow through when he gets back to his office. He probably won’t get home until late.”

  “Didn’t Marc get suspicious when you questioned him?”

  “Marc is a fan of yours. He’ll help you all he can.”

  Toni smiled. “I’m glad to have the approval of the Jessup clan.”

  “I’d say you are really fortunate that Mack loves you.”

  “He hasn’t said that.”

  “Not in so many words, maybe, but I can tell that he does. Call it sisterly intuition.”

  “Rachel and the kids should be at Mack’s right about now. Put on your sunglasses and hat.”

  Toni did as told. “I look like a movie star incognito.”

  “Doesn’t everybody in Southern California?” Mariah said, donning her own sunglasses and hat. “See, we look like twins.”

  “I should have known you had all your bases covered.”

  “Always, my dear sister in adventure.”

  * * *

  While Rachel Jessup and her kids kept the policeman busy in front of the house, Toni and Mariah hauled Toni’s computer equipment out the back and put it into Mariah’s Jeep.

  Later at the beach house, they set up the computer and Toni transferred her Internet connection to the beach house phone, then hacked into the Townsend computers. She downloaded everything pertaining to the embezzlement case.

  “You understand all this stuff?” Mariah asked as Toni scrolled through one screen, then the next.

  Toni shot her a confident smile. “Of course, it was my job to…”

  “And it will be again.”

  “Only if I’m cleared of embezzlement, not to mention an impending murder charge.”

  “We can do it, Toni. Nothing is impossible for a Jessup.”

  Toni and Mariah retrieved a few interesting records with falsified dates.

  “It doesn’t prove anything. My late boss had to have kept records of his shady dealings hidden some place, but where? They would have to be at his fingertips for easy access,” Toni murmured absently. “He thought he was so clever. He must have made a mistake somewhere, and I’m going to find it.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Mack and Bob picked up on something akin to wariness if not outrig
ht fear on Joe Davis’s face when they entered the mail room and walked over to him.

  “You wanted to talk to me?” Joe asked.

  “This is Lieutenant Barnes from the L.A.P.D. He has a few questions to ask you concerning Frank Clifford’s murder and other things pertaining to the case.”

  “Why would you want to ask me anything about that, Lieutenant?”

  “According to what your wife told us, the night of the murder you went out for beer. Where did you go? And what time did you get back?”

  Mack could tell how badly the man wanted to avoid answering Bob’s questions. It made Mack wonder if he had something to hide. How was he connected to the crime when the gun belonged to Hank Warren, who supposedly had given it to Toni? Toni had told him she’d never seen the gun before that night. Even if she’d had the gun, why would she have given it to Joe Davis?

  “I left the house to go to the Liquor Emporium on Overland at about eleven o’clock,” Joe answered.

  “What time did you get back home?” Bob asked.

  “Ah, 11:15 or 11:30. The video Rocky II was playing in the VCR when I walked into the family room.”

  “Do you think they’ll remember seeing you at the liquor store?”

  “I—I don’t know. If you’re trying to lay this murder on me, forget it. I didn’t kill the bas—Clifford.”

  “You somehow found out what he’d done to your wife, didn’t you, Joe?” Mack probed.

  “I don’t know what you mean, Jessup.”

  “I think you do. Tell us the truth,” Mack urged him strongly.

  Joe was silent for a moment before answering. “Yes, I found out what that son of a bitch had done to my wife. I admit that I wanted to take him apart with my bare hands, but I didn’t shoot him.”

  “You want us to believe that someone beat you to it?” Mack asked. “Joe, every man is protective of his woman. Some carry it to extremes.”

  “You mean murder. I swear I didn’t go that one step too far, although…”

  “Although what?” inquired the lieutenant.

  “The urge to kill him was so strong I could almost taste it.”

  The lieutenant cleared his throat. “Suppose I told you more than one set of prints was found on the gun. What would you say then?”

  Mack noticed that beads of sweat had popped out on Joe’s forehead and above his upper lip. He had a gut feeling he was holding back something vital to the case. Mack knew he couldn’t afford to let anyone off the hook. Too much was at stake.