We Weren't Born to Follow

We weren't born to follow
Come on and get up off your knees
When life is a bitter pill to swallow
You gotta hold on to what you believe
Believe that the sun will shine tomorrow
And that your saints and sinners bleed
We weren't born to follow
You gotta stand up for what you believe

 

“It's the money!” Trixie practically shouted as she burst into the conference room of the Belden-Wheeler Agency. “We just need to follow the money!”

Amy and Sean exchanged bewildered looks. Sean cleared his throat before speaking. “What exactly do you mean, boss? We're not sure what you're talking about.”

“B3 Software,” she said excitedly, tossing her designer briefcase into an empty chair. She yanked off her spring jacket, and Amy watched as it followed the briefcase before sliding unheeded to the floor. “We never looked very closely at their financials. It's the money!”

“They have money,” Sean said patiently. “More than any company should have. What exactly would we follow?”

“They didn't always have that kind of money,” Trixie reminded him as she paced back and forth. She was on the brink of figuring things out. “Reid told us about eating Ramen noodles for a few years. How it was a matter of pride that B3 make it on its own, without touching any of Allison's money, remember?”

Amy nodded slowly, and Sean leaned forward as if understanding was beginning to break on him as well.

“How would Reid feel if he had touched Allison's money, but didn't know it?” she asked breathlessly.

“How could he not know?” Amy asked. “It's obvious where the money came from. A few thousand from Reid and Ted, Andy's trust fund and the backers that ... Oh!”

“Exactly!” Trixie beamed proudly at her junior agent for putting it together. She smiled as Amy's fingers flew over the keyboard of her computer.

“Nothing!” the junior agent groaned a few moments later. “We have nothing on those backers!”

“That should be the top priority for the day,” Sean suggested. “Do you want to track it down, boss?”

Trixie shook her head. “We have the meetings with Madji and Tiffany today. We need to take care of those as well, although I suspect we'll find that situation was also about money. Let's divide them up. We'll each take an interview.”

“Even me!?” Amy asked, perking up at the thought of a real interview.

“Yes, even you. In fact, we'll let you pick.” Trixie was feeling magnanimous. She sensed they were on the verge of a breakthrough. “Someone needs to go meet with Chris or Ted or whoever's in charge over at B3 today. One of us can interview Madji, and the other Tiffany. Which one do you want to tackle, Freeman?”

“Tiffany,” she answered promptly. “I have an idea after reading everything on this case that I know exactly how to get through to her: female to female.”

Sean snorted, and Trixie managed not to frown. She had hoped to interview the intriguing author, but she wouldn't back down on her promise to Amy.

“Okay, Barnes -- what about you?”

Sean glanced at her in surprise. “D-d-don't you want to pick?” he stammered. It happened only rarely, but Trixie had caught him off guard.

“No, it doesn't matter to me,” she assured him. “Do you want to interview Madji or find someone to interview at B3?”

“B3.” His reply came back at her so quickly, she knew it was the interview he had hoped to be assigned. “I'm not at all convinced that Chris Williams isn't hiding something.”

“Then I'll take Madji,” she nodded in satisfaction. Akin to the way Sean felt about Chris Williams, she believed that Madji had the answers she needed. “Barnes, you'll never get an appointment. Just show up and bully your way in to see whoever is in charge. Use Reid's name if you need to. If they call him, he'll back us up.”

“Freeman, you know what to do?”

“Yes.” The eagerness in the junior agent's voice was unmistakable. “I'll make sure Kevin is set before I leave the office. Do you have a time when you want us all back here?”

Trixie shook her head. “We'll regroup when we're all back. Let's stay in touch today, and if there are follow-up interviews needed as a result, we’ll need to schedule those as well. Understood?”

Her team nodded.

“We're close,” Trixie said, her own excitement evident. “Let's get these interviews nailed down. And, Freeman?”

“Yes, Boss?” Amy turned around.

“Be sure and check in with Kevin before you head back to the office after your interview. Because if Mrs. Randolph calls, you’re going to have to make a detour on your way back to the office to find that mutt again!”

 

 

“You know you’re getting to be a real pain,” Chris said bluntly.

Sean realized it was with great reluctance that she had consented to meet with him that morning. He only hoped Trixie was having better luck with Madji. It was obvious from the pile of files on Reid’s desk and the numerous papers spread out on the conference room table that Chris was busy. He was a distraction she didn’t need. B3 Software clearly needed its leader at the helm. Sean wondered if Reid had always been the leader of the gang.

“Yeah, but you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?” he shot back. “Look, you and me, we can put our cards on the table with each other. My boss thinks she knows why Allison did what she did. Personally and professionally, I don’t think it was Allison at all. It was you. But until I can prove it, I’m going to have to keep taking direction from the boss.”

Sean had bullied his way past Janiece, insisting that it was urgent he meet with Chris to discuss a matter that was critical to the future of B3 Software. Now that he was meeting with her in Reid’s office, he didn’t plan to hold anything back.

Chris crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “Then why don’t you send your boss to talk to me?” she retorted. “That way I can deal with someone at your firm who’s not a complete idiot.”

“It’s also common knowledge why Reid and Ted didn’t follow you to MIT,” he shot back. “I’ve talked to your classmates from good old Brooklyn High. You were sleeping with both of them and they found out.”

“Oh yeah, right,” she retorted. “You’re going to tell me that you believe the stories spread by those idiotic girls from high school. You’re an even bigger fool than I imagined.”

“She certainly never slept with me.” Ted spoke from the doorway. “As for Reid,” he shrugged. “They were best friends. You’d have to ask him.”

Chris shot a baleful glare in his direction as she looked across the room. “Of course I didn’t sleep with Reid!” she snapped. “Don’t tell me you believed those tacky teen trollops, too?”

Ted seemed to come alive from his normal laid-back, sleepy persona. He strode into the room with a purpose. “It was common knowledge in the halls of good old HS430. It doesn’t much matter now.”

Chris exploded. “Common knowledge! How can something that never happened be common knowledge?” She crossed the room to meet him as she spoke, reaching him by the time she finished her second sentence. “I. Never. Slept. With. Reid. Beckhart. EVER!” Each word was punctuated with a poke of her finger into Ted’s chest. “How could you think I’d do something like that? We were friends. If you wanted to know, why didn’t you just ask me instead of believing those childish, cheap little cheerleader chumps who were only peeved because you were the only baseball player that didn’t fawn all over their chubby chests!”

Ted shrugged. “You were the one that weirded out on us at the time, insisting that we should all go to MIT instead of listening to what we wanted to do. Then you finally came back here, even though Reid was with Allison, just so you could be close to him again.”

“You really think that?” Reid asked from behind his friend.

Ted turned and saw Reid. He looked back and forth between his two friends, noticing for the first time the looks of disappointment on their faces. “Yeah,” he answered, shoving his hands in his pockets as he stepped to one side to let Reid into the room. He flinched as Reid shut the door behind him. “Chris wanted you from the beginning. It was obvious to everyone.”

Reid shook his head. “Obvious to everyone but me and Chris. If you wanted to know how either of us felt about the other, why didn’t you just ask us? I thought we were as close as three friends could be.”

Sean watched, mesmerized, as the scene unfolded. He felt vindicated in his belief that the relationship between the “Three Musketeers” of B3 held the key to the whole situation. Finally, they were giving up the information he needed. Watching the interactions between the three of them was better than anything he’d seen in a long time.

Chris’s eyes glittered with unshed tears, her fists clenched; it was obvious to Sean that she was furious with Ted. “I can’t believe that you thought I was sleeping with Reid! Exactly when and where was the tryst supposed to be taking place? Hell, you were with us anytime we were together.”

“You guys pulled all-nighters in the lab all the time,” Ted retorted. “Every time I started a baseball game, you guys would miss it because you were working in that stupid computer lab at school.”

“We never missed one of your ball games,” Reid said. “We were in the lab because that’s where we watched them. We’d set up webcams at the ball field, so we never missed a game.”

“How … when …” Ted was speechless.

“You stupid dolt,” Chris said, her teeth clenched. “How do you think we knew to tell you that you’d made a great play at second, or that you’d gotten a great hit? How do you think we knew the stats of every game? Of course we were watching.”

“Why didn’t you just come to the game and watch?”

Chris looked embarrassed and stared down at her shoes.

Reid shot her a sympathetic look.

“You should know better than anyone that sports tickets aren’t free,” Reid said casually. “Not Mets tickets and not even tickets to high school games.”

“What?” Ted’s jaw dropped as he stared back and forth between the two friends. “What are you talking about?”

“You never did get it,” Reid shook his head. “I told Chris she’d have to hit you over the head with a clue by four before you’d get it.

“Get what?” he demanded. “Get that she wanted me out of the way so she could be with you?”

Chris gasped and her flushed face went white. She rushed from the room. Sean stood, unsure whether to follow her or stay and listen to what was certain to be an interesting exchange between the two longtime friends. But the two men had obviously forgotten his presence, and he sat down again.

Ted stared as the door slammed behind her. “What’s her problem?”

Reid snorted. “Her problem is that she fell in love with the most insensitive clod on the face of the earth back in high school and never got over it.”

Ted’s eyes narrowed and his hands came out of his pockets, fisted, as if ready for a fight. “Say it now, Reid, and let’s get it all behind us.”

“You jerk! She’s in love with you.” Reid banged his fist on the desk. “It’s always been about you. She didn’t have the money for a ticket to your baseball game. Hell, she didn’t have the money for anything. She should’ve been in a foster home, but she managed to convince the teachers not to turn her in. That’s why they let her sleep in the computer lab. We weren’t pulling all-nighters. That’s where Chris was living the last semester of school, in the computer lab.”

Ted deflated like a popped balloon and an expression of abject misery crept over his face. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he ground out. “She could’ve stayed with me, my folks had the room.”

“Because she was too proud. Don’t you think it was hard enough for her to be crazy about you, much less ask you for charity?” Reid gave his friend a look of disbelief. “She didn’t have a choice but to go to MIT. It was where she got a full ride, plus a living stipend. She couldn’t afford to turn it down.”

Realization dawned on Ted. “That’s why she went straight through. She didn’t have any place to come home to.”

Reid nodded. He sighed and looked at the door. “I guess I’d better go after her. Maybe she’ll forgive me for telling you all this. She never wanted you to know.”

Ted held up a hand. “No. Let me. Please. There are things that need to be said.”

Reid paused, seeming to consider the request for a moment before answering. “You’ve hurt her enough.”

“Yes, and I’m never going to hurt her again,” Ted insisted. “Why do you think I was so upset with that prissy cheerleader, Katie Regina something-or-other? She knew I was nuts about Chris and used it against me -- against us. Please, Reid. Give me a chance to do something right for a change.”

Sighing, Reid nodded. “Hurt her and I’ll fire you. I don’t care what it does to this company. You’re not going to hurt her again.”

The two men left Reid’s office together, apparently oblivious to Sean’s presence. Left alone, Sean pulled out his BLISS device and made some quick notes on the latest revelations before letting himself out of B3’s offices. His boss would be very interested in this—very interested.

 

 

“Why is this so hard for you?” Trixie could not keep the impatience out of her question after she received another non-answer from Madji. “We’re talking about your boss. Reid Beckhart, the man you told me you admire. The police think he killed his wife over this security issue, and all you’re doing is talking in circles.”

“Reid Beckhart did not kill his wife,” Madji replied in his usual stoic manner.

“Yeah, well I know that, and you know that, but somehow or other the police don’t know it,” she muttered. Her eyes narrowed. “Why are you so sure?”

“Reid loved Allison, much like I love my wife. People don’t murder the people they love.”

Frustrated with the lack of progress she’d made so far in her interview with Madji, Trixie knew she would have to change her approach. She took a deep cleansing breath and expelled it slowly, leaned back in the modern, ergo-fitted chair across from Madji’s desk, and crossed her legs. She forced herself to relax. “How did you meet your wife?” She managed to sound more conversational than probing.

“I was on a sabbatical from B3,” Madji replied. “It was my year of education and reflection. She was studying in the library, and we were both trying to check out the same book.”

“What was the book?’ Trixie made sure her voice sounded innocent and interested, but the question was a test.

“Acta Philosophorum, by Christopher Heumann,” Madji answered with a small smile. “It’s an expensive book, so it seemed opportune that it was available that day. It is a very good book.”

Nodding as she digested his immediate answer, she continued what she hoped would feel more like a conversation. “What kind of book is it?”

“It’s a complete history of philosophy. One of my old professors at MIT was using it as a supplement to his text, and I wanted to read it,” Madji replied. “It was important to me to use my sabbatical time for growth, so that I could be a better employee when I returned to work. After all, they were gracious enough to give me the year off.”

“You studied during your sabbatical?” Trixie asked. “I would’ve thought you would have relaxed and recharged. Isn’t that what a sabbatical is about?”

“Yes, but for me it is restful to study,” Madji admitted. “I wanted to spend the time learning more about business in the Asia-Pacific area. The culture and trends from that region are very different from the Americas and Europe. It was important to me to understand them.”

Bingo! Trixie thought before shifting in her seat again. Although she was trying to hide her eagerness, she couldn’t help but lean forward a little. “The night your girlfriend caught you in a compromising situation at B3 —wasn’t your scheduled phone call with the Asia Pacific office?” she asked.

“Yes,” he answered stiffly.

“So when you planned to participate in the call, was it to learn more about the region or was it for business?” she asked.

Madji shrugged. “I had asked to be included earlier that week. It was important for me to understand the customer feedback in that market. Ted is a professional, so of course he agreed. Even programmers need to understand how the customer will think when it comes to the program.”

Trixie leaned back again in her chair. She thought carefully for a moment before returning to the subject of Allison’s murder. “You understand that the police are always going to suspect Reid Beckhart killed his wife unless we find the guilty individual, don’t you?”

Madji shook his head. “Not in America. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. He won’t be convicted or go to prison.”

“Madji, sometimes there are worse things than going to prison,” Trixie explained, her voice low and intense. “You and I may believe Reid is innocent, but the NYPD police detective in charge of Allison’s murder thinks he’s guilty. He’ll never stop investigating Reid. Every few months there will be a new search warrant. They’ll monitor his emails, his phone records, every aspect of his business, and they’ll question his kids when they’re no longer minors. Unless we find the killer, Reid is going to be watched for the rest of his life. People will talk about him and speculate that they never did find his wife’s killer. Eventually, it will start to affect him, his family, and even B3 Software.”

“Not in America! Not in New York City!” he insisted.

“Yes!” Trixie persevered, her voice even but emphatic. “It happens even in America. It was my life for years. I’ve seen it happen.” She paused for a few moments to let her message sink in. “Madji, you have to tell me what happened that night with Tiffany Eaton. It’s the reason Allison was murdered.”

Madji sat motionless, staring at his hands. “Why can’t you get Reid to tell you? It is not something I like to remember, much less talk about.”

“Reid insists that if the story is going to be told, it has to come from you. Please, Madji. I need to clear Reid of Allison's murder. Are you protecting Tiffany Eaton?”

The last question seemed to induce him to speak. He finally looked up at Trixie, meeting her serious stare. “She’ll never be Tiffany Eaton to me. She was just Fannie Kent, one of our colleagues and the wife of one of my good friends. It was just a meeting, nothing but a meeting. Fannie and me, we … well, we were both early for the meeting, so we started talking about the latest company gossip.”

“What was the latest company gossip?” Trixie prompted.

“That the board wanted to take the company public. Fannie wanted to know what it meant for me, personally.”

“What did it mean for you?” Trixie asked.

“I’d be a millionaire,” Madji answered quietly. “Reid and Ted, they had been generous with those of us who struggled with the company in the early years. I had a few voting shares of stock but enough stock options that would be valued at least a million dollars if the company went public.”

“Is that what you wanted?”

He shook his head. “Not particularly, but Sarah, my girlfriend, she wanted that. She was pushing me hard to vote my shares to go public. Fannie said it wouldn’t matter what she wanted, that Ted would vote his shares to stay private. He hated that the private investors even had a say.”

“What happened?”

“Fannie confided in me that she had a plan to vote her half of Ted’s shares. She offered to share it with me, but I said no.”

“How did that segue into the, um, compromising situation?” Trixie chose her words carefully, knowing Madji would stop talking if he became embarrassed about explaining the situation.

Madji just shrugged. “I don't know,” he mumbled.

“Look Madji, something happened. You said something, she said something, there was a physical attraction between you, and something happened between the two of you gossiping about the company and Sarah walking in on you. What was it?”

“Nothing happened,” he insisted.

“If you're concerned about a sexual harassment lawsuit, you should know that Tiffany signed a waiver of her rights to pursue such a case when she resigned.” Trixie wasn't sure if that was exactly what she had signed, but Reid had told her that she waived her rights to come back to B3. “There’s no way she can accuse you of any wrongdoing in that regard.”

Trixie had intended to calm and reassure the gentle giant she was interviewing, but her comment had the opposite effect.

“You don't understand!” Madji shouted. His large fist came down on the glass desk with a resounding thud. “We’re not talking about some slow seduction scene. I didn't do anything! She harassed me! She walked in on me! I had no idea that is what she had in mind. I thought she was going to get some coffee. She walked out dressed, walked back in naked, sat on my lap and practically –” He paused and sputtered for a moment as he tried to find the words. “She practically purred in my ear that she could change my mind!”

Trixie was stunned. “Change your mind about what?”

“The stock,” he replied. “She was trying to change my mind about how I voted my shares of B3 stock.”

“Tiffany Eaton, I mean Fannie Kent, whatever you want to call her ...” Trixie was rattled and it showed. “You're saying that she was proposing to use sexual favors to influence how you would vote your shares?”

“Yes.”

Madji's answer was simple and direct. For the first time he looked her straight in the eye and didn't blush. The sincerity and honesty in his answer were as clear as beacons in the dark of night. But she detected something else, too. Madji sounded as if the answer were painful to him.

“Reid mentioned the stock vote wasn’t exactly the best moment in the company’s history. I take it the entire vote was a big deal for everyone?” Trixie tried to keep her voice casual, but the intensity of her question remained.

Madji blew out a rattled breath, then took a gulp of fresh air and let it out, too, before answering. His words were thoughtful. “For the first time that I can remember, employees actually left B3 to take jobs somewhere else. They … we … it was a tense time. Everyone knew the board was divided. Reid never kept secrets, so everyone also knew …” He stopped as if he realized he was about to cross a line.

Trixie reached out and tentatively touched his hand. Her ability to draw people out was one of her strongest assets as an agent, and she knew it. “Reid said you should tell me everything,” she said softly. “He admitted he wasn’t proud of that moment in the company history.”

Madji nodded. “Everyone knew that Reid and Allison disagreed. We were afraid they would get divorced and the company would be sold. The thing is, Reid is the leader of B3. Right now, we’re all behind Chris and Ted and the employees support them until Reid is back at the helm. The three of them, they’ve always been of one mind on how B3 should be run. But Allison was different. She was more like her father. Um, Chris called it “old school.” Allison thought B3 should go public with Reid as the CEO. She thinks, uh, thought, some of his ideas were too expensive.”

“Like what?”

“Like sending me off on a paid sabbatical for a year,” he replied with a grimace. “Sarah and Fannie weren’t the only people who wanted me to vote my shares to go public. Allison did, too.”

“Was the sabbatical because of what happened with Fannie?” Trixie asked.

“Oh, yeah.” Madji’s fingers began a rhythmic drumming on his desk that he only interrupted to rub his sweaty palms on the leg of his worn jeans. Trixie sensed his nervousness and waited patiently for him to continue. “When everything happened with Fannie, after I caught up with Sarah and told her the truth, she refused to believe me unless I reported Fannie to the company for sexual harassment. I called Chris. She’s my best friend here at B3. She helped me, told me who to call and everything. She even made me bring clothes back to the office, but everyone was gone but Charlie. He was happy he didn’t have to walk home in his underwear.” Madji paused as he struggled to recall the correct sequence of events. “They – Reid, Chris, and Ian – met with me the next morning, and even though I offered to leave and resign, Reid wouldn’t hear of it. Only Ian wanted to accept my resignation, but …”

Trixie quirked a brow at him. “But what?”

“Ian wanted me to resign so I would lose my stock and any options. They would revert back to the pool and my votes would be out of the equation. At least that’s what Chris thought and I agreed with her. Chris told me later than Reid gave Fannie a generous severance package and accepted her resignation, effective immediately.”

“So you were able to stay with B3 and vote your shares to stay private?” Trixie’s comment took the form of a question, but she didn’t wait for an answer. “That doesn’t explain Ted’s shares.”

Madji shook his head. “I left on my sabbatical as soon as I could wrap up my projects. Fortunately, Fannie told me her scheme and Chris …” Madji had the faintest of smiles on his face. It was the first time Trixie had ever seen a change in his normally stoic expression. “Chris and I bought Ted’s shares, all but a few of them. That was allowed under the structure of the stock arrangement. We were able to do it that evening, before Fannie could file for divorce the next day and ask the judge to put a stay on his shares.”

Trixie finally understood exactly why Fannie had left the country so soon after the incident. She had nothing to gain by staying. “And in the end you voted to stay private?”

“No, I did not!” He was emphatic.

“You voted to go public?” Trixie asked, flabbergasted by his answer.

Madji shook his head and managed to a small smile. “Actually, I didn't vote at all. I gave my proxy to Chris. She voted all my shares.”

 

 

“Are you sure you're old enough for this job?” Tiffany Eaton asked Amy for the third time.

Suppressing a sigh of frustration, Amy reached into her pocket and pulled out her private investigator credentials from the State of New York. “The state of New York requires you to be 25 years old. Would you prefer that I send my boss over for the interview?” Amy knew that Tiffany was stalling and trying to derail the interview. “Reid said this would be okay,” she said, keeping her tone and demeanor professional. “If it's not, I'll leave and let him know that you weren't comfortable cooperating with our investigation into his wife's murder.”

“No, no, no ...” Tiffany waved her perfectly-manicured hand. “I'll tell you what I know. I just don't understand how anything that I have to say will help. I don't know Allison very well at all, and I already told the police that I saw Reid at the Harlem Figure Skating Gala that evening. They must know he didn't do it.”

“Yes, they know he couldn't have physically murdered his wife,” Amy confirmed. “But they also believe he has the necessary financial resources that he could've paid someone to take care of it.”

“Oh, please!” the brown-eyed beauty rolled her eyes in disbelief. “They certainly don't know that man very well. He was besotted with her. Everyone in New York knew it. Everything he did to make a success of his company was for her, to give her everything her father could've given her and more. Trust me; he would never do anything to hurt her.”

“You seem sure of this,” Amy replied. “Perhaps he'd met someone else.”

“There was no one else,” Tiffany assured her. “And it's not like plenty of women didn't try. Why even, Allison's ---” She stopped and wrinkled her nose at the sound of Amy's BLISS unit ringing.

Amy apologized and glanced at the phone. She bit her lip when she saw Trixie's name on the readout. “I apologize, but this is my boss. Since she knows that I'm here, this must be important. Will you excuse me, just a moment?” Amy pushed the button and answered into the phone.

“Freeman.”

“Are you still interviewing Tiffany Eaton?” Trixie asked.

“Affirmative.”

“Then listen closely,” Trixie advised. Amy listened as she went on to relate a succinct summary of Madji’s story. “See how much you can confirm of Madji's story, but mostly, see if she'll tell you about Allison wanting the company to go public.”

“Understood.” She disconnected the call and apologized again to her interviewee. “What happened between you and Ted Kent?” she asked the attractive woman.

Tiffany's mouth formed an artful O of surprise. “Goodness! That was a long time ago, but the short story -- we never suited. I thought I was marrying an up-and-coming business executive. Ted thought he was marrying a talented technical writer and that we'd do well together in business. We were both wrong.” She tilted her head to one side, her eyes wide. “It might be fair to say he loved working more than he loved making money.”

“He doesn't have any money?” Amy asked as she pretended to make a careful notation on her PDA.

“He doesn't have as much as he did.” Tiffany's annoying tinkling laugh accompanied her reply. “I took everything I could when we split, but he could've been a billionaire if he'd taken B3 public a few years ago.” She shrugged and blew out a heavy sigh of regret. “He loved the technical side of his job a bit too much to agree to that. So I lost a husband, but gained a new career.”

“What about your indiscretion with Madji Farsi? Did that play into your decision?” Her business-like tone was intended to conceal a needle-sharp probe for the truth from her devious subject.

“My what?” Tiffany stammered.

“Your indiscretion with Mr. Farsi, about five years ago, was that the final straw? How exactly did that fit into things?” Amy looked up from her PDA, a blank expression on her face concealing her glee at Tiffany's look of surprise.

“Reid told you about that?” she asked.

Amy shook her head. “No, he didn't. He refuses to talk about it, but we've confirmed it's true. The speculation is that was the catalyst for your divorce from Ted Kent.”

Tiffany's eyes narrowed. “That stupid Charlie Prescott must've blabbed his big fat mouth!” She leaned forward in her chair. “Listen, you tell Charlie Prescott that I don't care if I did sign an agreement to never speak of that event, I'll blab it to everyone if he lets word get out about that. The deal was that no one would ever talk of it!”

“No one is talking about it,” Amy pointed out in a reasonable tone. “But unless we can make sure it has no bearing on Allison's death, Reid and Charlie will have no choice but to tell the police so that it can be fully investigated. If that happens ....” Amy's voice trailed off. She knew that Reid and Charlie would never tell the police about the incident. Neither of them believed it had any bearing on the case. Only Trixie and her team were unraveling that particular thread, but there was no need for Tiffany to know that.

Tiffany opened her mouth to speak and then shut it. She stared evenly at Amy as her polished nails drummed for a moment on the arm of her designer chair. “You know; I think I've said all that I plan to say on this matter.”

Amy shrugged. “That's your choice of course, but if you can't help us clear up the facts of that particular incident, you should expect the police next.” She bent to pick up her over-sized handbag and made a show of stowing her PDA. “We'll have no choice but to tell them you have information related to the motive behind Allison's death.”

“You're bluffing and we both know it!” Tiffany snapped. “There's nothing to tell the police.”

Amy slowly shook her head. “We've been told the vote on B3 five years ago was the catalyst that led to Allison's death. Your, um, indiscretion is evidence of just how highly-charged and emotional that particular decision was.” She stood up and shrugged. “For me, I don't have a choice. If I withhold information from the law enforcement officials investigating Allison's murder, then I’ll lose my license.”

Amy held out her hand in a gesture of parting. “Thanks for your time.”

Tiffany studied the younger woman for a moment. Then, instead of standing and shaking her hand, she motioned for her to sit down. She took a deep breath and leaned forward. “You have to promise me that this stays confidential. If word ever got out about what happened, I won't stand a chance of being invited to a dog ball, much less next year's Winter Cotillion.”

Amy resumed her seat. “Discretion is what private investigation is all about.”

“Very well. It's probably not a big secret that I wanted Teddy to vote his shares to take the company public. It would have meant financial security for us for life, but with that kind of money ....” Her voice trailed off and she shifted in her seat. “Look, I married Ted to try and gain a foothold into New York Society, plain and simple.” She expelled a deep breath and blushed. “Okay, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but that's the first time that I ever admitted it to anyone.”

“That was important to you, a place on the social register?” Amy asked.

“Yes. That was my deal with Reid. I would sign an agreement waiving my rights to sue B3 for any type of workplace harassment. He gave me a generous severance package, he let me stay in a corporate apartment in Paris for the next year, and he promised when I returned that he would help me get introduced into society.” She wrinkled her nose. “Well, he promised his wife would.”

“Did she help you when you returned to the states?”

“Some,” Tiffany replied grudgingly. “But the things that helped the most were my book and the subsequent lawsuit. The publicity surrounding that generated all kinds of invitations to events.”

“Do you have any idea who might have wanted to kill Allison Beckhart?”

Tiffany shook her head. “No, the only thing I can tell you is that Allison wanted that company to go public just as much as I did, maybe more. It seems to me that if someone still wanted the company to be public, they'd be killing Reid Beckhart, not his wife.”