Page 69 of A Flower for Angus

After he poured his coffee and took a seat by the desk, he studied her as he stirred cream into his coffee. “Just so you know, I never thought you had anything to do with Julian’s death. I’ve always thought someone was feeding the media frenzy behind the scenes, but I never could prove it,” he growled almost kindly. “So, how do you know about Carma?”

The question caught Poppy off guard and she flushed. “I might have been doing some investigating on my own,” she replied, lifting her chin.

“The coroner’s report is classified information,” he said mildly taking a sip from his cup.

“I haven’t seen the coroner’s report,” she replied truthfully. She hadn’t seen it but Vince had.

He nodded. “I know you have a private detective, Vince Gallo, working for you. Gallo’s an excellent detective. He could have been a lot better if he’d stayed on the force, but he didn’t want to operate by the rules. He does get results though. As long as he stays away from my cases, I have no quarrel with him. What else did he tell you?”

“Why do ye want to know, Chief?” Angus drawled, shooting Poppy a warning look. “And for the record, we neither confirm nor deny anythin’ ye just said.”

Chief Flinders actually chuckled mirthlessly. “Just because the FBI interfered with my case doesn’t mean I’ve stopped hunting. I don’t like anything about the mob, and I especially don’t like mob hits in my jurisdiction. And I really,reallydon’t like dirty law enforcement—in any agency.”

“Ye think Nesbitt was killed by dirty cops?”

He shot them both a steely look. “I will neither confirm nor deny that question.”

Angus grunted and took out his cell phone. “I do have somethin’ I’d like to share with ye then. There was so much goin’ on last night that I thought I’d save it for our statements today.” He took out his cell, flipped it to the recording he’d made and pushed the play button.

The Chief was silent for a moment after the recording ended. “What you have there is dangerous, and you need to give it to me or get rid of it. If the wrong people were to know you had that...well...you get the idea.”

“Ye seem like an honest man, Chief,” Angus said tersely. “So, I’m goin’ to give ye this recording and then I’ll delete it.”

“Did you give it to anyone else?” he asked shrewdly.

“Why do ye want to know?”

Flinders sighed heavily. “I know Mrs. Condoloro’s son-in-law is FBI, but he isn’t the agent investigating Adrian’s connections with the mob. If you gave him this recording and he passed it on, then that could mean someone in the FBI is dirty.”

“By the same reasoning, if we’d only given it to the police and she wound up dead, you could consider there is a dirty cop on mob payroll,” Poppy snapped, her eyes flaring.

“There’s safety in numbers, Chief,” Angus replied. “The more people who know about this tape, the less chance of anyone trying to tie up loose ends. If it were me, I’d use my media contacts and get it out to the public. Carma’s mob contacts will scarper for holes like moles exposed to the light. And if they are dug out, they’ll just lawyer up as ye yanks say.”

Flinders stared. “What do you do in Scotland, Mr. Sangster?”

“I manage Heaven’s Gate, a sheep farm more or less.”

Poppy snorted. “He’s too modest. Heaven’s Gate is a highland sheep station near Inverness covering more than 250,000 acres, Chief.”

Flinders grunted. “I’d have pegged you for law enforcement. Your talents are wasted on sheep.”

“I prefer wrangling sheep to wranglin’ the miscreants of society,” Angus drawled. “Sheep are much cleaner.”

The Chief’s laugh was more of a bark than anything else. “You have a point there.” He drained the last drop of his coffee and stood up. “If you will send that tape to my phone, Mr. Sangster, I’ll be heading home for a few hours of sleep.”

Poppy stood up. “What about our statements?”

His gaze held hers as the corners of his mouth quirked up. “I just came to hear the tape. You can give your statement at the station where it can be officially recorded whenever you can have time to get there.”

Angus shook his head. “So, Morgan already told ye.”

Flinders cell phone dinged and he gave it a quick glance. “Not Morgan, the agent he gave it to. I’ll need to be on my way. I just wanted to see if you would tell me without prying it out of you,” he replied with a grin. “He just didn’t tell me exactly what all was on it or I’d have been here before now.”

“We’ll see you out,” Poppy replied as she and Angus followed him into the foyer and to the front door.

Chief Flinders turned to Poppy as he opened the door for one parting shot. “If I were you, Mrs. Condoloro, I’d fire the entire board or let the company fall into bankruptcy and completely clean house. You have no idea who has been compromised, or what all Carma has been up to.”

“I’ll take that under advisement,” Poppy replied. She closed the door and turned to Angus. “Well, that was interesting.”

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