Page 68 of Little Hidden Fears

“Unless he’s mastered the art of putting on a good façade, I don’t think he’s involved. Most people don’t change. They are who they are. But Gabe, he’s ... well, not like I expected him to be.”

“I agree. Anyone else you’re looking at?”

“Owen Beaumont,” I said. “He’s the nephew of the multimillionaire Alexander Beaumont. He works at Royal Palms, the tennis club. Last year, he was promoted to head of the accounting department. It seems he’s been giving himself a five-finger discount with some of the club’s money.”

“Stealing from the club, eh? How do you know?”

I finished my mocha, setting the cup in the holder. “Noelle used to teach tennis lessons at the club once a week. She became friends with one of their employees, Annie Jackson, who’d been hired to assist Owen. Before I go any further, I should mention Annie is afraid Noelle may have been murdered because Annie told her about the missing money. If it is related, and I’m not sure if it is yet, she’s worried someone will come after her next. I’ve had to tell a few lies to protect her. So far, it seems to be working.”

“Gotcha.”

“Right after Annie was hired, she started to suspect Owen was skimming off the top. After catching him tearing a blank check out of the company checkbook, she told Noelle what she thought was going on.”

“Did Noelle do something about it ... or?”

“She told Zoey over lunch one day. My guess is she was trying to figure out how best to handle the situation. What I don’t know is whether she confronted Owen about it or not.”

“Have you asked him?”

“I haven’t. I decided to go a different route. This morning, I paid a visit to Alexander after learning he has a vested interest in the club. He also was responsible for Owen getting the accounting position.”

“What did he have to say?”

“When I told him what his nephew has been up to, and I showed him proof of it, he acted surprised. Well, not surprised ... maybe more disappointed than anything.”

“What made you decide to go to him first?”

“Given his family is well known, I wanted to give him the opportunity to handle it in a discreet manor. I also wanted to gauge his reaction to the news, face to face. He alleges he had no idea Owen had been taking money from the club.”

“Do you believe him?”

“I want to believe him, but I can’t rule him out as a suspect. Not yet.”

Whitlock raised a brow. “A suspect? What are you thinking?”

“It’s nothing more than a theory right now. Alexander told me Noelle tried to speak with him, but she couldn’t before she died. What if he’s lying? What if she did speak to him and told him what she knew? Dominic and Noelle were on the wealthy side too. It’s easy to believe the two families mingled in the samecircles. Alexander even admitted Noelle and his late wife were friends.”

“Ahh, so your theory is Noelle went to see Alexander, and to protect the family, he ... what, killed her?”

“I don’t see him getting his hands dirty.”

“He hired someone to do it for him, then.”

“Like I said, it’s just a theory. My other theory is Noelle may have confronted Owen herself, but the more thought I’ve given it, the more I believe she wouldn’t have gone to him.”

“Why not?”

“If she told Owen what she knew, it’s possible he would have figured out Noelle learned the information through Annie, since they were friends.”

“Can’t the same be said for Alexander?”

“Get this, to my knowledge, Alexander doesn’t know Annie was hired to assist Owen with his job.”

“How do you know?”

“He made no mention of her during our visit. And when I questioned Clark, the club manager about it today, he admitted he hasn’t told him about her.”

“Why not?”

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