Page 10 of Alibi for Murder
“I hope that’s not the case,” he offered, “but we need to consider all possibilities.”
“I was four years old when my parents died,” she said, frustrated. “I barely remember them. Why would I go after someone all these years later who may or may not have been a part of whatever was being investigated after the accident? I hadno idea there was an investigation beyond the usual kind related to automobile accidents. My grandparents never told me.” She turned up her hands. “I am utterly in the dark about all this.”
“It’s possible they didn’t know,” he ventured, though he thought that was unlikely. “Do you know if there was a settlement related to the accident? Was anyone else involved?”
“No. It was a single-car accident chalked up to a mechanical failure. At least, that’s what I was told.”
He studied her a long moment. “Why did you leave the hospital—when you were a nurse there?”
She exhaled a weary breath. “I loved helping people. It felt good and important—like what I was meant to do. Sadly, there are those in the field who don’t always do good or even close to good. I saw that firsthand right from the beginning.” She shook her head. “Long story short, when someone died, I couldn’t pretend I didn’t know why it happened. When I went to the administrator about it, I was made to look like the bad guy. At that point, I had two options. Get fired or quit. I chose the latter and decided to find a different way to help.”
“You’re saying someone in the hospital’s administration gave you an ultimatum.” Not good for the current situation. It could be seen as motive.
“Not in a straightforward way, but basically that was what the situation boiled down to.”
“But you never pursued legal action? Never went back and raised hell? Nothing like that?”
She shook her head. “Nope. Just did what I wanted to do in a different way.”
He supposed that was what he was doing, practicing law in a different way than the typical attorney. Nothing wrong with achieving your goal using a different path.
“It’s late,” he said, considering that at minimum it was an hour’s drive home. “I should get going. But I’ll be back in themorning, and we’ll nail down more of our strategy, and who knows?” He smiled. “Maybe we’ll do a little digging around here if you’re up for it.”
“I am definitely up for whatever you think we should do.” She drew in a big breath. “Thank you so much for coming all this way. We should probably discuss what your fees are.”
The look of hope and gratitude on her face was more than enough payment. Part of what had made him want to go into the legal field was to be able to help those who were being unjustly persecuted.
This was a perfect example—at least based on what he had heard and seen so far.
“You don’t need to worry about any fees.”
Before she could argue, he insisted on helping to clean up, and then she walked him to the door. Even with the strange story of her being suspected of murder, he had to admit he had enjoyed seeing her again.
The doorbell abruptly buzzed.
Startled, Allie looked from the door to him. Shook her head. “No clue.”
He checked the viewfinder and discovered two suits and a row of personnel dressed in CSI garb lined up on her porch. He didn’t have to wonder who the suits were. Federal agents.
“They’re back.” He turned to Allie. “And they obviously have a warrant. Don’t answer any questions. In fact, don’t say a word. Let me handle this.”
She nodded her understanding.
Since it had only been a few hours since the agents questioned Allie, it seemed out of the ordinary that the pair was back so soon with a warrant. Warrants generally took time. Whenever an investigation was being pushed fast and hard, there was either an imminent danger of some sort or someonepowerful who wanted this done ASAP pushing for a rapid turnaround.
He opened the door to the two agents and their party. Steve didn’t have enough information to hazard a guess one way or the other, but what he understood without doubt was the situation was not in Allie’s best interest.
This was a clear and present threat to her.
Chapter Three
Saturday, June 7
Foster Residence
Ridgeland Avenue, 5:00 a.m.
Allie watched as the group of agents filed out of her house for the last time.
