Page 48 of Witness To Murder
“I see where you’re going. And if the other beneficiary is dead—” Lambert looked to the hospital bed and Leah lying there “—all the better. She gets ten mil. Either way, the ex can walk away clean with five mil. The kids would get anything else he had left.”
A sinking feeling tugged at Owen’s chest. “Even if the full amount of money doesn’t come for years because of the legal issues, it’s like money in a trust for the kids. While the ex enjoys the five mil she will get any day now.”
“I’ll interview her again tomorrow.” Lambert pursed his lips for a moment. “If I can get a judge to sign off on it, I’ll try for a search warrant of her home. I’ll let you know how it goes. Keep me posted on how she’s doing.” He nodded toward Leah.
Owen assured him he would.
Lambert hesitated before walking out the door. “I’ve got a uniform outside the door. I’ll have another one at her apartment.”
Owen nodded. “Thanks.”
The detective hesitated once more. “You know, I did finally get Douglas’s cell phone records. There were some interesting text exchanges between him and someone using a burner phone. You haven’t noticed one of those lying around, have you?”
“Maybe you should check the ex-wife’s phone records,” Owen suggested, rather than give him a direct answer.
The older man nodded. “On it already.”
For a moment after the detective left, Owen stood by the door, staring at Leah in that hospital bed. She looked so pale, so fragile. The IV tube running down to her left arm made his gut clench. He crossed the room, took his place next to her bedside.
He wondered how he could have met her only a few days ago and already feel so close to her…so desperate to know her better, to spend more time with her. To protect her.
Her eyes fluttered open. She frowned, then dredged up a smile. “You look tired.”
“Not so much,” he lied. “Detective Lambert stopped by again.”
“Did they find him?” The fear that lurked in her eyes twisted his insides into knots.
“They’re still working on it.” But he had a feeling they weren’t going to find the guy who had attacked her in the library. Not unless he made one hell of a misstep they didn’t know about yet.
“This is just completely out of control.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “I do not see how all of this could have evolved from Raymond wanting to make his ex-wife think he was dead.”
Owen had been mulling over that scenario as well. He was beating around another theory, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to bring it up right now. Leah needed to rest.
“What?” she demanded, then grimaced as if she’d hurt her head by speaking so forcefully.
“You need to rest.” The doctor had been clear on how important it was that she rest for a few days.
“Tell me what you know or what you’re thinking. I will not rest until you do.”
“Alyssa is apparently an expert at assuming identities. She’s made up more than one in her life. Have you considered that her knowledge and experience may have been why Raymond asked her for help? If that’s the case, then I’m thinking their relationship was something more than she has shared.”
Leah appeared to consider the scenario. “It is a big risk, sharing that sort of self-incriminating plan with someone unless you really, really trust them.”
“She said she didn’t know about the blood or the life insurance policy. But what if she did? What if she killed him for real so she could claim the money?”
Leah’s brow furrowed. “How would she claim any of the money?”
“By presenting herself asyou.”
“Except I was a murder suspect—my photo was on the news.”
He shrugged. “Granted, that plan backfired, but I’m guessing if it was her, there was a plan B. She’s way too smart not to have a plan B.”
Leah’s expression suggested she was possibly buying into the scenario. “So she would need a way to get the money once it was paid out to me.”
The fire in his gut had his instincts on point. This was a very plausible scenario. “I need you to think, Leah. Did you and Alyssa ever discuss your financial situation? Your bank account or savings? Anything along those lines?”
She nodded, her expression clouding with worry. “We talked about everything. She knows where I keep all my passwords, where I bank, how much money I have. Which is why we changed all those passwords,” she reminded him.
