I glanced at Chloe again. Was this guy serious?
Looking back at Henry, I shook my head.
“Well, I’ll continue to look into it,” he said, gesturing to the rest of the stack I’d left on the desk when I started pacing. “If you please.”
I started sifting through the papers along with Erin and Helen. There was a file on the gunman, naming him as Charles Edgar Cartwright. According to the information, he was fifty-four and had served time in prison for several offenses – assault, grand theft auto, larceny, and murder. It went on to state that Cartwright had been sentenced to two life terms but had been released for good behavior and ‘extenuating circumstances.’
“They let this guy out of prison early?” I asked.
“Yes,” Henry said. “Your grandfather’s doing. I believe it engendered a certain level of loyalty from Cartwright.”
“Some loyalty,” I muttered. “Murdering the guy who got you out of prison.”
“It’s possible that he didn’t have a hand in the death of Mr. Gerrard,” Psalter said.
I sifted through a few other papers, and an image caught my eye. Another photo of Cartwright lay on the desk. It looked like a still from a CCTV camera, but there was no mistaking the man in the picture. The first thing I noticed was the time stamp on the upper right corner of the image – it had been taken two hours after the break-in.
In the image, he was talking to someone. Someone I knew very well.
I looked up at my lawyer and said, “Helen, what the fuck is Ashlee doing talking to this guy?”
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Thanks again for reading another installment of the story. If you have any feedback, please feel free to email me. Or if you’re interested in reading any further installments, check out my Patreon at patreon.com/mindsketch. Chapters up to 30 are posted there already as well as a LOT of extra dirty bonus chapters. Thanks for your time and cheers!
-MindSketch