“I’ll bear that in mind. Although with Chomper it just meant enrolling him in puppy pre-K. He’s finally learning some manners.”
“He got off easy.”
“Seems so.” Blake jerked his thumb toward the kitchen. “I’ll get the coffee. How do you take it?”
“Black.”
A minute later, Blake carried out two steaming mugs, handing one to Monty and taking his own over to the leather wing-back chair positioned across from the sofa.
“What can I do for you?” he asked, sitting down.
Monty took a deep swallow of coffee, gazing steadily at Blake. “You asked for a face-to-face meeting. Here it is.”
“That was fast.” Blake glanced at his watch. “Eleven fifteen. You must have ambushed Devon as soon as she woke up. Is that standard procedure, or just when she’s been out with me?”
Monty’s brows arched. “Don’t flatter yourself. It’s standard procedure. Especially when I’m not sure if I trust the guy she’s out with.”
“I’m hoping to change that.”
“So I gather. Is that to catch the murderer, or to score points with me?”
“The truth? I wouldn’t mind accomplishing both.”
“Honest and direct. Good start.” Monty gave an approving nod. “Okay, let’s hear what you’ve got.”
“What I’ve got?”
“Uh-huh. You’ve obviously given it thought. Enough to come up with what you think is my take on things. If you had time for that, you had time to work it through. Where’d you come out?”
Blake met Monty’s challenging stare. “I didn’t. I’m not objective enough. Not when my family members top the list of suspects.”
“Fair enough. So where do we go from here?”
“You talk. I fill in blanks, give you perspective, and offer insights. Together maybe we can paint a picture that neither of us could paint alone.”
Monty reflected on that for a moment. “We could give it a shot. Let’s start with your cousin James.”
A faint sm
ile. “Now, why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“Because you’re smart. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.”
“What do you want to know?”
“How much is Golden Boy capable of? Cheating? Doing drugs? Bribery and fraud? How about murder?”
Blake frowned, giving an ambiguous shrug that told Monty he’d already contemplated all this. “I don’t know. James is shrewd, ambitious, and insecure. I’ve seen him straddle the line between legal and illegal. I’ve never seen him cross it. Would he? Maybe. Depending on how high the stakes were.”
“Stop being vague. Talk specifics.”
“James wouldn’t do drugs for kicks. But performance enhancers? I can’t dismiss the idea. He’s determined to win. Is he capable of committing the crimes you just mentioned? I suppose. All except murder. I just can’t visualize him as a cold-blooded killer.”
Monty took that in without comment. “What was James’s relationship with Frederick like?”
“Strained. Frederick was more by the book than either James or my grandfather. He wasn’t thrilled with James’s cavalier approach to business. Even Philip Rhodes reined my cousin in, and Philip was a rule bender.” Blake set down his coffee mug, steepling his fingers in front of him and regarding Monty thoughtfully. “Devon knows about the extortion scheme, doesn’t she?”
“Yes.” Monty didn’t hedge. “That’s one of the things she and I talked over this morning. She wanted my okay to break confidence so she could discuss it with you.”