Just as we were driving up to the road that bordered the beach and led to our house, Brian George called me back.
“Hello, Mr. Marshall? This is Brian George. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I’ve been on a case that has turned up some interesting info on the deaths of your parents. I was wondering if we could meet and discuss.”
“What was the case?”
“It’s a completely different case, the details of which I’m not permitted by law to reveal, but suffice to say that in my investigation, I interviewed an inmate at the prison in New Jersey, and he had some interesting things to say about a job he had around the time your father and mother were killed in the accident. He said, and I quote, ‘Usually, we fix brakes and brake lines. For this job, we did the opposite. It paid well, so who was I to question?’ You should know that this man has a very long criminal record and has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. I guess this is his chance to come clean.”
I frowned and felt my heart speed up. “Can you hold for a moment? I’m just driving up to my house. I’ll call you back and we can talk undisturbed.”
“Sure thing. I’ll be waiting.”
The limo drove up to the beach house to drop me off. I grabbed my briefcase and went inside. Alexa was waiting for me, baby Leif in her arms. She smiled when she saw me, and we made eye contact.
“There Mr. Big Daddy is,” she said to Leif and held him up so I could give his forehead a kiss. Seeing them made some of the darkness that descended over me lift just a bit.
“It’s so good to see you both, but I have a call I have to take. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Okay. Then we can sit on the patio while the chicken roasts.”
“Sounds good.”
I shucked off my shoes and jacket and then went directly to my office, where I took out my laptop and opened it up. I did a quick google search on Brian George and George Investigations LLC. He was legit and was a former NYPD detective who had retired after an injury, so he was trustworthy.
I called his number.
We spoke and for the next ten minutes, he told me about the perp he had been interviewing and what the guy had to say. From what Brian could see, the perp was hoping to clear his conscience and was confessing to old crimes he’d been involved in but never charged.
At the time my parents had been killed in the accident, the man was working at a garage and had been legitimately trying to make a living as an apprentice mechanic. He’d been asked to do a very special job, and that involved ‘fixing’ a brake line. Brian played a recording for me.
A man’s voice, a bit gruff and definitely with a Jersey twang, spoke.
“I asked him about what would happen, and he said that he’d got a job for us and if I complied, I’d get a nice fat wad of money and that was all I needed to know. It would never be traceable to me. I protested that someone could get hurt, and he assured me that it was just payback for someone who failed to do their due diligence, and no one would get hurt. Then, I read about the crash and the death of the two rich people, and I realized it was the limo I’d worked on. I realized I was involved even if only tangentially and had no knowledge of what would happen or who was targeted.”
Brian ended the recording and I sighed. “Were you able to find out who was paying him to do the job?”
“That’s what we’re working on right now, but given what I learned, I’m going to police but I thought you’d like to know first.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate the head’s-up. We never thought it was anything but an accident. The police ruled it an accident, brake failure leading to loss of control on wet roads. I was assured everyone involved did their jobs and had come to the right conclusion.”
“Well, hopefully, we’ll find out who’s behind it when the new cold case team gets hold of the details and interviews the suspect.”
We spoke for a few more moments about what would happen next, and then said goodbye, with Brian’s assurance that he would keep me updated, and that police would probably be contacting me for more information depending on how the investigation went.
“Be patient,” Brian said. “These things take time, but we’ve got some good intel and so I hope police will be able to reopen the case and do some more investigation. Find out who is behind this.”
“Thanks,” I said and then ended the call.
I sat for a moment, not knowing what to think or do. Alexa popped her head in and gave me a smile.
“What’s up? You ready for a drink?”
I rubbed my face and nodded. “Sorry. I had a very interesting phone call from a Private Investigator.”
“Oh?” she said and walked beside me down the stairs. “What about?”
“You aren’t going to believe it.”
I could barely believe it myself.
My parents hadn’t died in a tragic accident on the highway.
They’d been murdered.