“So why didn’t you just tell me all this?”
“Because he died the next day, and a few days later I inherited everythingbecausehe died,” I said. “And I didn’t want you to think he’d told me about the will. Because I know how you think by now. And I knew thatwouldturn me into some kind of suspect. Or another person of interest in the family.”
I reached across the table now, wrists pressed together, and said, “You should probably just go ahead and cuff me right now, Detective.”
He managed a smile.
“I didn’t know you were into that.”
“Not funny.”
“I had to ask about this,” he said.
“You make it sound as if I’ve been hiding it.”
“Only because you have been hiding it.”
“You need to trust me that it had nothing to do with anything,” I said.
“The way you trusted me?” Cantor said.
“I told him not to come. But he insisted. I told him one of the things I didn’t miss was talking to him when he was drunk, and if I was going to let him back into my life, I didn’t want him showing up in that condition. He said he wouldn’t ever again. He left. End of story.”
“I believe you,” Cantor said.
“Wow. There’s a relief.”
I turned and waved at our waiter and made a signing gesture to let him know I wanted a check.
“You’re leaving?” Cantor said.
“What was your first clue?”
“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Cantor said.
“Neither have I.”
The waiter brought the check. Cantor took out his wallet, but I had already handed the waiter my credit card. When he got back to the table, I signed and stood up.
“Do you honestly still think that I might have had something to do with my father’s death?”
Cantor said, “We could have cleared this up a long time ago if you’d been honest then and told me everything you just told me now.”
“Now you’re the one not answering the question.”
“No,” he said, “I don’t think you had anything to do with your father’s death.”
Cantor stood. I noticed people in the room staring at us, and I didn’t care.
“Is there anything else I need to know about the weekend your father died?” Cantor asked.
“No.”
Lying to him again.
I was on a roll.
Ninety