One Deadly Sister - Page 163/211

"Wait, let's think about that," Moran said. "The Cubans send the bad guy out to kill Towson. Towson's lover doesn't like that, so she kills the bad guy. That may be the Cuban Mafia connection."

"Who said anything about a Cuban Mafia?" the chief asked.

"No one," Goddard said. "As of right now, the Cuban-American involvement seems limited to a campaign dirty trick."

"That's because you've a small unimaginative mind. Get on that Cuban-American angle, Goddard."

Goddard nodded although he had no idea how to do it. "This is new: I spoke to the insurance investigator for Concord Life, they insured Towson. The investigator needed copies of our reports and details for the claim, so we traded info. He had information from Towson's attorney handling the estate-."

The chief broke in, "Most of the money and securities goes into a trust for some charity. Towson owned a condo in Palm Beach, and it goes to a woman friend down there. His condo here and most of his personal property goes to his Nebraska brother, although he did make some special bequests for a few individuals. He left some antique dishes to Tammy Jerold. She says give them to charity as well."

"You're boring me. What about the life insurance?"

"…Loraine is the beneficiary. When they divorced, she took out a huge life insurance policy on Towson for her support, if the alimony stopped because of his death. The investigator wouldn't say how much the policy would pay. I asked if it's over a million and he said, oooh yeah!"

"So, you're saying take another look at Loraine?"

"She has several million motives," Goddard replied.

The ex-wife of the victim wasn't the big fish that Moran was hoping for, nevertheless, would be someone to replace Reid. "Suppose she did it for the insurance. What about opportunity?"

Goddard nodded. "Her alibi is she was seen at the museum by one guard around three and by a second guard around five. We don't know if she left in between."

"If she went to his apartment Towson would let her in without question," the chief added. "They weren't on bad terms."

"She had the means," Goddard said. "Reid spoke of seeing a gun at the motel."

"We're going in circles here. Reid must have been involved. He was running all over town. Either he is a hit man, or Loraine romanced him into shooting Towson."

"A hit man wouldn't show up at a sophisticated party and get involved with some woman," Goddard explained. "And if Reid is in love, why has he been making accusations against Loraine from the start?"

The chief said, "I still say offer to let Reid out on bail, if the sister agrees to stay out of the investigation and not talk to the media. Then we keep investigating both of them."