Free Sally Berneathy - Death by Chocolate 04 - Chocolate Mousse Attack by Sally Berneathy Page A

doesn’t talk much about his work. I can’t discuss an ongoing case , blah, blah, blah . While that is definitely not a bonding experience, it does mean I get to do most of the talking and I really enjoy talking.
    We sat down at the table and I helped myself to a slice of double pepperoni pizza. “How was your day?” I was just being polite. I really wanted to tell him about my day, about Paula and Matthew and Dr. Jamison. 
    He swallowed and wiped his hands on a paper towel, my version of napkins. His gaze was intense, not a lot of green sparks in his dark eyes. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear what he had to say. “You got my curiosity up about your new neighbor, so in my spare time, I did a little checking and came up with some interesting details.”
    I set my pizza down and beamed at him. “You did that for me? That is so romantic!” I leaned over and gave him a greasy peck on the cheek. “Tell me.”
    He wiped the grease off his cheek and lifted his hands in a gesture of protest. “Don’t get excited. It’s all circumstantial, nothing that would seem significant if you hadn’t told me about Sophie seeing her friend killed.”
    He didn’t refer to Carolyn as Sophie’s imaginary friend. That was a good start. “Go on.”
    “Did Sophie give you any idea why her family moved to Nebraska when she was five?”
    “No. I thought you were going to give me information, not ask me questions.” I took another bite of pizza, unimpressed so far with Trent’s revelations.
    “Be patient. I’m getting there.”
    If I had a quarter for every time I’ve been told to be patient , I’d have enough quarters to get my Cokes from vending machines for the rest of my life. “I’m the lady who gets speeding tickets while pulling out of my own driveway. What makes you think I have the ability to be patient ?”
    “Point taken. Okay, Robert Fleming was a business analyst with a local company here in Kansas City. One promotion, good prospects for another. Jan was a stay-at-home mom, active in her local church. Story book family. Then one day Robert gave notice at work and they moved to Omaha. Less than a week later the parents died from a gas leak. Sophie was spending the night with her aunt or she’d have died too.”
    “I already kne w all that. Sophie told me. It’s sad, but it’s not news. Old house. Defective gas heater. It happens.” I selected another piece of pizza and tried to be patient.
    “The house was old, but it was in good condition. The owners had everything checked before the Flemings moved in. But that’s not the really strange part.”
    I waited patiently. Well, I pretended to be patient.
    “Somebody deposited a hundred thousand dollars into the Flemings’ bank account the day before Robert gave his notice at work.”
    I sucked in a deep breath and leaned back in my chair. That detail was worth waiting for. “I did not know that.” Fred probably didn’t know that. He’d been focusing on the residents of his house, not on Sophie’s family. Maybe I’d be able to tell him something. I love it when that happens. “Any idea where that money came from?”
    Trent shook his head. “Bank account in the Caymans. I don’t have the time or the authority to track it further since I’m only doing this to satisfy my girlfriend’s curiosity, not to solve a crime.”
    “Blood money,” I said. “Somebody paid Sophie’s father to kill her best friend. No wonder Sophie’s freaked out. Her father’s a murderer.”
    Trent smiled and shook his head. “You’ve been watching too many episodes of Castle . Not only is that a major leap in logic, but there’s also one big problem with your theory. I checked the records for six months before and six months after the time when the Flemings moved to Nebraska. No reports of a little girl named Carolyn going missing. No unsolved homicide of a small girl with blond hair.”
    I sighed and took a long drink of Coke. “Yeah, that seems to be the major stumbling