Jillian Chantal

This week’s word on Tuesday Tales is gold. We’re still in my murder mystery and the detectives are interviewing the victim’s former husband.

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“Tell you what, if he doesn’t get the immunity permission, I won’t use anything you say against you. Time is really of the essence here and I’d like to get your statement and get out of here.”

“You promise not to double cross me?”

Maggie held her hand up as if she were a Girl Scout. “On my honor.”

He stared at her for a moment and must have liked what he saw in her eyes because he started to talk, “Dru met the guy when he came in to hire her to do a tax return. He said some friend of his recommended her. She thought he was a bit of a weirdo but when she quoted him her fee, he didn’t hesitate and pulled out a wad of bills. Since he clearly could pay, she latched on to him.”

“Something she did a lot?”

“Oh, yeah.” David nodded. “Once she knew people had money, she would milk them for it. Weirdly, when we were married, I wanted us to get a better house with all the money she was making but she was so obsessed with buying gold and coins that she wouldn’t even consider leaving that neighborhood.”

“It doesn’t seem that bad to me. Sure the houses are older but there’s low crime there.”

“She wanted kids in a really bad way. We’d started trying but then I realized I didn’t even like to be in the same room as her and I had to get out.”

“I’m confused. Was it her or the neighborhood?”

He slammed his hand on the table. “It was actually the house itself as well as her meanness. She would go along all nice and friendly and snuggling up to me like I could do no wrong and then, before I knew it, she was cold and making my life miserable. Way too much fighting and then silent treatment happened in that house. I asked her to sell and move so we could truly start over. She refused, I moved out.”

“What did she do with all the gold and coins she was buying?”

“Hid them somewhere. Dru gave me some when we got divorced. I agreed to sign the house over to her within the last few months but I wanted her to buy me out by giving me some of the Kruggerands. That’s why I was at her house that day you found me. She’d promised them to me in exchange for the deed. I was stupid enough to sign the deed and trust her secretary to hold it until I got the coins.”

“And she double crossed you by giving it to Drusilla. You never got paid.”

“Right. That’s why I was there that day. To find those coins.”

“You had a motive to kill her, then.” Maggie tapped her pen on his desk.