Inherit the Dead

horror of the fall, the pain from a drop at that height would be over in an instant. Not that he was convinced. But why now the remark about her father and mother’s marriage? And why the look of shock if she had watched the news report and already knew it was her mother who had jumped? He was about to ask when Watson cut in.
    “I know this is difficult, Ms. Loki, but there are some questions I need to ask you.”
    “Now?”
    “I’m sorry, yes. Suicides fall under the broader umbrella of homicide, and the more quickly the facts can be gathered in any homicide, the more likely we can ascertain what actually happened.”
    She processed that momentarily, then nodded.
    “I need to know where were you today?”
    Angel’s eyes widened again. “What . . . am I a suspect ? I thought you said this was a suicide.”
    Watson shook his head, though there was no enthusiasm in it. “At this stage, it’s a suspicious death. Procedure requires asking all family members and close friends this kind of question.” He gestured to the little recorder. “And I should note that our conversation is on the record.”
    Angel drew in breath loudly, but her “All right” was barely audible.
    Watson repeated his question.
    Wiping away a stray tear, eyes moving with thought, she said, “I was . . . I was napping in Athena’s back room.”
    The nanny nodded her corroboration.
    “All day?”
    Angel said, “After speaking to Mr. Christo, well . . . that was so emotional. I’m sure you understand, Detective. Hearing that my mother wanted to make amends, and realizing all that money was coming, it was very . . . I just needed . . . to rest for a while.”
    “All right,” Watson said, with a couple of barely perceptible nods. “Since you brought it up, was your meeting with Mr. Christo the first time you’d heard about the inheritance from your grandfather?”
    “No. My father told me.”
    Not exactly the way she’d explained it to me, thought Perry. He replayed the conversation they’d had in Brooklyn, how Angel had appeared to know all about it when she’d asked . . .
    Did she tell you how much money?
    Let’s just say she made it clear that the stakes were high. For both of you .
    I’ll say they’re high. High enough for her to want me dead so she can get her claws on all of it.
    “You and your mother didn’t get along,” Fleming said, not a question.
    “That’s true,” Angel said without hesitation. “I blamed her for breaking up her marriage to my father. That’s why I chose to live with him on Long Island, rather than with her.”
    After Norman Loki’s recent drunken performance, Perry found it tough to buy that Angel would have chosen the guy; but maybe he was the lesser of two evils.
    Watson now: “When was the last time you saw your mother?”
    “Almost a year ago. Mother made this big production out of us burying the hatchet, but we argued so much that . . . we almost ended up burying it in each other.” Her laugh was small yet large with bitterness. “It was a disaster.”
    “So, then . . . the two of you were still feuding?” Watson asked.
    “At that time,” Angel said, tissue dabbing at her eyes again. “But . . . ”
    “You didn’t contact her?”
    “I thought she was still angry. It wasn’t until Mr. Christo here came around, and said my mother wanted to make peace, and told me about the money. Truly, I believed with all my heart that she still . . . still hated me.” She looked at Perry. “I know it sounds terrible to say, but all she ever seemed to care about was her stuff—her jewelry, her homes, and her great big Jackson Pollock painting.”
    Then, the tears came, and the nanny was patting Angel’s shoulder as if tending to a grieving child. And wasn’t she? Or was it a performance? Perry wasn’t sure, but it didn’t add up. Angel had just said her father told her about the money. What else had he told her? And when?
    Before they could continue, the burly detective stuck his head in again.
    “What now?” Watson boomed.
    “Now Norman Loki is here.”
    Hands spread, palms to the sky, Watson threw a look to Perry. “Apparently, Mayor Bloomberg couldn’t tear himself away today.”
    The burly cop didn’t react to the sarcasm.
    Watson sighed and said, “Show him in, show him in—might as well have the whole family in here.”
    What’s left of it, Perry thought.
    Within seconds, the big detective was leading Norman Loki in. Father immediately went to daughter, and the two