with someone else? He had all the secretive markings of someone getting ready to bolt.
To start filling in those blanks, they went to the Towers to talk to Ophelia Brady. She and Kip were alone in Rico’s apartment, the owners next door at Colin’s to give them privacy while Charlotte’s official interview was recorded. Ophelia had seen Crawford’s program. Her call to her father had gone unanswered, but he’d contacted her less than an hour later, asking her to come to the house, alone.
“He sounded agitated and . . . sad. He didn’t say why he wanted to see me but . . . I think it was to say goodbye.”
“Was it something he said that had you thinking that? Please be specific, Ms. Brady,” Cee Cee coaxed.
“Just a feeling, Detective. A father-daughter thing. Not much rattled my father, but something had.”
“The interview?”
Slowly, she withdrew her hand from Kip’s to wipe at her eyes, but her response was steady and strong. “It was damning but he’s . . . he was a fighter. He’d be putting another plan in place.”
“Perhaps,” Cee Cee inserted gently, “he did.”
“To kill himself? My father had too much ego to let someone like Karen Crawford take him down. He’d never allow anyone to think of him as a coward.”
“He left the house after the interview. Any idea where he would have gone?”
“No. He never confided his personal or professional business to me.”
Cee Cee nodded and continued the questions. “When you arrived, did you notice anything unusual?”
“The gates were open. There was no one at the door. My father is . . . was a stickler for his privacy. And considering the interview he’d given, he’d be expecting a lot more press. He wouldn’t have just let anyone walk in. He always had someone stationed at the front door and usually outside his office, especially if he was in a meeting and didn’t want to be disturbed.”
“Did you notice anything out of place or unusual as you approached?”
“The doors to my father’s study were open. He never leaves them open.”
“Even though he’d asked you to come?”
“No. He liked the impression that you were asking for an audience and needed his permission to enter.” Another wry smile.
“Any voices or sounds of any kind as you approached?”
“No.”
Tone gentling, the Officer in Charge asked, “Describe what you saw as you reached those open doors. Take your time.”
Voice strong, yet trembling slightly at times, Ophelia relayed the impressions she had taken in with stunned then horrified eyes, those that matched the current scene. She’d seen no indication that anyone had been with him.
“Did you enter the room or touch the body?”
“No. He was beyond help. I didn’t want to contaminate the scene.” A faint tug at thinned lips. “Cop’s daughter.”
“And what did you do next?”
“I placed a 9-1-1 call and waited at the front door for them to arrive.”
She relayed calling Kip and described his one-time place within the household, and also placing an unanswered call to her sister, Olivia, all very crisp and clear.
“Ms. Brady, do you know of anyone who would want your father dead?”
A choked-off laugh. “You can start with anyone who’s been a guest of the NOLA PD.” She wiped at her eyes. “Other than that, my father had strong opinions and took some unpopular stands, both professionally and personally. I’d say the list is fairly long and not exclusive to criminals.”
“Do you know of anyone who’s threatened him, either personally or professionally, anyone who might want him dead?”
“I’d start with Carmen Blutafino, who was mentioned in the interview, and work my way down, Detective. I wasn’t privy to his hate mail. He isolated us from that side of his life.”
“To your knowledge, did your father suffer from depression or ever contemplate self-harm?”
“No. He had a strong attachment to his life.”
“And his family?”
Hesitation then a flat, “Yes, of course.”
“Do you believe his actions are directly related to the charges he has pending?”
“I believe that’s up to you to determine.”
Babineau nodded to his partner who concluded the interview and stopped the tape. She pressed the hand of their now visibly shaken witness. “Is there more, off the record?”
Ophelia looked her straight on as she vowed, “He didn’t kill himself. I think we all know that. He became a liability to those he ran with, one that had to be silenced after this morning’s interview and the connections it made.”
“Blutafino?” Babineau suggested.
“Perhaps, but I think more likely, it’s closer to home.”
Cee Cee sat back, silencing Babineau with a