Black Silk

“Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to harm Ms. Hill?” Vince asked.

“There was an ex-boyfriend, some lowlife she was seeing before we met. He wasn’t happy about being dumped and accosted Francesca outside her apartment building a couple of weeks ago. I had Francesca take out a restraining order against him.”

“Does this guy have a name?” Charlie asked.

“Schwitzer. Marcus Schwitzer,” Aaron told her. “I assisted Francesca with the restraining order,” he explained.

Charlie wrote down the information. “Do you know where we can find him?”

“He was working as a bouncer at the Red Slipper Club,” the older man advised her. “But when the club’s owner was made aware that there was a restraining order out on him, his employment was terminated. I suggested he leave town and I believe he took my advice.”

In other words, he’d had the guy canned and railroaded out of town, Charlie surmised. “I don’t imagine he was too happy about that.”

J. P. Stratton gave her a smug look. “Would you be, Detective?”

She didn’t bother to answer. Instead, she asked, “Did this Schwitzer make any threats against Ms. Hill before he left?”

“None that I know of.”

“Can you think of anyone else who might have had a grudge against your fiancée or you?” Vince asked.

“Detective, a man doesn’t get to be in my position without making some enemies along the way,” Stratton told him.

“Any of those enemies hate you enough to kill your fiancée?” Charlie asked.

“You’d have to ask them,” he replied.

“We’ll need a list of their names,” Charlie informed him.

“Aaron can provide you with them. He’s my attorney. He’ll know of any business deals that didn’t sit well with other parties.”

“I’ll get a list to you as soon as possible, Detective,” Aaron replied.

“Thank you,” Charlie told him and directed her attention once more to the father. “What about on a personal level? Was there anyone besides this Schwitzer fellow who was unhappy about the upcoming wedding?”

“Other than my last ex-wife who’s deluded herself for years that I’m going to remarry her, everyone was very happy about the wedding.”

He was lying through his capped teeth, Charlie decided. She hadn’t missed the look exchanged between father and son.

“Is there anything else?” J. P. Stratton asked, clearly annoyed.

“Just one more thing,” Charlie said, following a hunch. “I’d like a list of the guests who attended last night’s dinner party.”

The older man narrowed his eyes, causing his heavy brows to form a dark angry line. “Why would you need to know who my dinner guests were?”

“Because it’s possible one of them saw or heard something that might help us find the killer.”

“I’ve tried to be cooperative, Detectives, but my patience is wearing thin. Instead of wasting time questioning me and my friends, you should be out looking for Schwitzer.”

“I assure you, we’ll find Schwitzer and bring him in for questioning. But I still need that list.” She offered him her card and when he failed to take it, she placed it on the desk.

“I’ll see that you get the list,” Aaron Stratton said. “Let me show you the way out.”

She directed her attention back to the older man. “Once again, we’re sorry for your loss, Mr. Stratton.”

Aaron Stratton hustled them out of the room. “Please excuse my father,” he began, his voice sincere as they stepped into the corridor. “Francesca’s death has hit him harder than he lets on. He truly did love her.”

Right, Charlie thought. And she had a bridge she’d like to sell him, too. “Here’s my card,” Charlie told him. “Just call me when you have that list and I’ll have it picked up.”

“I’ll do that,” he replied, brushing his fingers against hers as he took the card.

“Thank you for your time, Mr. Stratton.”

“Aaron,” he corrected, giving her a smile that she suspected was meant to charm before he turned and extended his hand to Vince. “Detective.”

Vince nodded.

“Henry will show you out,” he told them and, like magic, the butler appeared almost instantly.

“This way, please,” he said.

Once they exited the mansion, they remained silent while they negotiated the elaborate walkway. Starting toward the iron-lace gate that led to the street, Vince asked, “What do you think of our grief-stricken groom?”

“I think he’s a pompous ass,” Charlie informed him.

“You buy his story?”

“No. He’s hiding something,” Charlie told him. “And I intend to find out what it is.”

As they neared the gate, Charlie spotted the Channel 4 News truck and one of the station’s reporters with a microphone in hand. “Aw hell,” she muttered, because it wasn’t just any reporter—it was her sister Anne.

* * *

The moment Anne Le Blanc recognized the pair exiting the home of millionaire J. P. Stratton, adrenaline skyrocketed through her system. Her piece for the TV station’s evening broadcast had just gone from lifestyles of the local rich and famous to something a whole lot more serious. “Kevin, set up the camera,” she instructed the cameraman who had accompanied her.

The hastily planned nuptials of one of the city’s wealthiest and most flamboyant businessmen to a much younger former casino hostess had set tongues wagging three weeks ago. The citizens of New Orleans liked nothing better than a juicy scandal, and despite his protests to the contrary, J. P. Stratton seemed to like providing the members of his adopted city with something to talk about. And the former Texan had given them plenty over the years with his business triumphs, lavish lifestyle and string of trophy wives. The man’s exploits read like a soap opera script—lots of money, lots of sex and lots of scandal. So it came as no surprise that the wedding scheduled that evening at the New Orleans Museum of Art with a guest list that read like a who’s who for the state of Louisiana had guaranteed J. P. Stratton another fifteen minutes of fame.

Personally, she didn’t give a fig who the old goat married. But apparently the TV station’s viewers did. And she had been assigned to satisfy the public’s fascination and curiosity by providing them with a peek inside the fairy-tale affair. But when she’d gotten a tip that the wedding was off, she’d hightailed it over to the Stratton mansion, hoping to get the scoop.

According to the rumor mill, the bride-to-be had balked at signing a prenuptial agreement that had been presented to her at the eleventh hour. She didn’t blame the woman. What woman wanted to start off her marriage by planning what her take would be in a divorce? On the other hand, she supposed she could see Stratton’s point. After four ex-wives and several palimony suits, the man had probably forked over a chunk of his fortune. Evidently, he did not intend to do so again. And with no prenuptial, there would be no wedding. Of course, that wouldn’t be the reason given for the cancellation. No, they’d probably spin some tale about a sudden illness or business emergency being the cause for delaying the happy couple’s wedding. At least that’s what she had thought initially, Anne admitted. But the presence of two homicide detectives at the Stratton home told her there was a great deal more than an unsigned prenup behind the canceled wedding.

“Say, isn’t that your sister?” Kevin asked as he aimed the camera on the two people leaving the Stratton house and approaching the gate.

“It sure is,” Anne told him. And the hunk with the sexy swagger at her sister’s side was Detective Vincent Kossak. Her heart beat a little faster as she watched him. Not for the first time, Anne wondered how an innocent kiss under the mistletoe on New Year’s Eve with her sister’s partner had turned into a steamy, curl-your-toes kiss that had sent her hormones into overdrive. Oh, there had always been a little spark there. She’d been intrigued by him. With a nine-year difference in their ages, he was older than most of the men she’d dated, more mature, more serious. There was a confidence about him that she’d found attractive. But he’d never given the slightest indication that he was even remotely interested in her.

Until New Year’s Eve.

That night when she’d seen him standing under the mistletoe looking as if he’d rather be anyplace else than at that party, she had acted on impulse. She’d grabbed him by the tie, pulled his face down to hers and kissed him. And he had kissed her back. But there had been nothing sisterly or playful about that kiss. It had been a no-holds-barred, open-mouthed, hungry kiss. And ever since that night a month ago, she hadn’t been able to get Vince Kossak out of her head.