The Lace House Murder

For the second time, the two SLED investigators entered the offices for the Governor of South Carolina. A different receptionist and two new security guards were the first changes they encountered once through the outer doorway.
It was fifteen minutes past the time of their appointment before the receptionist received an internal telephone call to allow the investigators to pass through the bulletproof door. Once through, the younger of the two security guards made to search Cathy for a weapon. She grabbed the suit coat sleeve as the hand approached. “Let’s rethink our procedures here. You don’t want to get our first meeting off to a bad start, right.”
“Let them through.”
Dominick Wilson hurried up to the internal lobby area. “Let’s get this over with. We’ll all too busy for any power games here today.”
Wilson was lean and tough looking, and fit the mold for a back room political operator controlled by a slick politician. Nearly six feet tall with thin black hair combed back from his forehead, his piercing dark eyes and narrow, pockmarked face remained in everyone’s memory long after their meeting was over with the chief of staff.
Wilson indicated with his head for Tommy and Cathy to follow him back into the inner sanctum of the governor’s office. They entered the same conference room as before, but he took the chair facing the doorway where Tommy had previously sat.
He did not bother to offer coffee and cared less if his manners were offensive. “The governor is running a little late with his last meeting. A ton of details to work out before tomorrow morning and the swearing-in ceremony.”
Cathy spoke her mind. “He is not the governor yet. Your people seem to be pushing things fast around here. O’Shay’s body is not even in the ground and you’re taking over.”
Wilson’s temper bristled at the indication. “Listen, girly. You are here because I persuaded the governor to make time for this meeting. Legally, we could have moved in here last Saturday morning, but out of respect for O’Shay and his people, we waited until noon today. Remember, the work of the state government continues, with or without a governor.”
He used his left index finger to point out the door toward the other parts of the inner offices. “It looks like I gave them too much time as it is.”
“Why do you say that?” Tommy asked.
Wilson ran his right hand through his thin hair. “Because of all the damn shenanigans Coleman Young allowed his people to get away with out there. Computer keyboards missing the plastic tops on the letters. Someone locked every closet or office door, every desk or cabinet drawer, and nobody seems to be able to find a single damn key. Just an endless list of bullshit things to cause us problems. Even most of the computers have new passcodes and nobody knows how to access them. That one really pisses me off. O’Shay used to brag on his people’s computers skills because he had a real IT genius on his staff. I asked the bitch to come back in to help with the mess, but she told me right to my face that she no longer worked for the state. I should have had her arrested for destruction of state property.”
A new question entered Tommy’s mind, but Aubrey Lewis chose to enter the room at this moment. There was a new bounce in his stride as he pulled out the chair at the end of the table and assumed control of the meeting.
“Alright, Marks. Dominick tells me I need to cooperate with you, but let’s get this straight. I am taking the oath of office tomorrow at noon. The first thing I am going to do is hold a press conference and announce that SLED has forty-eight hours to discover who killed Rick O’Shay or the FBI will be taking over the investigation at noon on Monday. They’re in and you and your partner are out.”
He paused for the effect he hoped to achieve, but Tommy kept his face emotionless. Feeling the need to drive home his point, Lewis pointed his finger at Tommy. “You both have made it look like I’m responsible for killing O’Shay. Do you know how damn embarrassing it was that the Secret Service would not allow me to walk beside the Vice President of the United States. Can you imagine what the news reporters must have been thinking? The acting governor of South Carolina might be too dangerous to walk beside that idiot from Washington. I cannot wait until after I’m sworn in to decide what I’m going…”
“Enough”, Tommy said. His voice carried far more of an authoritarian sound then Lewis’. “Tomorrow after you’re sworn in, you can make any announcements you want, but until then, this investigation is mine to run and right now your ranting is delaying me from finding who killed the governor. Just make this easy for all of us here today. Give me a rock solid alibi for your time on Sunday night between 10:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. Monday morning.”
Lewis’s face screwed up in anger. “How am I supposed to do that? I was home in bed, asleep beside my wife. We went to bed just after the eleven o’clock news and I never got out of bed except to take a piss around 4 a.m.”
Cathy spoke up next. If she was going to lose her job in about forty-eight hours, she was going down fighting. “Your condo is only a few blocks from Ashley Florette’s apartment. You could have left your place, walked over to her apartment under the cover of darkness. Once there, you assaulted her and then stole her computer and camera.”
Lewis’s face was turning a deep red. “You’re nuts. That only makes sense if I killed O’Shay.”
Cathy hammered her next point home using her pointed finger to tap the tabletop. “You have a motive.”
Lewis came out of his chair. He spun around to face the outside windows. Trying to calm himself down, he slowly turned back to the investigators. He voice was lower now. “Yes, damn it. I have a motive. You know it and now almost everyone else in this state knows it, thanks to you.” He sat back down at the table. “Listen, I will say this one last time. I did not kill Rick O’Shay. It is true. I wanted him to stop the investigation into the retirement funds. I am innocent of any wrongdoing there, as well as with Rick’s death. As for the Florette girl, I did not even know her, so I am not responsible for her attack.”
He again stood from the table. “Now that’s it. I have important things to do with my time. This meeting is closed.”
He moved toward the door, but stopped in the doorway and turned back to Tommy and Cathy. “Remember, you have until noon on Friday. After that, you are off the case. You’ll probably be guarding some trashcans over at the SLED office.”