Deception (A Miranda Murphy Thriller) Read Free Page B

me.”
    Miranda picked up her cup and took a sip.
    “I have to say, Miranda, that you strike me as a person who achieves her goals and never gives up. I’m sure you’ll find the killer. The real killer. If I can help you in any way with your investigation, feel free to contact me directly any time.”
    “I came here to ask you a few questions. Question number one: is it true that you and Jeff are not very close?”
    “Who told you that?”
    “One of your son’s friends.”
    Dillon raised his eyebrow.  “Yes, it’s true. And there is nothing unusual about it, in my opinion. Life is a complicated thing. People make mistakes and then try to forget them. I consider my marriage to Amy, Jeff’s mother, a mistake, which is why I’m not eager to see or talk to my son as often as I should. But at the same time I’m not disregarding Jeff. After all, he is my son and remains part of my life.”
    “Did he mention having any problems in the past few weeks? Did he appear worried?”
    Dillon shook his head. “Jeff has always strived to solve his problems on his own. He’s not a whiner. Besides, I’d be the last person on the earth he’d complain to.”
    “Has he gotten in touch with you since last Friday?”
    “Last time I talked to Jeff was about three months ago. We spoke on the phone. I’ve had no contact with him ever since.”
    “Do you have any idea about your son’s whereabouts?”
    “No. As I said, Jeff and I don’t talk a lot. I know as much about his whereabouts as I do about yours.”
    As he wrapped up the conversation, Dillon asked Miranda to keep him informed of the developments in the investigation. Miranda promised to be in touch.
     
    3.
    “So how is the investigation going?” Captain Tom Webb asked as he began scanning Miranda’s report on the Hackett case. “Any breakthroughs?”   
    “Nothing to brag about, Cap,” Miranda replied.
    “You do know who Hackett’s father is, right? That guy is filthy rich and has the Mayor on speed dial.”
    “I’m aware of that.”
    “I see you’ve identified the victim.”
    Miranda nodded. “Some scam artist. He spent three years in prison.”
    “You think they were buddies?”
    “Right now I’m not ruling anything in or out.”
    “I wonder what they could have in common.” Webb scratched his head.
    Miranda asked herself if she should tell the boss that Hackett and Flynn could be gay lovers, but before she made up her mind, Webb said, “Listen, maybe this Flynn guy stole Hackett’s car? Then found the house keys and tried to rob Hackett’s place. I’ve dropped the house keys in my car a couple of times before, so there’s nothing unusual about it.”
    Miranda gave Webb a curious look. The captain could be onto something.
    “Remember I said you were an incompetent buffoon?” she said with a smile.
    “How could I forget?” Webb cracked a grin.
    “I was wrong.”
    Why hadn’t she thought of this herself? The theory was simple, yet beautiful. Flynn had stolen Hackett’s car, found the house keys in it, and decided to play a bigger game. How had he gotten the house address? Maybe Hackett had dropped his driver’s license in the car, too.
    Question: why was Flynn so sure he wouldn’t bump into Hackett when he got into his house? Was it because Flynn had rendered Hackett unconscious earlier?
    Was it because Flynn had murdered Hackett before heading to his place?
    Let’s hold this thought.
    Moving further. If Flynn had knocked Hackett out, then chances were Hackett had nothing to do with his murder.
    Wait a minute... Assuming that was the case, one could venture the following guess: what if Flynn had been killed by mistake? What if the killer was actually after Hackett, but because of a certain facial similarity between the two men had mistaken Flynn for Hackett.
    “Looks like you just had a eureka moment, Detective Murphy,” Webb said.
    With half-smile, Miranda silently nodded.
    Someone wanted to take Hackett out. Well, Detective Murphy,