The Next Victim Read Online Free PDF Page B

radio you have a suspect."
    "A person of interest," Erling corrected. Though John O'Brien certainly topped his unofficial list of potential suspects.
    "An employee with Logan Foods, isn't he?"
    Erling nodded. "An executive VP, and a friend of Reed Logan's from college."
    "A longtime friend of Sloane Winslow's too, from what I hear. There was an interview on the radio today with her ex-husband. He said the suspect...the person of interest...was an old boyfriend of hers."
    Hearing Sloane's name flow so casually from his wife's lips caused Erling's breath to catch in his throat. Or maybe it was the "old boyfriend" remark. Or "ex-husband." He had no right to be jealous of either man, but he was.
    "Does their relationship have something to do with why he killed her?" Deena asked. "Were they still involved?"
    "No, they weren't," Erling bristled. He swallowed a mouthful of sandwich and washed it down with water. "Why are you so interested, anyway? You usually don't like my talking about work. Especially over dinner."
    "But this murder has been in the headlines. Everyone's talking about it. I'm interested."
    Erling let his breath out slowly. The important thing was to act as if it was just another case. "O'Brien and Winslow have been butting heads over company policy. O'Brien was apparently pushing for greater profitability. Winslow wanted to focus on quality. Expand organic product lines, carry free-range poultry and grass-fed beef, that sort of thing."
    Mindy slouched in her chair, her freckled face resting on one hand. "Seems like a stupid reason to kill someone," she huffed. "Like anyone really cares what their hamburger ate growing up."
    "You may not," Deena scolded, "but some people do. And that's not really the issue. It's a power struggle about the direction of a business."
    Mindy rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
    "The rift was fairly deep," Erling explained. "Word is that Mrs. Winslow was pressuring her brother and the other directors to get rid of O'Brien."
    "They could do that?" Mindy had a finely tuned sense of what was fair. "For no reason?"
    Erling nodded, but before he had a chance to explain the workings of corporate boards, Deena jumped in with another question.
    "Anything that points to him actually having killed her?" she asked.
    "They were known to have argued the night she was killed," Erling said, keeping the explanation brief. Discussing Sloane's murder with his wife was both terrifying and painful. "There's also a witness who puts a car similar to his at her house later that same night."
    "What does John O'Brien say?"
    "As little as possible."
    Erling's dislike for the man went beyond what he usually felt for an uncooperative suspect. Maybe it was O'Brien's former brushes with the law--DUI and assault--though both charges had been dropped. Maybe because he'd been at odds with Sloane. Or it could simply have been the arrogance and raw good looks of a man blessed with the sort of movie-actor appeal Erling distrusted. And, as Sloane had once told him, John O'Brien had been her first real boyfriend. Her first lover. Whatever the reason, Erling's gut instinct was that O'Brien was guilty. And nothing he'd learned in the investigation had changed his mind.
    "It's a shame about the girl." Deena turned to Mindy. "Did you know her?"
    "It's a big school, Mom."
    "Yes, you're right. I just thought since you're both sophomores...Anyway, it's a real tragedy. She worked for Sloane Winslow?" This last was directed to Erling.
    He nodded as he poked an errant slice of tomato back into his sandwich. "General housekeeping and errands. In return, she got a place to live rent free. The girl was working to put herself through school."
    "Unlike someone we know," Deena said pointedly with a glance in Mindy's direction.
    Mindy had known since high school that if she wanted to live on campus, she had to earn the money herself. She hadn't, so she lived at home. She faulted her parents for being stingy; they accused her of being spoiled. Truth