J. Robb - Immortal in Death

"I see. You're a successful producer, a money man. You must have asked her for a prospectus, figures, expenses, projected earnings. Perhaps a sample of the products."

"No." His mouth tightened as he looked down at his hands. "I did not."

"You expect me to believe that you just handed her money for a projected line you had no information on?"

"It's embarrassing." He lifted his eyes again. "I have a reputation in the business, and if this information gets out, that reputation would certainly suffer."

"Lieutenant," the counselor interrupted. "My client's reputation is a valuable asset. This asset will be damaged if this data goes beyond the parameters of this investigation. I can and will secure a gag order on this portion of his statement to protect his interests."

"Go right ahead. This is quite a story, Mr. Redford. Now, do you want to tell me why a man with your reputation, your assets, would commit three hundred thousand dollars to an investment that didn't exist?"

"Pandora was a persuasive woman, a beautiful one. She was also clever. She skirted around my request for projections and figures. I justified the continued payments because I felt she was an expert in the field."

"And you didn't learn of her duplicity until after her death."

"I made some inquiries – contacted her business agent, her representative." He puffed out his cheeks and nearly succeeded in looking sheepish. "No one knew anything about the line."

"When did you make these inquiries?"

He hesitated for a heartbeat. "This afternoon."

"After our interview? After I questioned you on the payments?"

"That's correct. I wanted to insure there was no mix-up of any kind before I answered your questions. On advice of counsel, I contacted Pandora's people and discovered I'd been conned."

"Your timing is… very skillful. Do you have any hobbies, Mr. Redford?"

"Hobbies?"

"A man with your type of high-pressure job, your… assets, must need some sort of release. Stamp collecting, computer doodling, gardening."

"Lieutenant," the counselor said with weariness. "The relevance?"

"I'm interested in your client's leisure time. We've established how he spends his business time. Perhaps you speculate on investments as a release valve."

"No, Pandora was my first mistake and will be my last. I don't have time for hobbies, or the inclination for them."

"I know what you mean. I had someone tell me today that more people should plant petunias. I can't imagine spending time digging in dirt and fussing with flowers. Not that I don't like them. You like flowers?"

"They have their place. That's why I have a staff to deal with them."

"But you're a licensed horticulturist."

"I – "

"You applied for a license and were granted one three months ago. Just about the time you made a payment to Jerry Fitzgerald in the amount of a hundred and twenty-five thousand. And two days before, you placed an order for an Immortal Blossom from the Eden Colony."

"My client's interest in flora has no relevance in this matter."

"It has plenty," Eve shot back, "and this is an interview, not a trial. I don't need relevance. Why did you want an Immortal?"

"I – it was a gift. For Pandora."

"You went to the considerable time, trouble, and expense to secure a license, then purchased a controlled species at considerably more expense, as a gift for a woman you occasionally had sex with. A woman who over the last eighteen months bled you for over three hundred thousand dollars."

"That was an investment. This was a gift."

"This is bullshit. Save your objections, Counselor, they're duly noted. Where's the flower now?"

"In New L. A."

"Officer Peabody, arrange to confiscate."

"Now, just a damn minute." Redford scraped back his chair. "That's my property, paid for."

"You falsified data on your license. You illegally purchased a controlled species. It will be confiscated, and you will be charged appropriately. Peabody?"

"Yes, sir." Smothering a smirk, Peabody took out her communicator and made the contact.

"This is obvious harassment." The counselor scowled. "And these petty charges are ridiculous."

"Oh, I'm just getting started. You knew about the Immortal Blossom, knew it was a necessary element to create the drug. Pandora was going to make big money on that drug. Was she trying to cut you out?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Did she turn you on to it, give you enough tastes to addict? Maybe she held it back then, until you wanted to beg for it. Until you wanted to kill her."

"I never touched it," Redford exploded.

"But you knew about it. You knew she had it. And there were ways of getting more. Did you decide to cut her out instead? Bring Jerry in? You bought the plant. We'll find out if you had the substance analyzed. With the plant, you could manufacture your own. You wouldn't need her. You couldn't control her, either, could you? She'd want more money, more of the drug. You found out it was fatal, but why wait five years? With her out of the way, you'd have a clear field."

"I didn't kill her. I was through with her, I had no reason to kill her."

"You went to her house that night. You went to bed with her. She had the drug. Did she taunt you with it? You'd already killed twice to protect yourself and your investment, but she was still in the way."

"I killed no one."

She let him shout, let the counselor spout his objections and threats. "Did you follow her to Leonardo's that night, or did you take her?"

"I was never there. I never touched her. If I was going to kill her, I'd have done it in her own house when she threatened me."

"Paul – "

"Shut up, just shut up," Redford spat at his counsel. "She's trying to pin murder on me, for Christ's sake. I argued with her. She wanted more money, a lot more money. She made sure I saw her supply of the drug, how much she had at her personal disposal. It was worth a fortune. But I'd already had it analyzed. I didn't need her, and I told her so. I had Jerry to endorse the line when it was ready. She was furious, threatened to ruin me, to kill me. It gave me great pleasure to walk out on her."

"You planned to manufacture and distribute the illegal yourself?"

"As a topical," he said, dabbing his mouth with the back of his hand. "Once it was ready. It was irresistible. The money. Her threats meant nothing, do you understand? She couldn't ruin me without ruining herself. And that, she would never do. I was finished with her. And when I heard she was dead, I opened a bottle of champagne and toasted her killer."

"Very nice. Now let's start again."

After Eve turned Redford over to booking, she stepped into the commander's office.

"Excellent work, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, sir. I'd rather be booking him for murder than drug charges."

"That may come."

"I'm counting on it. Prosecutor."

"Lieutenant." He'd risen when she'd come in, and continued to stand. His manners were well known in and out of the courtroom. Even when he went in for the kill, he did so with panache. "I admire your interview techniques. I'd love to have you on the witness stand in this matter, but I don't believe it will come to trial. Mr. Redford's attorney has already contacted my office. We'll negotiate."

"And on the murder?"

"We don't have enough to tie him. No physical evidence," he went on before she could protest. "And motive… you've proven he had the means to his end before her death. It's still more than possible that he's guilty, but we have quite a bit more work to do to justify charges."

"You justified charging Mavis Freestone."

"On overwhelming evidence," he reminded her.

"You know she didn't do it, Prosecutor. You know that the three victims in this matter are tied together." She looked toward Casto who lounged in a chair. "Illegals knows it."