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“Be right back,” the waitress said, taking off.
Daniel sighed. “Now, what was it you wanted to know about Neil? It’s nice to talk about him to somebody who isn’t crying. Our friends are a mess.”
“Well, I’ll pick up on that. I noticed you weren’t mentioned in the obituary.”
“Neil’s mother Stalinized his obit. She never accepted that he was gay. I was the one who encouraged him to come out, and she never forgave me.”
“I’m sorry.” I’d heard similar stories in rehab.
“Neil took care of her, he even paid for full-time nursing. She had MS. He wanted to be there himself, but she threw him out and he moved here.” Daniel paused, with a sigh. “We were talking about getting married, but he thought it would upset her too much. She still can’t decide if she’s letting me and our friends go to the funeral. I’m going to respect her wishes. We all feel the same way. Neil would have wanted that.”
I felt for him, and the waitress came back with his tea, scone, and a ramekin of salted butter.
“Thanks,” Daniel said to the waitress, then returned his attention to me. “Anyway, we were seeing each other, but I got a job offer in Orlando and gave him an ultimatum. We broke up, and I took the job. I work as a designer for a woman who’s in commercial real estate all over the country, headquartered in Atlanta. We got a gig in Philly about two weeks ago, so I took it, and Neil and I started back up. We were talking about a trip, then…this happened.” Daniel took the tea bag out of the cup and set it on the saucer. “He started going downhill a week or two ago. He wasn’t sure he wanted to go on the trip. He did get depressed from time to time, then I found out he…passed.”
“How did you find out?”
“I saw it on social. I can’t say I was surprised.”
“You mean about the way he died?”
“Yes.” Daniel’s eyes filmed. “You can say ‘suicide.’ It’s okay.”
“Do you have any doubt he died by suicide?”
“No.” Daniel blinked. “Why, do you?”
“I’ve spoken with Lillian, the bookkeeper. You know her, right?”
“Of course, love her.”
“She thinks he was murdered.”
“What?” Daniel recoiled, grimacing, and I decided to tell him everything. I started with what happened with John on my father’s birthday and went all the way through to finding the bugs in my apartment. He listened through a second cup of tea, asking questions from time to time.
“Quite a story,” Daniel said, lifting an eyebrow when I was finished. “Okay, I have thoughts. First, I low-key hate your brother.”
I smiled. “I hear you.”
“But I still think Neil died by suicide. Now that I know that he was embezzling, it makes sense. It answers, Why now?” Daniel swallowed hard. “I just wish he’d told me, or called me. I wish we’d gone out todinner that night. We were supposed to. We even had reservations, but I had to work late. It’ll haunt me forever.”
I felt for him. “But what about the embezzlement? Was he that kind of guy?”
“He needed money, and I wouldn’t put it past him to skim.” Daniel smiled sadly. “Like I said, his mother was sick, and he was her sole support except for Social Security. He had a good salary at Runstan but it wasn’t enough to cover her needs and his own.”
“Lillian told me he was trying to become CFO.”
“Yes, that’s true. Money mattered to him. When we talked about the trip, he was worried about the cost.”
“Would he pull a gun on my brother?”
“Possibly. He had a handgun. He grew up hunting.” Daniel leaned over the table. “But I think you’re looking in the wrong direction. How well do you know Stan?”
“Not that well.”
“I’ve heard my share. If Neil was embezzling, I guarantee Stan was in on it.”
I shifted forward, intrigued. “Stan’s trying to cover it up.”
