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“What’s his connection to Barlett?”
“Same deal, Barlett was an old flame of Meagin’s, Doug found out they’d corresponded and got mad. We learned about Barlett from Meagin’s phone, easy enough for Doug to do the same. He phoned me yesterday, still bitching about the jewelry. Called me an obstructionist bureaucrat with no clue how to do my job. Then he repeated it. The word ‘clue.’ And cackled.Thenhe said he’d be hiring a lawyer to get all the bling back and hung up. He’s nuts, Alex. Why obsess on the jewelry? Yeah, we’re talking a few hundred thou but for him that’s small change.”
I said, “Easier to focus upon a side issue than his big problem.”
“Which is?”
“Coming to grips with how Meagin manipulated him. Beginning with how she picked him up. Seduced him and got him to marry her without divulging anything personal, then proceeded to cheat on him from the get-go. Getting suckered is totally at odds with his self-image as a savvy businessman and a tough negotiator. Once he finds out she also conned him about the purple diamond so she could wear it for Gio, he could really blow.”
“Hmm,” he said.
“Tell him and hope he does?”
“Stress makes people screw up. I get him to go all-out volcanic, he could end up saying something I can use to convince John about a phone warrant on Doug’s other phone. Or phones, as the case may be.”
“You don’t need John for that.”
“Technically, no, but he’s holding me back, says if I get the info prematurely via a friendly judge, the kind of lawyer Doug’s likely to hire could shred it to inadmissibility then move on to a big-timefruit-of-the-poison-tree thing. If Doug actually goes bananas and blabs something incriminating, I’ll be on safe ground.”
“Before you talk to him, it would be good to know if he’s got links to New Orleans?”
“Hmm. Hold on.”
Several minutes of dead air.
“Hopes dashed again,” he said. “Nothing, at least not professionally. He’s never done a project anywhere in Louisiana. So what do you think about feeding him the uncomfortable truth about the necklace?”
“You could try.”
“Wanna be there?”
I said, “Never acquired a taste for lava but sure.”
—
An hour later I was in his office as he propped his cell against his monitor, switched to speaker, and made the call.
“You,” said Doug March.
Milo mimed a fingers-crossed vampire defense, then told him about the purple diamond.
Silence.
Seconds passed. Milo’s eyebrow arched. He picked up a pen and opened his pad.
More silence. The voice that finally came through was tremulous, barely audible.
“Oh no.”
“Sir—”
Doug March said, “What an idiot I was. Totally out of my element.”
Two exhalations.
Milo looked at me. I mouthed, “Wait,” and picked up a stack of Post-its.
Doug March said, “Okay. Now I can see why you held back on the jewelry. You were trying to shield me. Thank you. Sorry. For being a jerk.”
