Page 49 of The Artist

She smiled and took his right hand with both of hers.“Oh, come in.Please, come in.I’m Veronica Chase, the housekeeper.”She finally released his hand and stepped back so he could enter.

The first thing he noticed was the size of the foyer.It was huge and the chandelier was also huge to light the entire room.And it was a room, or at least it was the size of one.A.J.could have fit his entire bedroom including his king-sized bed in there beneath the shining chandelier.

“I am supposed to show you to his office when you got here.Please follow me.”

She took off at a fast clip for being someone with such short legs.

A.J.was hard-pressed to keep up even with his long legs.

They walked down a long hall and suddenly made a sharp right.About ten feet down this new hall was a closed door.

Veronica knocked once and then opened the door.“Mr.Watson is here to see you.”

“Show him in,” he heard Peter say.

Veronica stepped out and to the side of the hall.“Peter will see you now.Can I get you something to drink?Iced Tea?Coffee?Bourbon?”

A.J.’s mouth dropped open.

Kincaid chuckled.“Bring us both coffees, please, Veronica.”

She nodded.“Sure.Be right back.”She exited down the hall but left the door open.

A.J.stepped into the room.Peter pointed at a chair in front of his desk, then leaned back in his chair, his fingers steepled over his stomach.“So, Watson, what have you found out?Anything useable?”

“Yes, sir.I believe so.I found record of a phone call between Horace Beecher and one of the perpetrators from not even five minutes before you arrived to give Beecher his alibi.”

“How did you find that?”Peter leaned forward and picked up a pencil on his desk.

Watson smiled.“You don’t want to know.Plausible deniability and all that.Anyway, Beecher has the habit of recording his telephone conversations.All of them.That’s unfortunate for him but very good for us.I made copies of his flash drives with the recordings from the entire six-week period in question.Both from before and after you arrived until Ms.Armstrong returned from Denver.There was something that I found exceedingly odd.Even though her gallery is being rebuilt, Horace seemed surprised that she had returned to Aspen after only ten days.”

“What do you mean he seemed surprised?What did he do?”

“That’s the thing.”He crossed the ankle of one leg over the knee of the other.“He went to the sheriff’s office and reported her.They have been trying to keep it under wraps, but I think they were trying to pin the fire and the murder on her, but they can’t find the evidence to do so.That’s because there isn’t any evidence.I know from the phone conversations that Horace is the one who ordered the gallery to be torched.As for the woman’s murder, he was angry.From what I could gather, his men did that on their own.Although, I don’t think that will make much difference to the prosecutor or the judge.”

Peter’s eyes narrowed and he clenched his jaw.“Do you think the sheriff is honest?Can we trust him with the evidence?”

“Only if I make a backup, which I’ve already done, and make sure he knows it will be going to the prosecutor’s office.Apparently, they have no love for each other.”

“Then let’s do it.I’ll call and get the plane set to go.It should be ready by the time we get there.Come on, I’m driving.”