Chapter 58
The butter put his index finger to his lips, signaling her to zip it. If their conversation got overheard by a third person, both the butler and Letitia would be toast
After the butler left, Letitia couldn’t calm her nerves for the longest time.
From the butler’s spiel, the Ramirez family was the cream of the crop in AquaCity, all glitz and glam on the outside, but with lots of skeletons in the closet. Like, for instance, Phedra being Elgin’s stepmom.
But… Letitia had never heard a peep from Elgin about his birth mom. And Phedra seemed to have been in the picture for ages, with Elgin not warning up to her one bit, not changing his indifferent attitude or showing her kindness.
Could it be, Marcel’s death was tangled up in some family power play?
Letitia’s thoughts were getting clearer, she felt like she was on the verge of something big.
Just then, her phone buzzed, which caused her train of thought derailed.
“Hello?” Letitia answered, “Hey there, who’s this?”
“Letitia, it’s me.”
Walden? Letitia glanced at the phone screen, it was an unknown number.
“I’m calling from a new line because you wouldn’t pick up mine,” said Walden, “and I didn’t want Elgin to see and get the wrong idea, maybe take it out on you.”
“Let’s not keep this up. I’ll pay you back the cash tomorrow.”
“It’s not about the money, Letitia, Walden insisted, “You said before that Preston was innocent, and I took it to heart. I’ve been pulling strings left and right to re-examine the case”
Letitia’s grip on her phone tightened, “You’re investigating?”
“Yes. And I’ve got a lead.”
“What is it?” she perked up. “What did you find?”
“Can we meet in person? It’s too much to unpack over the phone,” Walden suggested, “after all… it’s big stuff.”
Letitia agreed without hesitation, “Sure, where are you?”
“I’ll text you the address.”
Letitia bolted out the door. She couldn’t wait a second longer!
Hailing a cab, she zoomed towards the address. As the taxi whipped around a corner, another car passed by on the opposite side.
Letitia didn’t notice that other car, her eyes glued to the road ahead, “sir, can you speed up?”
“Mr. Ramirez, the driver hesitated as they headed towards Ivory Towers, “that taxi we just passed… I think Mrs. Ramirez was in it.”
Elgin looked up from his papers, “Letitia?”
“Yes.”
Elgin peered out the window into the dark, no trace of the taxi to be seen.
He frowned. Where could Letitia be going this late, taking a cab? No way she could slip under his radar!
In a quaint coffee shop, Letitia met Walden.
She was sweating bullets, “Spill it, what have you found?”
“If I said I made it all up just to see you…” Walden began.
“Are you playing me, Walden?”
“Alright,” he sighed, “I was just pulling your leg. I wanted to see if you’d come just for me.”
I wouldn’t. We’re rivals.” Letitia cut him off cold, she didn’t want to give him any hope.
If she didn’t do this, Elgin would surely make a move on him!
“You’re ruthless,” Walden chuckled, “Let’s get down to business. I’ve reviewed the whole thing, and if Preston is innocent, then the medicines must have been tampered with”
‘Medicines?”
Yeah, someone pulled a switcheroo which led to Marcel’s demise.
feit a chill. She clenched her fists, swallowing hard, “So, who could it be?”
“I don’t know it’s all conjecture without hard evidence,” Walden confessed, “The cops were all over it and pinned it on Preston, which goes to show the real puppet master… covered their tracks well, fooling everyone.”
“So we can’t find any evidence, can we?”
She had just found a glimmer of hope only to be plunged back into despair. Letitia felt her heart sinking.
Walden’s gaze was firm, “No. There’s no such thing as a perfect crime. If it happened, there’s got to be a trace!”
“But if even Elgin was fooled and couldn’t find other leads, can we?” Letitia pondered, “If he knew the truth, he wouldn’t have gone after our family
“The victim was his dad; he couldn’t stay calm, which let someone slip through the cracks”
Letitia slowly regained her composure. She acknowledged she was too antsy.
This thing was a big deal, the truth wasn’t going to be easy to uncover
Walden looked at her, “Letitia, you’ve been around the Ramirez’s longer than I have. Take a wild guess, who do you think it could be?”
Her mind raced.
“Who benefits the most from Marcel’s death? Who would want him gone the most? Who had the chance to swap the drugs during the surgery”
Guided by Walden’s probing, one name stood out clear as day.
“Say it,” Walden locked eyes with her
“…Phedra ”
*Elgin’s stepmom?
Letitia nodded, “She’s my prime suspect.”
She’d been to the Ramirez Mansion. Hawley was hell-bent on carrying on the family line, securing a future for the Ramirez dynasty. Besides, Marcel was his son, and he would never hurt his own son.
Except for him, it was just Phedra, always stirring the pot, never taking a breather.
“But…” Letitia pondered, “how could she pull this off alone, and why off her own husband?”
Walden replied, “Phedra has a son. Have you ever met him?”
Letitia shook her head, “Never even heard of him. No one’s mentioned him.”
“That’s Elgin’s half-brother, studying abroad, he…”
Walden didn’t finish his sentence, suddenly his gaze shifted behind Letitia, his face turned pale.
Letitia looked back, puzzled.
There was Elgin, bursting through the glass door and striding over. A smile played at the corner of his mouth, but it was the kind that screamed bloodthirsty cruelty.
“Elgin… Letitia slowly got to her feet, “What, what are you doing here?”
He grabbed her hand and yanked her towards him with force.
“Letitia, oh, isn’t this just great, sneaking around behind my back to meet up with your lover! You dare to do this again under my nose!”
“I had some really important business with him.”
Elgin’s grip was so tight, it felt like her bones might shatter, “Did my warnings mean nothing to you?”
Letitia felt too drained to even try explaining Because there was no way she could spill the beans about the real reason she was meeting Walden.
Choosing to stay silent, she unintentionally fanned the flames of Elgin’s growing anger. “Speak up!” he demanded.
