Detectives Miles Lukasky and Denny Miles parked their car in front of the law office of Robert Bennett. The two looked at each other as Detective Miles asked, "Think we'll get anything out of this guy?"
Detective Lukasky shrugged his shoulders and said, "Maybe. But if anyone knows anything about Decrux and the troubles she faced, it'll be him. And that what makes him suspect number one. He knew how much Megan inherited and would be in the best position to make things happen. That's why he's our top suspect." Detective Miles nodded as the two of them climbed out of the car.
The two walked through the door and saw an attractive young woman sitting at the front desk. She stood up as she saw the men walk through the door. "Can I help you, gentlemen?" She gave a discreet sniff to see if they were weres. The detectives noticed this and noted that the secretary was also a were.
"Yes," Detective Lukasky said as he and his partner pulled out their badges. "Is Mr. Bennett in? We have a few questions we want to ask him."
"Um...give me a moment," the secretary said as she picked up an office phone and dialed a number. After a few moments, she could be heard talking quietly on the phone. She hung up the phone and said to the two detectives, "He's in his office. If you please follow me." The detectives silently followed her as they went through an office door and towards the office of Robert Bennett.
"Detectives," Mr. Bennett said as the two walked into his office, "Will you two please take a seat?" He motioned to the two chairs on the other side of his desk, which the detectives sat down in. "So, what do I owe the pleasure? Does it have something to do with Decrux?"
"In a sense," Detective Miles said. "We're investigating a few things about Alice and her daughter Megan. Let's start with Alice's estate."
"All right," Robert Bennett said as he leaned back in his chair. "Normally, I'd say no under lawyer-client privilege, but seeing how she's dead, I don't think that's relevant now. What do you want to know?"
"Let's start with the size of the estate," Detective Lukasky said. "How big was it exactly?"
Mr. Bennett took a breath as he thought about how to answer it. "Well, most people are aware of her home and her shop. Megan's now the owner of those things. What most people don't know is that she has some...securities worth tens of millions." Detective Miles whistled as he heard this. "For example, the patent on her 'Love Potion No. 9' is worth quite a bit. I think it's a bit of a shame she put it into her chocolates rather than using it as a licensed drug. I mean, it would put Viagra to shame. She also put quite a bit into stocks and bonds, especially into Tachibana Enterprises. Ms. Decrux lived a relatively long life, especially compared to normals. So, as you might imagine, her portfolio grew rather large, even when she was quite conservative about her investing."
"So, all told, how much did Megan Decrux inherit?" Detective Miles asked.
"All told, the value of what she inherited is worth tens of millions of dollars," Mr. Bennett answered as the detectives' eyes widened.
"Wow," Detective Lukasky said, "And who knew about this?"
"Not many people knew about this," Mr. Bennett said. "Alice Decrux kept things quiet as to not make herself a target. If people knew the full value of her wealth, she'd make herself a bigger target than she was. By keeping herself looking poor, it was easier to stay under the radar as well as keep up her...other hobby."
"Other hobby?" Detective Miles asked, "You mean entrapping men and getting their kids, right?"
Mr. Bennett nodded and said, "Right. Even though I kept advising her to stop as this was something that was going to get her into trouble. As it turns out, it cost her life."
"So, something that doesn't make sense to me," Detective Lukasky said. "Why give it to Megan? Why give it all to Megan and not to any of her other children?"
"That's a good question," Mr. Bennett responded. "It might have something to do with Megan being her only daughter. It might also have something to do with her hatred of men as why she didn't give anything to her sons."
"That would make sense," Detective Lukasky responded.
"Indeed. I always found Ms. Decrux to be...rather irrational," Mr. Bennett said. "Still, as her faithful attorney, I tried my best to look out for my client's interests. Including settling her estate and informing Ms. Megan Decrux about her inheritance."
"So, did you get anything out of this?" Detective Miles asked.
"Well, no, outside my usual fees and interests. Ms. Decrux always paid on time, and even when executing Ms. Decrux's will, I got a rather nice payoff." Mr. Bennett looked around a little as he answered and continued, "But make no mistake. Our relationship was purely professional."
"Right," Detective Lukasky said. "So, who else would know about this inheritance?"
"The better question is who wouldn't know about it," Mr. Bennett responded. "This is a small town and even something as secret as Megan's sudden influx of wealth wouldn't be a secret for very long." The two detectives looked at each other as Mr. Bennett continued. "I would imagine that the news of Alice's death would spread rather quickly, and there might be a few of her other children wondering what their inheritance is. They might even come at Megan for a piece of that rather invisible pie."
"People who would live in Moon Lake, I take it?" Detective Miles asked.
"Indeed," Mr. Bennett said as he nodded his head.
"Well, thank you for your time," Detective Lukasky said as he stood up, with his partner doing the same. The two shook Mr. Bennett's hand before walking out the door.
"My pleasure," Mr. Bennett responded, "And if you have any more questions, please feel free to stop by." With that said, the two detectives walked out of the office and into their car.
"So, what do you think?" Detective Miles asked.
"Definitely not him," Detective Lukasky responded, "He way too much to lose by killing Megan. Alice treated him well, and he even got a payday when passing the estate to Megan. And given that their relationship wasn't personal, I can't see him trying to kill Megan."
"Yeah," Miles agreed, "And there are plenty of suspects on our list. Whoever's after Megan might not be aware of the securities, he would probably know about the store, the house, and even the drugs." He pulled a list of suspects as he continued, "Mr. Bennett's right about one thing. Our work's definitely cut out for us."