A Southern Noir: Deception by Any Other Name

Chapter 19

I got to the office around nine in the morning. There were several things I needed to do as I sat at my desk. My phone rang while I was writing a response to an email from a past client. Looking at the screen, I saw it was Eric Olson, my attorney. "Eric, nice to know you remembered my number."

"Sorry, Hunter, I've been tied up in court for the last several days. I did go over the papers you sent to Gwen. Are you serious about doing insurance work?"

"Why not? It's a steady paycheck."

"True. As far as I can tell, there's nothing surprising in the contract. The biggest term to be aware of is the company wants you to work exclusively for them when you take one of their cases. Other than that, it's pretty straightforward."

"I thought so, but having an attorney look over the contract never hurts."

"No, it doesn't. Anything else I can do for you?"

"Now that you mention it there is. Have you ever had any dealings with Knight Brothers Construction by any chance?"

"No, but I can tell you who does."

"Okay, who is it?"

"Hunter, I can tell you, but they will not give you any information without a court order."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Eric. What's the guy's name?"

"Not a guy. Her name is Lisa Gambrell. She's a partner with Milton, Gambrell, and Adams."

"Thanks for the tip. How well do you know her?"

"Well enough to know you don't want to mess with her."

I hung up the phone and started a records search on the Alabama public court records site. What I found surprised me. Knight Brothers had a suit filed against them a couple of years ago involving a family in Homewood for failure to complete some home repair work. The suit alleged that Knight Brothers took the money from Michelle East for storm damage to her home, but the repair work was never completed. Apparently, there was a disagreement in how much money Mrs. East paid for the repair and the final costs of the repair. Mrs. East paid in full, while Knight Brothers claimed she still owed about two thousand dollars. Eventually, the parties settled out of court.

Digging further, I found a similar suit involving Knight Brothers a few months later. This time it was a homeowner in Irondale suing over uncompleted work due to some billing dispute. Again, both parties settled out of court for an unspecified amount. I became curious about why the company was sued twice in two years for the same thing. Digging back further, I found a couple of more cases involving Knight Brothers. I decided to pay Mrs. Gambrell a visit.

Gambrell's law office was a ten-minute drive away, so I decided to pay her a visit. The building was a four-floored office complex with glass doors leading into the reception area. When I arrived, the receptionist asked if I had an appointment, to which I responded that I did not. I persuaded her to call Gambrell's office to see if she could grant me a few minutes. "Mrs. Gambrell said she will try to fit you in today. She'll call for you if you want to have a seat."

I sat near a small table across from the reception desk. Good thing that I charged my phone because it was over two hours later before Gambrell called. "Mrs. Gambrell will see you now," the receptionist told me.

I thanked the receptionist and took the elevator to the third floor. Her office was the second door on the right. It was smaller than I imagined. There was a large bookcase to the right as I walked inside full of law books. Behind her desk and to the left was a dark-stained corner cabinet with family photos. On the left side wall were her college degrees and various awards.

"Mr. Landon, it's a pleasure to meet you. Please have a seat." After I sat she asked, "What can I do for you?"

"Thank you, I'm a private investigator working on a case, and I wanted to get some information from you on a case you worked on a couple of years ago."

"Mr. Landon, I can't comment on current cases."

"Yes, but this case was settled out of court. I just want to know why."

"And what case is that, Mr. Landon?"

"Mrs. East and Knight Brothers Construction. She sued them for not finishing a job. Why did she settle?"

"If I recall correctly, Mrs. East had paid another company to finish the repairs and wanted to put the whole ordeal behind her."

"What about another case? One involving a Carl Pullman in Irondale. It's similar to the East case. It's kind of funny that the company gets sued again so soon for practically the same thing."

"What are you saying, Mr. Landon?"

"I'm not accusing the company of anything, Mrs. Gambrell. I'm here on behalf of a client."

"And this client has something to do with Knight Brothers?"

"Maybe. If you think I'm here to start a lawsuit against them, I'm not. I'm simply representing a client."

"So am I. We're done here. Good day, Mr. Landon."

"Well, thank you for your time. I'll show myself out."

Well that was a waste of time, I thought as I left Gambrell's office. I knew coming here was a gamble, but I did learn that Knight Brothers has skipped out on finishing a few jobs. Seems to be a pattern with them recently. Judging by Gambrell's defensiveness, it's a good bet there's more to it. I also bet she's probably on the phone right now with one of the Knight brothers, so that means they know someone is asking questions about them. I can work with that.

I decided to stop by Patterson's house next. Stella might not be involved in the murder of the Freemans but she wasn't doing anything to help Danny. I have the feeling that I'm being used, and I don't like it. My guess is that she is trying to frame Danny after the fact. Maybe I'm wrong, but something told me I was on to something.