“Malcolm—or Max as we called him—was older than Gabrielle. We didn’t mind. He was good for her. Helped her make the right decisions. He truly had her best interests at heart. Plus, he was CEO of GDA pharmaceuticals.” Everyone grimaced at the name. Mr. Morgan obviously saw the reaction. “At the time, he didn’t need my money.”

“So, he died before the scandal?” Gavin asked.

“Yes. Right before, but when one of your top drugs is found to kill people, and there’s an attempt to cover it up, that’s bad news for the beneficiaries who inherit your stock in the company.” Mr. Morgan had a cavalier way about him when talking about the people in his life, pointing out deficiencies with ease, and with such knowledgeable perception.

“But Max wasn’t part of that awful mess,” Mrs. Morgan said, defending her dead son-in-law.

“No, he wasn’t,” Mr. Morgan said confidently.

“So, I’m going to guess that Gabrielle wasn’t left with much money after he died,” Val said.

“No, the stock was worthless. I found out shortly after his death that my son-in-law was a bad investor; everything went back to GDA. He didn’t have life insurance because he didn’t think he needed it. What Gabrielle had in savings at the end went to cover legal fees. At this point she and Adam were living with us,” Mr. Morgan said.

“What caused her to move out, then?” Warren asked.

“She wanted to stand on her own two feet, get her life back together. So I set her up with a monthly allowance and bought her a very nice downtown waterfront condo, complete with boat for her dock.” Mr. Morgan smirked. “If you can call that standing on her own two feet.”

“The musician ended this?” Warren asked.

“Yes. I don’t know how she was supporting herself after I cut her off and took the condo back. I hear she got a job? She never told me what it was,” Mr. Morgan said.

“She worked for The Next Step, a non-profit organization,” Gavin said.

Mr. Morgan’s eyebrows raised for a split second and his head made a slight cock to the side. Val wondered if this had some significance to him.

“Did Gabrielle keep her maiden name of Morgan through both of her marriages?” Warren asked.

“Not at first. Max’s last name was Chandler. She was Gabrielle Chandler. She became a Morgan again after he died to distance herself from the fallout at GDA Pharmaceutical. After she married a second time she kept Morgan. I think even she knew that marriage wasn’t going to last.”

“Mr. Morgan, I hate to ask this but is there any chance Gabrielle would have killed herself and her son to punish you?” Gavin asked.