“Wendy was the one who blasted Jess.”
“Unfortunately that could easily have been faked.”
“I know.” Mary-Ann looked down at the printed copy of the email she had. “I don’t think it was, but with the written word it’s far harder to be certain, and this is something they could have been planning for months.”
“Which is our biggest problem. There are too many people who might have wanted Kyle dead and all had a way of getting what they needed.”
***
“Hello, again, Mary-Ann.” Liam stepped back to let her in. “What did you want to talk to us about this time?”
“Everything.” Mary-Ann sighed. “Alison was in Green Springs until the night before last. Do you think she would have poisoned Kyle?”
“Yes, I do, but that doesn’t mean I’m right.” He brushed a hand through his hair. “Alison wasn’t a friend of ours. Jess became a friend, but Alison never felt the need to get to know us, and I we are biased against her. If I was helping to investigate a case like this I probably wouldn’t be listening to us, although I know you have limited options.”
“For the moment we do, because too many people had a motive to kill Kyle, including Jess.”
“Jess couldn’t have killed Kyle.” Jake sounded like he truly believed that. “She loved him. She couldn’t have hurt him.”
“Even if she found out about Kyle’s other girlfriends before the wedding.”
“Even then.” Jake studied her. “You don’t believe she’d do it, either.”
“No, I don’t, but we have to think of all the possibilities. Jess does get everything and that gives her more than one motive. As much as I hate to say it convicting her would be easy enough.”
“Apart from the fact you have no idea where the poison came from. The only thing you need is that.”
“The poisons used could have been taken from anywhere and one of the things I know is that Jess would have been able to get hold of them. I was the one who taught her to avoid them when she was a child. She could easily have put that information to use if she truly wanted to kill her husband.”
Jake nodded. “Maybe she could have done, but I don’t think she could have sat next to Kyle, as he drank his way through that bottle of wine, and not shown there was something wrong. She’s never been the greatest actress.”
“You aren’t wrong about that.” Mary-Ann smiled. “I don’t think she could have done it either. I just have to think of all the possibilities at the moment. You don’t think Ben would have done it either.”
“No, I don’t.” Liam sat down next to Jake as he spoke. “Ben isn’t the sort of person who’d do something like that.”
“The last two times I was hunting for a murderer they didn’t seem like the ‘sort of person who’d do something like that’, but they were. Something had pushed them to that point, and they’d been willing to do something that wouldn’t have done at any other time in order to protect themselves. This time I think it was a different emotion that was involved, but that doesn’t make it all that different. Anyone might be willing to poison someone if they’re pushed far enough.”
“I know you’re right, but Ben and Jess…” Liam sighed. “Alison is the most likely suspect, to me, because I can see her doing something like that. I can see her poisoning a bottle of wine to give to an ex-boyfriend on the day he was getting married.”
“Which is why I’m glad you’re not involved. You can’t be blinkered in cases like this, otherwise you might miss things. I think you’re probably right about Alison, but that doesn’t mean she was the only person involved, and it’s entirely possible the two of you helped her to make this happen.”
Nodding, Liam smiled. “I know, and there’s nothing we can do to prove otherwise at the moment, which means the only thing you can do is take us at our word.”
“That’s what I’m doing, but I can’t do the same for Jess. I want to. I want to believe she wasn’t the one who killed her husband, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t. She could have poisoned the wine. She could have sat next to Kyle the whole time, as he slowly died, because she was angry with him for what he’d done to her. Or she could have got Ben to do it, if she wasn’t capable of poisoning the wine herself, because I’m pretty certain he would do anything for her. The only way we can stop people from wondering if that’s the truth is to prove without any doubt it was Alison who poisoned the wine, so if you have any ideas then tell me them now.”
***
“Jake thinks he might be able to get Alison to admit she was the one who poisoned the wine.”
Alex nodded. “If he can’t we’re back at square one, and Kyle’s family are beginning to get pushy. They don’t want to be here, which is understandable, so they want me to make an arrest as soon as possible.”
“Even if you’re arresting the wrong person.”
“Right now they don’t care. They just want to get back to New York and bury their son.”
“Have they said who they want you to arrest?”
The long silence was more than enough of an answer. “They think it was Jessica, considering the fact Ben’s turned up and she will inherit everything.”
Mary-Ann stared at the wall. “Maybe arresting Jess would be a good idea.”
“What?”
“If you arrest Jess for the murder of Kyle it’s possible Alison might think she’s in the clear, and then she, hopefully, will be more likely to open up.”
“Or someone innocent might end up in jail for murder. Mare…”
“It was an idea, Alex, and if you don’t think it’s going to work then I won’t suggest it again.”
“The problem we have is that Kyle’s family aren’t the only pushy ones. My superior wants me to get to the bottom of this yesterday and thinks I’m wasting time looking for someone who probably wasn’t involved at all. He might be right about that, but I doubt it.”
“You think it was Alison?”
“I don’t think Jessica or Ben have enough of a motive. Ben might have wanted Jessica back, but he doesn’t seem like the sort of person who would be willing to poison someone who was once his friend, and he did make the decision to come here to talk with me. Alison is the one who’s doing her best to keep her distance, and that’s making me think she has something to hide. Jessica, from everything I’ve heard, wouldn’t have been able to sit next to her dying husband and pretend everything was fine if she had poisoned him. No one believes she’s a good enough actor to be able to do that.”
“Apart from Kyle’s family.”
“They, apparently, thought Kyle would marry Alison, and his mom was especially disappointed when he ended up dumping her. When he proposed to Jessica they were even more disappointed, but they did their best not to show how they felt about it all, because they knew it wouldn’t do any good.”
“Maybe they should have said something.”
“I think they should have been honest, as now they’re doing everything they can to get me to arrest Jessica for murder, and they won’t say anything bad about Alison. Only Kyle’s brother seemed willing to say anything at all about the arguments Alison and Kyle used to have about the fact he was cheating on her, even though Kyle always said he wasn’t cheating”
“Which we’ve since found out was a lie.”
“I can’t get his mom or dad to accept they are really his emails, either, which doesn’t help.”
Chapter 7
“I did it.”
Mary-Ann looked over at where Darren was busy doing something to her computer, although she had no idea what it was. “You did what?”
“Found the emails Kyle deleted, because he wasn’t quite smart enough. All I need to do is hack into his other email account and we might be able to work out who sent the emails in the first place.”
“Alison.”
“Maybe, but there’s a chance it might have been someone else, and we have to keep that in mind.”
She shook her head. “Why are you even doing this?”
“Jess is my goddaughter too, and I’m going to do what I can to keep her out of jail.” He sighed. “I can’t believe Kyle’s parents would turn on her like that.”
“I can. People are like that.”
“You need to stop helping Alex.”
“I know.” Mary-Ann stood. “Do you think Jess might know the password for Kyle’s other email account?”
“I doubt it, but she might know the information we need to be able to change the password. It seems to be one of those secret question things.”
Nodding, she took her phone out of her pocket, and dialled Jessica’s number. “Hey, Darren’s found that Kyle had another email account, and we’re trying to hack it.”
Jessica laughed. “What do you need from me?”
“Answers to his secret questions. What was the name of his first pet?”
“Rex.”
“A dog?”
“No, a rabbit.”
“Rex, the rabbit.”
“Apparently it was ferocious.”
“What was his first car?”
“An old Volkswagen Beetle. He was in the middle of doing it up when he died.”
“Okay.” Mary-Ann tapped in the answer. “Finally, what was his favourite sweet?”
“Mint humbugs. He used to eat them all the time.”
“Let’s see how it worked.” Darren grinned. “We’re in, Jess. Thanks for the help.”
“You will tell me what you find, won’t you?”
“We will.”
“I’m scared, Mare. D.I. O’Connor came to talk to me and said it’s possible I might end up being arrested, if he can’t find the evidence he needs to arrest Alison, because I’m the other most likely suspect.”
“That’s why Darren is hacking Kyle’s other account. We’re going to make certain you don’t get arrested, okay?”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“I am going to keep it. I don’t believe you poisoned Kyle and I’m going to prove it.”
“She’s done it before, Jess, and she can do it again. I believe in her. All you have to do is believe in her too.”
“I can do that. I can believe in you, Mare. Please…”
“I’ll keep you out of jail.”
“Thank you.”
Mary-Ann looked at Darren. “Tell me you’ve found something useful.”
“I’ve found something useful. I’ve found a lot of something useful.” He grinned. “It won’t be long, Jess, and you won’t be the main suspect any longer.”
***
Alex looked through the pile of papers. “Darren’s busy printing out some of the other emails, but it seems like Alison was threatening Kyle with exposure, and worse. From what I’ve read it doesn’t seem like she ever went through with the exposure part.”
“That doesn’t mean she didn’t.”
“No, it doesn’t, but you can see where she said she was going to put an end to his life. She didn’t want him to marry Jess and she was going to do everything she could to stop it from happening. Alison seemed certain she wouldn’t be able to convince Jess he was cheating on her, because it had taken Alison a while to realise she was being told the truth, which meant there was only one thing she could do in order to make him pay for the choices he made.”
“It’s enough to stop me from arresting Jessica, but it’s not proof Alison was the one who killed Kyle.”
“Have you managed to find her yet?”
“We’re still looking. Last I heard she was staying at a friend’s place, because she knew the police had knocked on her door more than once, but so far no one’s been able to catch her on the way in or the way out. The friend in question is a woman named Wendy.”
“That could be a coincidence.”
“Yes, it could, but I don’t think it is. I think the Wendy she’s staying with is the Wendy who was dating Kyle, as that makes the most sense, and that means Wendy was a part of what happened to Kyle - which means the angry email was a construct. She already knew Kyle was dead.”
“Until we speak to Alison or Wendy you can’t be certain of that.”
“No, I can’t, but the police in New York will be arresting Wendy tonight. We’ll soon know if she is the right Wendy.”
“With the emails you could make the case Alison was the one who poisoned Kyle.”
“It’s not enough. I need proof she was the one who bought the wine. If I could find that…” Alex smiled. “This is enough to get a search warrant. I could have officers hunting through her apartment by this afternoon, and then we might have the proof we need.”
“Unless she threw the receipts out, to make certain we didn’t find the proof we needed.” Mary-Ann bit her lip. “I promised Jess I wasn’t going to let her go to jail and I meant it. I will do everything I can to prove Alison was the murderer, because I believe she was the one who poisoned Kyle. Those emails… she was one angry woman.”
“Sometimes people get that way when they feel hurt by the man they once loved. Jessica might have been an angry woman too.”
“I think we both know Jess isn’t like that.” Mary-Ann stood. “I might not be contactable for a couple of days. I have something I need to get done.”
“Don’t.”
“You can’t stop me.”
***
“Are you sure about this?”
“No, but I think it’s my only option.” Mary-Ann brushed some of the hair off her face, hoping the wig and glasses would be enough of a disguise. “We both promised Jess we wouldn’t let her get arrested. This is one way of making certain she’s going to be safe.”
“Just be careful, Mare.” Darren sighed. “Hannah’s going to be furious with me for letting you go off alone.”
“There was nothing you could do to stop me. We both know that’s true.”
“You should be going with someone.”
“Don’t worry, she will be.” Alex stepped onto the platform. “The wig is interesting.”
“What are you doing?”
“Stopping you from making a huge mistake.” He shook his head. “You can’t go to New York alone. Someone has to be there to record the conversation you have with Alison if this is going to work out the way you want it to, and she won’t know the two of us are working together.”
“Alex, I’m going to be fine.”
“Maybe you are, but that doesn’t mean you’re going alone, and I’m not going to argue with you about this. My supervisor was the one who suggested I made the journey to New York in order to arrest Alison, because we need to question her. That means we go together.”
Mary-Ann shook her head. “You always seem to get your own way.”
“It’s a skill.” Alex smiled. “I think that’s going to be our train.”
***
For a long time they were silent. “Why are you coming with me, Alex?”
“I told you.”
“No, you didn’t. You gave me one of the reasons, because you don’t want me to know what the other one is, but I’m going to push you for the whole truth.”
“Robert wouldn’t be pleased with me if I let you go chasing after a murderer on your own. He made me promise, when you were helping with these cases, I would do everything I could to protect you. Letting you go off to New York alone isn’t protecting you, which means I have to come with you.” Alex shrugged. “It’s not as though it’s a bad idea. Finding Alison might be easier for you than it would be for the police, even though the city is much bigger.”
“Wendy’s going to be arrested by the time we get there, isn’t she?”
“She should be.”
“In that case I think the first thing I’m going to do is knock on Wendy’s door and see if there’s anyone there. If I were Alison I think staying there would be my best option, because there isn’t going to be any proof Wendy was Kyle’s murderer.”
“What if she isn’t there?”
“Then I’ll check her apartment and the places Jake said I might be able to find h
er. I did plan this out, Alex. I didn’t just make up my mind I was going to New York without planning out what I was going to do.”
“I’m glad of that.” Alex brushed a hand through his hair. “You still shouldn’t be doing this.”
The Alpha Billionaire's Unexpected Baby: A Billionaire BWWM Pregnancy Romance Page 73
