Fiona didn’t back down. “About Kristie’s murder?”
Even though David was becoming agitated by Fiona’s questions, he remained calm as he answered, “I just need some information for my report. This is all standard protocol.”
“Maybe to you. There’s nothing ordinary about this to me. I’ve never spoken to a police detective before.”
“If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to worry about,” I said.
“I don’t have anything to hide,” Fiona said.
“In that case, answer the questions honestly,” I said.
Fiona threw out her arms. “Do we really have to do this?”
David scoffed. “Are you kidding? This is essential.”
Fiona groaned.
“Why don’t we get started?” David asked.
Fiona took a deep breath. “All right. Let’s get this over with.”
“Where were you this morning?” David asked.
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“What time are you talking about?”
“Between eight-thirty and nine.”
“I was driving to Zuccarello’s to meet up with a friend for breakfast.”
“Was Larry with you?”
Fiona shook her head. “No.”
David eyes widened. “So on the drive to the restaurant, you were alone in the car?”
Fiona shrugged. “Why does that matter?”
“Trust me. It’s important.”
Fiona nodded. “Yes. I drove alone.”
David scratched his chin. “That’s very interesting.”
Confusion filled Fiona’s face. “Uh, not really. That’s a pretty low-key morning in my book.”
“Normally, I’d agree. The problem is that your story doesn’t match up with Larry’s,” David said.
Her nose crinkled. “I don’t understand.”
“Ms. McMillan, I’m going to ask you again. Did you just tell me the truth?”
“Of course I did.”
“In that case, it must mean that Larry is lying to us,” David said. “Which makes me suspicious about what else he didn’t tell us.”
Fiona put her hand up. “Wait a minute. I don’t like where this is going.”
David stared her down. “And I don’t like being lied to.”
“You don’t actually think that Larry might have had something to do with this, do you?” Fiona asked.
“Why else would he have lied to us?” David asked.
“I’m sure there’s a good reason—”
“In my mind, there’s only one explanation,” David said. “He wanted to make it seem like he had an alibi for the time of the murder.”
“There’s no way he killed Kristie,” Fiona said.
“How could you know that for sure?”
“It’s just a feeling I have, all right?”
“Fiona, this is a murder investigation. We need more to work with than just feelings. We deal in facts. And the truth is, your boyfriend doesn’t have anyone who can verify his story,” David said.
I held my hand up. “Speaking of alibis, you don’t have anyone who can confirm your location at the time of the murder either.”
Fiona shot me a glare. “I already told you, I drove over to Zuccarello’s to meet my friend for breakfast.”
“I know what you told us. There just isn’t anyone who can corroborate that,” I said.
“Why don’t you call my friend?” Fiona asked. “She’ll tell you that we ate at the restaurant.”
“I don’t care what you did after nine o’clock. Just during the time of the murder. And according to your own words, you were alone in your car,” I said.
David added to my point. “Which means that you could have stopped over at Kristie’s place first before arriving at the restaurant.”
Fiona threw out her arms. “Will you please stop talking to me like I’m a suspect?”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” David said.
Fiona snarled at David. “This conversation is so insulting. I had nothing to do with Kristie’s death.”
“I’d love to believe that. Unfortunately, given your motive and lack of alibi, we have plenty of reason to suspect you,” David said.
A look of outrage came to Fiona’s face. “What motive are you talking about?”
“You’re sleeping with Larry. A man who stood to lose half of his income and assets. A man whose time, energy, and money has been tied up in fighting with his estranged wife in divorce court,” David said. “But with Kristie gone, all those problems disappear. So for you to pretend like you didn’t have a reason to want Kristie dead is just laughable.”
Fiona folded her arms. “You may be laughing, but I’m sure not. I just want this conversation to be over.”
“I’ll bet you do. But we’re not done quite yet,” David replied.
“That’s what you say,” Fiona replied. “I’ve already told you everything I know. Which is nothing.”
Chapter Seven
David and I tried to get more information out of Fiona, but she didn’t give us anything to work with. Instead of wasting any more of our time, we decided to speak with Larry a second time.
Not surprisingly, he was grumpier than ever when we approached him. He also didn’t hesitate to air his grievances with us.
“When are you going to let me go?” he asked.
“That depends,” David said.
“On what?” Larry grumbled.
“When you decide to tell us the truth.”
Larry threw out his arms. “What are you talking about?”
“Do me a favor and stop playing dumb already,” David said. “We know you weren’t honest about your alibi earlier.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Did Fiona throw me under the bus?”
David remained purposefully vague with his answer. “Let’s just say our conversation with her was very interesting.”
Larry stared David down. “What did she tell you?”
“You seem awfully angry. You should really calm down.”
Larry didn’t heed David’s advice. “If Fiona told you I had something to do with this, she’s lying.”
“You’re right about one thing. There has been some lying going on. But after talking to her, we’re convinced that you are the one who hasn’t been telling the truth.”
Larry gritted his teeth. “She did badmouth me then. I can’t believe it. She has a lot of nerve.”
Larry looked like he was ready to blow his top. The angrier he became the better chance there was of him saying something stupid.
David did his best to push Larry over the edge.
“Is there something we should know about Fiona?” David asked. “Because now would be the time to tell us.”
At the last moment, Larry managed to muster some restraint. He sneered. “Nice try, but I see what you’re doing.”
“Trying to find out the truth,” David said.
Larry shook his head. “No. You’re trying to get me to badmouth Fiona. Well, that’s not going to happen.”
“All right,” David said. “In that case, let’s get back to you then.”
Larry shrugged. “What about me?”
“How about the fact that you lied to us?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Larry, your story doesn’t match up with Fiona’s. Now why don’t you tell me where you really were this morning?”
Larry took a deep breath and then answered, “I was here all morning. Fiona just wasn’t with me the entire time.”
“You mean, during the time of Kristie’s murder?”
“Fiona left to meet her friend for breakfast,” Larry said. “And I stayed here.”
“At least that’s your story.”
“No. It’s the truth.”
“Do you have any way of verifying that?”
“Look. I stayed here. You have to believe me.”
“I’d sure like to believe that. The proble
m is, it’s difficult to take your words at face value after you lied to us earlier.”
Larry groaned. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”
“How about you explain to us why you lied in the first place?” David asked.
“I’m not stupid. I know that when a wife is murdered, her husband is always the primary suspect.”
“That’s all the more reason to be honest with us.”
“You want brutal honesty? Fine. I didn’t kill Kristie,” Larry said. “Are you happy now?”
“Mr. Wakefield, it’s going to take more than just a loud declaration to clear your name.”
“You know who you should talk to? Wallace Smith. That guy was always getting into trouble,” Larry said.
David scoffed. “Larry, could you be more obvious?”
“I’m just trying to help you guys out,” Larry said.
“You mean, you’re trying to throw the spotlight on someone else?” David said.
“You have to admit, as far as siblings go, Wallace and Kristie weren’t on the best of terms. Kristie didn’t want Wallace anywhere near her catering company. That’s pretty telling in my mind.”
“Don’t get me wrong. We’re going to talk to Wallace. But we’re not quite done with you yet.”
“I already told you. I didn’t kill Kristie. And unless you can prove otherwise, I have nothing else to say to you,” Larry replied.
Chapter Eight
Once David and I left Larry’s house, we headed south. Kristie’s younger brother, Wallace Smith, was renting a small ranch-style home on Elmwood Road.
This upcoming interview made me a little nervous. It was always awkward interviewing the family members of a murder victim. Especially when certain factions of the family didn’t get along terribly well.
The natural instinct was to believe that a brother wasn’t capable of murdering his sister. But horrifying things like that did happen sometimes.
In this particular instance, I prayed that someone else was the killer. It was bad enough that Shannon’s cousin had been killed. But if Wallace was the guilty party, it would be another devastating blow to Shannon’s heart.
When Wallace opened his beige-colored front door, I couldn’t help but notice how red his round face was. In addition, his eyes were bloodshot. It was obvious that the rotund fifty-six-year-old was drunk.
That was pretty disturbing, considering how it was only one o’clock in the afternoon. The question became, did he always drink this much, or had he hit the bottle particularly early because he needed to take the edge off?
Earlier that day, Shannon told me that her cousin was a black sheep in the family. Apparently, he’d always had trouble keeping a job. He didn’t have much luck with relationships either. But his biggest problem was his gambling addiction. He just loved going to the track and betting on horses. Like so many gamblers, he always seemed to have a hot tip that never ended up paying off.
Even with that sordid history, my first instinct was that this level of drunkenness was not normal for Wallace. I couldn’t tell if he felt guilty about something or some other factor was at play.
Before I got into that, David decided to start off slow. First, he flashed his badge. Then he broke the news to Wallace about Kristie’s death.
Wallace didn’t hold his emotions back. He began to tear up. On the surface, his emotions appeared to be completely genuine. But I decided to reserve my judgment until we had the chance to ask him some questions. If it was all an act on his part, it was certainly a convincing one. He looked really shaken up.
“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Wallace said.
“I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but that’s just part of my job,” David said.
“I get that,” Wallace said. “And what an awful job that is, having to track down a killer. I don’t envy you.”
“Speaking of tracking down a killer, that’s part of the reason that we’re here right now.”
Wallace squinted. “What are you talking about?”
“Look. I know this is a really difficult time for you—”
Wallace interrupted David. “That’s putting it mildly. Try devastating. This is soul-crushing news. I mean, how am I ever going to be the same after this?”
David grimaced. “I don’t have an answer for you.”
“Neither do I.”
“I truly am sorry for your loss—”
Wallace put his hand up. “Don’t be sorry. Instead, just find out who did this and make them pay.”
“That’s what we’re trying to do.”
“Good.”
“But we could use some help.”
He bit the corner of his lip before responding, “I’m not sure what you think I can do for you.”
“You can start by telling us where you were this morning,” David said.
“I’m not sure why you want to know that—”
“This is all just standard protocol,” David said.
“Oh. Okay,” Wallace said. “In that case, I was here. I haven’t left my house all day.”
“Have you been alone the entire time?” David asked.
“Yup. It has just been me and a six-pack of beer,” Wallace said.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what made you hit the bottle so early?” I said.
“Let’s just say that it’s been a long week,” Wallace said.
“At the track, you mean?” I asked.
Wallace’s nose scrunched. “I’m sorry. I thought you were investigating my sister’s murder, not asking random questions about my personal life.”
“Fine. How about this question. When was the last time you spoke with your sister?”
“A few days ago.”
“And what did you discuss?”
“Just normal stuff. Nothing remarkable.”
“So you two were on good terms then?”
“Of course,” he said. “Why do you ask?”
“I’ve just heard that you two have had some rough patches—”
Wallace narrowed his eyes. “Who told you that? Was it her cheating husband? Because Larry isn’t exactly a reliable source.”
“It doesn’t really matter who I heard it from,” I said.
“It does to me,” Wallace said.
“To me, what’s more important is whether they are right or not,” I said.
“Let me tell you something. Larry is a real scumbag. I wouldn’t put anything past that guy.”
Wallace was completely convinced that Larry had been the one to badmouth him. In truth, Wallace was on our suspect list because of what Shannon had told me about him. But since Wallace appeared so eager to speak ill of Larry, I wasn’t going to stop him. Perhaps Wallace would say something particularly eye-opening.
“Do you think Larry is capable of murder?” I asked.
Wallace did not hesitate to nod his head. “Absolutely. Like I said, that guy is a total scumbag.”
“You can call Larry all the names that you want, but do you have any actual proof that Larry has done anything wrong?”
Wallace shook his head. “No.”
“That’s what I figured,” David said. “Now if that changes, let me know. In the meantime, let’s get back to you.”
Wallace shrugged. “What’s there to get back to?”
“Were you and your sister truly on good terms?”
“Yes.”
David stared Wallace down. “Mr. Smith, do you know that it’s a crime to lie to a police detective?”
“I’m not sure why you asked me that.”
“Because we have it on good authority that you and your sister weren’t always on the best of terms. Especially lately.”
“When you say that you have it on good authority, I hope you don’t mean Larry—”
“Enough about Larry,” David said. “We’re talking about you now. And not just the fact that you didn’t always get along well with your sister. This is also about the fact that there isn’t anyone who can verify your whereabou
ts during the time of her murder.”
Wallace shot David a glare. “I don’t like where this conversation is going.”
“Trust me. This isn’t a fun conversation for me to have either. But it’s part of my job.”
“No. Your job is to find my sister’s killer. So go and do that.”
“Just because you don’t like the questions I’m asking doesn’t mean that they are irrelevant to the case.”
“If you want to keep throwing questions at me, go for it,” Wallace said. “But if you’re serious about catching my sister’s killer, you should be looking somewhere else.”
Chapter Nine
A few minutes later, it became clear that Wallace wasn’t going to give us any additional information to work with. So, instead of wasting our time, we decided to head over to the east side of town to speak with the last suspect on our list.
Nick Fulton lived in a rundown apartment on Maddow Road. It was the kind of low-rent building that exemplified why I disliked this neighborhood so much. Traditionally speaking, the east side of Treasure Cove had always been a sketchy part of town. But Maddow Road was an especially charmless street. To start, there was no foliage to be found. The entire road was lined with blocky buildings that had zero style. In addition, there always seemed to be the sound of a dog barking relentlessly in the distance. Finally, not only were most of the apartment complexes really old and worn, but most of them were really dirty as well.
As David and I approached the door to Nick’s apartment, I turned my attention back to the case. Thankfully, Nick answered his door after a couple of knocks. But the muscular twenty-eight-year-old didn’t invite us inside his place. Instead, he only cracked the door open slightly and peered at us with his blue eyes.
As I looked at the hoodie and sweatpants that Nick was wearing, I couldn’t help but think that the greasy-haired suspect had just come back from the gym. Of course, there was also a chance that the goateed man always dressed casually and had spent the morning lounging around his place. David and I would certainly do our best to find out.
But first, there were other matters to attend to. David started off by introducing himself. He then explained that Kristie had been murdered and that her killer was on the loose.
That day, my husband and I had seen a wide range of emotions from the suspects we had spoken to. Even so, Nick’s reaction to the news really stood out to me.
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