Page 46 of Dirty Weekend

“Yeah,” he said. “Cami’s badge said she left the courthouse at 11:09. She didn’t have a vehicle so she had a rideshare. We can assume the guy waited for her and just did a round trip. So that would put her home about twelve thirty.”

“About the time John got home from his dinner with Judge Mitchell,” I said.

“So from twelve thirty to just before three o’clock when Kevin and Thea see her, she’s still alive. And in that two-and-a-half-hour time span, she changes into lingerie, lights some candles, sets a scene for romance. For who?”

“Someone in the house,” I said. “There are no other players. Who else would show up that late at night? When Thea and Kevin saw her in the kitchen Thea said Cami was holding one of John’s favorite reds.”

Jack grunted and I could tell he was thinking. There was a buzz on the intercom and Sergeant Hill’s voice came through. “You’ve got a Toby Wallace waiting for you in interview A. And we got messages from the attorneys of John Tippin and Will Matthews. They’ve declined to come in for interviews.”

“Thanks, Hill,” Jack said, looking at me.

“I guess someone has something to hide,” I said.

“Maybe,” Jack said. “Or maybe they’re smarter than their roommates. I wouldn’t consent to an interview either. That’s the smartest thing to do. But people usually can’t help but talk about themselves or other people, and regular people generally want to be cooperative or think that when they’re asked to come in for an interview that they’re required to, which makes it nice for us. Only they’re not required to do anything. But when you’re in the thick of things generally the best thing to do is to just shut up.”

“You’d make an excellent criminal,” I said supportively.

“Of course I would,” he said. “But I choose to use my powers for good.”

We made our way back to conference room A and I was feeling the sugar rushing through my body. I’d crash hard eventually, but I felt like I could run a marathon or at least a 5K.

Toby looked younger today. Her face was scrubbed free of makeup, and she was in an old pair of gray sweatpants and a black hoodie. Her face looked pale and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

“Were you able to find accommodations last night?” Jack asked, laying a file down on the table and taking a seat across from her. I sat next to Jack and watched as Toby glanced at the file.

“I went home,” she said. “John said he’d put us all up in a hotel, but my parents live in King George so the deputy dropped me off there. I still have some old clothes and stuff there.”

“Tell me about Cami and John’s relationship,” Jack said.

She flinched slightly, but other than that Toby had herself under rigid control. Gone was the weeping girl from last night. The woman in front of us was angry and defiant, but her self-control was impressive.

“It started sometime last year,” she said. “I guess it was just one of those things that happens.”

“How’d you find out?” Jack asked.

“Caught them in the kitchen,” she said, shrugging. “And then in the laundry room. And the second-floor landing.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “They really didn’t try to hide it that much.”

“John mentioned that the two of you had a sexual relationship,” Jack said, his voice steady and soft.

“John would have a sexual relationship with a sandwich,” she said. “He likes to give this song and dance about convenience and meeting needs, but I’m pretty sure his needs are the only ones being met. I know he never met mine.”

“How long did your relationship with John last?” I asked her.

“Almost two years,” she said. “He waited until after we’d graduated law school and been appointed to our clerkships to break things off.”

“Did it come as a surprise?” I asked her.

“You could say that. We’d been talking about our futures and marriage. Of course, John has a stupid ten-year plan so I would’ve had to wait until he was thirty, but he’s such a convincing liar I probably would’ve agreed to it. For a while.”

“What changed his mind?”

She scoffed. “What else? His father changed his mind. John doesn’t have the capability of making choices on his own. He has minor outbursts and rebellions. Like buying the place we’re living in and not going to Harvard. But he would never do anything that would upset the promise of being the heir apparent to that fortune. And marrying beneath his station would be one of those things.”

“Because of John’s mother?” Jack asked.

Toby looked surprised. “Very good,” she said. “Yes, I guess that’s a mistake John’s father didn’t want to see repeated. John’s mother is from here. She grew up dirt poor. I guess it was some rags to riches story you hear about, but she was a waitress and he took one look and instantly fell in love. And then twenty years later she took half of everything he had in the divorce and moved back to her hometown.”

“How’s John’s relationship with his mother?”

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