Page 72 of In the Arms of a Hero

“Yes, you are the only people in the area listed as his clients. That’s not to say there wasn’t someone else over here that he would try to see that day, but we would like to move further to eliminate you from our inquiries.”

“I noticed you made a distinction between clients and someone else he would have a relationship with. I’ve already told you that ourrelationshipwith Bill was purely professional. We did not see him socially. And we didn’t see him at all when he was here.”

Ruthanne leaned forward, her gaze resting on Aaron and Sam. “Detectives, I can’t remember the last time my weapon was fired. I personally don’t care for firearms, but Harry used to travel for work and insisted that I have one. He would take me to a firing range to ensure I knew how to use it.” She looked at Harry, a crease forming between her brows. “Is it still in the upstairs bedroom closet? In the safe?”

He nodded, his expression pinched. “I’ll go get it.”

Sam stood to his feet quickly and nodded. “I’ll go with you.”

Aaron could see that Harry was about to argue, but Ruthanne simply interjected, “That’s a lovely idea.”

As the two men walked out of the room and up the stairs, Aaron looked over at Ruthanne and had to admit there was nothing about her that seemed violent or vicious in the least. He could never imagine her using a gun on anyone, but then just because the weapon was registered to her didn’t mean that Harry wouldn’t have used it.

Ruthanne leaned closer, resting her clasped hands on her knees, and pinned him with her gaze. “Is there anything you can tell me about Mr. Gaston’s demise? I know it’s still an active investigation, but I feel so badly. I remember when we met last year, we were in his office, and he had a lovely photograph of his family. His wife and three children. I thought they made a beautiful family and told him so.”

“The investigation is still ongoing, Mrs. Malroney. We’re making progress, and your cooperation is exactly what we need to help us narrow down people of interest.”

“I understand, Detective.”

They both turned at the sound of Sam and Harry descending the stairs. Harry was still grumbling, but with Ruthanne’s nudging, he agreed that they could take the weapon to be tested to see if it had been fired recently. Even though Aaron and Sam had the paperwork for him to sign that claimed they were takingpossession, Harry continued to spout the legalities that he would follow if the gun were lost or damaged in anyway.

Just before they left, Harry cornered them in the front foyer. “How long will you make the Mathersons stay in the area? They’re bugging me about wanting to leave, saying their trip to the Eastern Shore has been tainted! I told them my rental agreement had no provision for ataintedexperience! Our rental agreement was for a month, but he wants out of it! Says he’s going to sue to get his money back.”

“If you have a lease agreement with them for a month rental, that should hold up in any court,” Sam placated. “I agree that whether their experience has been tainted or not, they are legally bound to the agreement of your rental lease.”

At that, Harry’s demeanor changed. He nodded emphatically. “That’s what I told him. They paid for a month, and I’m not giving them any money back just because they found a dead body!”

By the time they left the Malroney’s house, Aaron felt like he had run a marathon and wasn’t sure if he’d made it to the finish line. “Jesus, he is as aggravating as she is sweet.”

“We’ve got the gun, and we’ve got the bullet from William’s body that Cora gave to us. I can send these to the Virginia Department of Forensic Science. I’ll send it to the Eastern lab in Norfolk. I have a buddy there who can put a rush on it for us. But it still may take a couple of days just in transport.”

Aaron looked over and grinned. “Would it be any faster if we drove it over?”

Matching his grin, Sam nodded. “I’ll call it in, and we’ll take a trip over the CBBT.”

Sam had no problem getting Colt to approve their trip, and an hour later, they arrived at the lab. They moved through the security and were met by Sam’s friend, Thomas. Afterintroductions and handshakes, they handed off Ruthanne’s firearm and the evidence bag from Cora.

“You’re in luck. We’re usually slammed, but right now, we don’t have much of a backlog. If you guys want to go to lunch somewhere and don’t mind hanging out for a few hours, I’ll get this going for you.”

Aaron took the opportunity to check in with Belinda, finding she was doing better than the day before but still looking at photographs. Sam talked to Hayley at the same time, discovering that she was working on her marketing clients but also helping Belinda with the photograph searches.

Driving to a restaurant in Norfolk, they ate lunch and then anxiously headed back to the forensic lab. Met at security by Thomas, he handed the weapon and the evidence bag to them after they signed all the forms necessary. “Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Aaron prodded

Thomas shook his head. “It’s not a match. This weapon was not the one used to fire this bullet.”

Thanking him, they headed back over to the CBBT with Thomas’s report. Aaron sighed. “I know this might sound weird, but part of me is glad. I know Harry is a pain in the ass, but I really hated to think that Ruthanne was involved, whether directly or just because Harry did something that would affect her.”

“I feel the same way,” Sam said. “Just like last month when we were working the investigation on the skeleton found in my yard. I remember being in the hospital after Malcolm had tried to hurt Hayley and admitted that he’d been involved in the death of that young man many years ago. His wife, Anne, reminded me a lot of Ruthanne. I saw Anne at the hospital after Malcolm confessed, and she seemed ravaged. Somehow, the idea that we were going to have to face the same thing bothered me.”

“I know what you mean. Sometimes, we barely get over one investigation before another big one hits us, and there isn’t always enough time to process how we feel about what occurs.” After a few more miles of silence, Aaron asked. “So does that remove the Malroneys from our inquiries?”

“We’ll talk to Colt as soon as we return to the station. But that over ten-hour discrepancy has got to mean something. William was somewhere for all that time before he headed back to Virginia Beach.”

Driving back up the long lane to the Malroney’s house, Aaron looked at the large house that was now familiar at the end of the drive. “Harry certainly has money. This house and those large rentals. God only knows what the Mathersons paid to stay in that beach house for a month, and Harry has several rentals.”

“Do all of Malroney’s beach rentals have beachfront property?”

“When we investigated the thefts at a couple of his properties before, he has several right on the bay. He also has a couple more that are in the Dunes Resort, but they’re not beachfront. I can’t remember if there’s another one, but then this place is set back away from the beach. He has a view, but it’s not directly on the bay the way the house is that the Mathersons are staying in.” He looked at Sam and asked, “Any reason you asked?”

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