Page 16 of Over the Edge

“Only on days he has business trips. He was supposed to fly to Atlanta this afternoon. His pattern is to go to the office for a few hours, then swing by here for his luggage en route to the airport.”

“Did anyone know he would be home around that time today?”

“Some of the people at his office, I suppose. I don’t know why he would have told anyone else.”

Giving credence to the theory that her husband had surprised a robber, who’d reacted by killing him.

But the obvious answer wasn’t always the right one. That’s why nothing in a case could be taken at face value.

Time to move on to the harder questions.

“Ms. Robertson, did your husband have any enemies?”

She stared at him. “You mean ... someone who would want him dead?” She swallowed. Shook her head. “None I’m aware of. But he does work in a cutthroat business. He can beaggressive if a big deal is at stake, and I doubt his competitors are happy about losing out to him. But you don’t kill someone because of that.”

Maybe not in her world of lunches with friends and shopping and day spas, but big bucks could be at stake in commercial real estate.

“Any recent deals cause animosity?”

She dabbed at her nose again. “James did mention not long ago that one of his competitors was angry. The man thought James had plotted with a seller to raise the bids on a property my husband really didn’t want in exchange for a deal on another property hedidwant. An apartment building, I believe.”

“Was that the case?”

“I have no idea. My husband didn’t often share details of his business dealings with me.”

“Did this competitor threaten your husband?”

“Not that I know of.”

“It would be helpful to have his name.”

Heidi hesitated. “I hate to cause trouble for an innocent party.”

“If they’re innocent, they have nothing to worry about. And I’m sure you want us to find the perpetrator as soon as possible.”

“Of course.” She swiped the tissue under her lashes again. “I believe the man’s name is Matthew Nolan.”

“We’ll have a conversation with him.”

“Did the contractor who was working in the pool house see anything?”

“He says he didn’t.”

The woman bit her lip. “I hope it wasn’t a mistake to hire him.”

Jack’s antennas went up. “Why do you say that?”

“I wouldn’t normally hire someone with his background,but Lindsey gave him such a glowing recommendation.” She shrugged.

Lindsey knew Allen?

Why hadn’t she mentioned that?

And what background was Robertson’s widow referring to?

“What can you tell me about him?” Jack flipped to a new page in his notebook.

“Only what Lindsey passed on. That he’d had a rough stretch after his stint in the service and lived on the street until he got his act together. She knows him through her church, and he’s done work for her. I thought it would be charitable to give him a few jobs here and there.”

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