Page 9 of Broken Hearts

“Well, yes, sort of, but not a college-based organization.”

She rubbed her chin. “If he was, he never said anything.”

“Did he have any tattoos?”

“No.”

“What about on his left arm? About here?” I held up my arm and motioned to my inner left triceps.

Paula frowned. “I… well, honestly, I couldn’t say for sure. I don’t think he had anything there, but now that I think about it, I never really saw that part of his arm. He always showered by himself, always wore long-sleeved pajamas to bed, and I suppose I never thought to look. Why would I?”

“Can you think harder for me?”

Her frown deepened. “The only time I ever saw him naked was during our… intimate moments. And believe me, they weren’t very frequent, and the lights were always off.”

Damn.Same story all the other wives had.

“But you could try and track down his mistress and ask her,” she said with an indifferent shrug. “I’m sure she saw him naked a lot.”

My shoulders perked up. “Sorry, what? You think he had a mistress?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t think. I know. He went out every second Saturday to play cards with his friends in the city. We have a small apartment there, and he always claimed he would sleep there afterwards because he had too much scotch. But I’m not stupid. I know he was screwing another woman and staying with her those nights instead. I only stayed and kept my mouth shut because… well.…” She waved her left hand around us, gesturing to our opulent surroundings.

“And you’re sure it was an affair?”

“Well, what else would it be?”

“You never mentioned that you thought he was having an affair with another woman in your previous statement.”

“I didn’t think it was relevant. Whoever the little floozy is, I’m sure she isn’t an ax murderer. Besides, the police told me they know for sure the killer is male.”

I nodded slowly. “So you have no idea who this alleged affair partner was, or where she might’ve lived.”

Paula shook her head. “No idea.”

I scribbled some notes down. I had a feeling her husband wasn’t having an affair at all. Wherever he was going every two weeks may have actually been to this secretive organization I was positive existed somewhere around the metro area. “Let me know if you do happen to remember anything that might help us track her down, if she exists.”

“Of course.” She finished her coffee, then straightened her shoulders. “Funny. It’s like déjà vu.”

“What is?”

“I just remembered. You aren’t the first agent to ask me about secret societies. Is it an old theory, then?”

I arched an eyebrow. “What do you mean? Who else has asked you?”

“Not long after Ted’s death, another young agent came here and asked the same thing you did—if Ted was possibly in some sort of secret club that I knew anything about. He asked for an address, if I happened to know where it might be.”

“What did you tell him?” I asked, furiously flipping back through all the past paperwork to see who else had asked Paula the same questions as me. There was nothing. I was the first.

Whoever asked her… he wasn’t an agent or a cop.

“Nothing. Like I said to you before, I don’t think he was involved with anything except golf, tennis, and his little floozy.”

“This agent… can you describe him?”

“It was years ago, so I don’t really remember exactly what he looked like. He was tall and handsome, though, I remember that.” She affected a dreamy expression. “I remember thinking he looked a bit similar to this gorgeous young doctor who treated me years ago when I had a wrist problem. But it wasn’t him, obviously.” She waved her hand and smiled.

“Hair color? Eye color?”

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