Page 15 of What the Wife Knew

“Richmond fell down the stairs at the house. It was an accident.” I almost screamed that last part for our unwanted audience before lowering my voice again. “What publicity?”

“He tried to pay me off, you know.”

I didn’t because I had no idea what we were talking about, but Richmond’s tactics weren’t new. He’d tried that with me, too. Eventually. His answer to every problem: throw money at it. He’d threatened and puffed up his chest, but I won and now had to deal with whatever fallout the guy leaning on my car had in mind. “Sir, I don’t—”

“You can’t avoid the truth.” His eyes narrowed as he looked me up and down. Not in a sexual way. Assessing, like sizing up an opponent. “You’re his wife. You know. His attorney knows.”

Ah, yes. Elias. Of course. Drill down and there he was. Knee-deep in all the trouble.

“We’re not done. I’m not letting this go.” The guy talked in some sort of code and nothing about the conversation made sense. “I made a promise to my son.”

A clue. Richmond had been a pediatric surgeon. A highly specialized field that paid well. There were fewer than two hundred specialists in New York State, and only a couple thousand in the entire country, and none of them was as well-known as Richmond. The notoriety fed his ego. It also sounded like he’d landed in a pile of crap.

I wanted to ask the man if his son was okay but dreaded the answer. An innocuous question seemed safer. “What’s your name?”

“Did your husband have so many enemies that you don’t even know who I am?”

Possibly? “Humor me and fill me in.”

“Peter Cullen. My son’s name was Ben.”

Was. Shit. The worst word. “I honestly don’t know anything about you or your son, or whatever beef you had with Richmond, but I can talk to the attorney and—”

“I know I should be celebrating. Karma finally got your husband and now he can’t hurt anyone else. But it’s not enough. People need to know.”

Amen to that. “If you’re owed money, I’ll make sure you get it.”

“It’s not about the money. It’s about making sure people know who Dr. Dougherty, dead or alive, truly was.”

Sounded like I could get to like this Peter guy.

He pushed off from the car and walked away without saying anything else. I didn’t try to stop him because he deserved to have the last word. More details would have been good, but now I had a hint about where to look next in thewho killed Richmondsaga. Not Peter, unless this was some sort of deflection to throw the scent off him. If he had done the deed, good for him. He’d get a pass and a warning to not implicate me.

One of those documents back at the house might explain the issue with the Cullen family. Elias had to know. People at the hospital must have a clue.

Time to shake the truth loose.

Chapter Ten

Her

Present Day

My cellphone buzzed on the drive home from the coffee place. I hadn’t bothered to plug it in, thinking a few quick turns and I’d be in the driveway. A glance at the screen showed missed calls from the alarm company. Amazing how fast people moved when you scanned your husband’s death certificate and sent it over, confirming he could no longer pay the bill.

Wyatt could kiss that special code goodbye.

The last turn into my driveway and... an open gate. A police car. Elias. Detective Sessions. This couldn’t be good. Hiding wasn’t an option. That left standing there while the police pawed through everything in the house and located that damn bat.

I got out of the car and met Elias and the detective by the bottom step leading to the front door. Two policemen passed me and went into the house without saying a word. “I guess you got a search warrant.”

“The alarm went off,” Detective Sessions said. “You should have received a call.”

Wyatt. Again. Had to be. “And you brought the entire department over to check on the house?”

The detective frowned. “We respond to alarms. I’m assuming you support that.”

Elias did a quick cellphone check then slipped it into his suit pocket. “I’m an emergency contact for your system. When you didn’t respond, I got the call. I can be here in a few minutes from my house, so I came to check on you. The police were already here.”

---