Page 59 of What the Wife Knew

The detective was tiresome and, frankly, a bit obvious. He’d pinned his hopes on me being the killer and drove to that conclusion no matter what the evidence said.

Mom’s chair squeaked across the floor as she stood up. “I’m getting Addison something to drink.”

“I’ve seen the news and heard the rumors, Nick. I know the pressure is building. You’ve got the governor’s office all overyou. You’re dealing with a dead hero. People want answers now. There’s talk about bringing in the BCI.”

That was news to me. “‘BCI’ sounds official.”

“The Bureau of Criminal Investigation. A division of the New York State Police. Think of them as state-level FBI.” Elias kept his focus on the detective. “You need to rework your strategy here.”

The detective’s flat expression suggested he didn’t care for that. “Don’t tell me how to do my job.”

“You have a widow who’s been threatened and attacked.” Elias pointed toward the window over the sink. “Now the press is outside her house.”

“That’s a good thing. That kind of presence should keep anyone else from sneaking up on her.” Without taking a breath the detective shifted course. “Did you want Richmond dead?”

Yes. No question I did. The more I learned about him, the more dead I thought he should be.

Originally the plan was for me to ruin him and for Mom to swoop in and decide if he’d suffered enough. That was her thing. Then I lived with Richmond and his threats, saw what an evil jackass he was, and stopped wavering on the revenge part. Dead and ruined. Some people deserved both. Richmond certainly did.

I went with a shorter, more snide answer instead. “That’s your question after finding out someone attacked me—”

Elias tried to talk over me. “Of course she didn’t want him dead.”

The defense didn’t go far enough, so I outlined some truths the detective either didn’t know or intentionally ignored. “Richmond has an angry ex-wife. He’s upset some patients and thereare questions about at least one of his surgeries. The father of one dead child is looking for answers, which has Richmond’s former business partners panicked and potentially in trouble. Yet, your focus is only on me.”

“You suddenly have a lot of theories about who killed your husband.”

Not suddenly but the man didn’t listen to reason. “And you only have one.”

Elias cleared his throat. One of his big stop-talking cues. “That’s enough.”

The legal strategy here made no sense. This wasn’t the time to scold me. I’d thrown out hints and Super Detective didn’t even ask a follow-up question about Richmond’s office mess. The detective might know about the Cullen family and the potential lawsuit, but the lack of mentions in the press suggested not. Detective Sessions had tunnel vision, which meant I was on my own.

“If someone kills me, will that convince you I’m not the villain in this?” I asked because I really wondered.

The detective’s blank expression didn’t change. “I think you’re safe.”

“And I think you’re incompetent.”

“Okay.” Elias stood up. “Addison needs to rest.”

The detective slowly rose to his feet and joined Elias. “I have more questions for your client to answer. I’ll ask them when the rest of the forensics come back.”

Whatever. “Find out who attacked me. That’s who you need to question.”

“We do seem to have a rash of violent people swinging batsand tree branches in town. Never had those crimes until... when did you get here?” The detective shrugged. “Don’t leave the area.”

“I’m sure one of your covert sources would fill you in if I tried.”

“That’s right. Someone is always watching, Mrs. Dougherty. You’d be wise to remember that.”

For once I hoped he was right because then there would be a witness to whatever happened next. I needed one of those because I didn’t see any sign that the person who wanted me on edge and injured, maybe dead, planned to stop.

Chapter Forty

Her

Present Day

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