Page 79 of What the Wife Knew

“No, he’s fine.” The detective held up a hand as if to tell me to calm down. “I’m talking about Richmond.Thomas had a financial motive to keep Richmond quiet. People in the medical office said there was a lot of tension between the two of them ever since Richmond’s divorce from Kathryn.”

The detective’s voice lacked its usual accusatory punch. Interesting since the divorce actually was my fault.

He continued. “Thomas also knew this house well and likely was someone Richmond would have welcomed inside on the day he died. Thomas not bringing a weapon with him and using something from the house suggests a spur-of-the-moment decision. Maybe an argument that blew out of proportion.”

That meant Thomas knew about my bat and where I kept it. But how? Not from Richmond. He’d invested a lot of time inmaking me sound dangerous but would he admit to a colleague that his new wife hated him enough to keep a bat by her bed? Not sure.

“You’re still investigating.” I didn’t phrase it as a question because the detective didn’t say Thomas already had been arrested for murder.

“I’ll keep Elias updated. Thomas is in a broken state. I’m hoping for a confession.”

“Good luck with that.” And I meant it.

The detective hesitated for a few seconds. “I’m assuming a man who would lie about something as serious as his commitment to sick children might have lied about other things in his life. It’s up to you if you want to open that door.”

With that, the detective walked away, leaving the usual emotional uproar in his wake.

“What the hell was that last part? You didn’t tell him about—”

“No.” Elias sat in the chair next to mine.

No lawyer lecture. A definitive no and I believed a genuine one.

That still left a lot of open questions. “Not sure I buy the theory about Thomas losing it and killing Richmond.”

Elias relaxed in the chair. “Me either.”

That was a massive problem I’d tackle another day. Right now, the subject I’d tried to ignore and dance around even though it was always on my mind poked at me. There was a reason I used disposable toothbrushes and cleaned out my brush and sink drain every day. Probably ineffective gestures but who knew.

“I have a client question.”

Elias tensed but his voice didn’t change. “I’m listening.”

“What are the chances the police collected my DNA on one of their searches of the house?”

“Pretty good.”

“That’s not the answer I wanted.” But it was the one I knew I’d get. Thinking about this issue was one of the many things that kept me up at night.

“I’m not sure how to advise you when you’re still keeping secrets.”

“The problem is not all of the secrets belong to me.” The intimate details that locked me in a desperate conspiracy with my mother remained hers alone.

After a lifetime steeped in emotional blackmail and wrenching disappointment I merely existed. Trauma mixed with secrets until my mother’s taunts became my belief system. She kept me alive, so I owed her. I could run but there would be a reckoning... and I was living that now.

The tragic part about escaping your past is that you never actually do. It’s always there, in the background and in stark memories, waiting to pounce.

“I think part of you wants to tell me everything.” Elias’s voice was softer now, coaxing. “You deserve to unload some of that weight you carry.”

I would have laughed at him if he’d delivered the line a few weeks ago. Now, I trusted him, or I trusted him as much as I was able to trust anyone. “I’m not a big sharer.”

“And how’s that working out for you?”

Happily widowed but nearly killed and still fighting and clawing to break free. “Not great.”

“So...”

Time to jump in. “I need any collected DNA to disappear.”

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