Page 37 of What the Wife Knew

Her

Present Day

Finding out who was framing me before I was arrested was my number one goal. Figuring out Richmond’s surgery mess and his role in Ben Cullen’s death was a close second since the two could be related.

Elias still didn’t offer as many details as I wanted, so I pivoted to a weaker target. Dr. Thomas Linfield. He thought he was coming over to pick up confidential files I claimed to have found in the box I took from the office. We both agreed they should be handled with care, so he volunteered.

For a guy with a fancy medical degree and decades of practice convincing people about how smart he was, he was easy to fool. He sat on the couch in the library, sipping the coffee I made for him, without a clue he was being played.

I sat down, leaving plenty of room between us in case this conversation went sideways.Always be prepared for the worst when it came to dealing with men. That was one of my life rules, and I had no intention of abandoning it now.

I set my untouched coffee down on the table and dove in. “We have a mutual interest.”

Thomas’s eyebrow lifted as he stared at me over the rim of his mug. “Oh?”

“August Christopher.”

With that name and his specific medical credentials, August should have been an easy man to find but that wasn’t the case. I’d done some computer searches, mindful of the fact the police were likely watching. They were welcome to look into the surgery issue and Richmond’s lies and save me from having to do it, but I doubted I’d get that lucky.

Every lead turned into a dead end. This August guy wasn’t reachable or locatable at any of the places the internet searches suggested he might be.

“How do you know about August?” Thomas asked.

“Richmond and I were married. We talked about important issues.” That sounded like something a real married woman might say, so I went with it.

Thomas set his mug down. “Is August mentioned in the files you called me about?”

Not at all, actually. “He’s integral to Peter Cullen’s allegations about the death of his son.”

Thomas exhaled and managed to make it sound condescending. “I can’t discuss this topic with you.”

“You can tell me how many times August filled in for Richmond during surgery.” The idea still didn’t make sense. The one thing Richmond valued was his reputation. He’d need a significant reason to take that risk, and none came to me.

“That’s only an allegation.”

Not the adamant denial I expected. Not anit didn’t happenorthat’s ridiculousbut a much more careful response.

“August is missing. I want to know why.” I had theories, all of which centered on Richmond sucking.

Thomas sat up straight now, fully alert. Every word mentally dissected and measured before saying them out loud. “August left our practice for another position.”

Fine. We could do this the hard way. “Where?”

“I’m not at liberty to—”

“Where he works can’t be top secret. Surely, his patients would know.”

“There are privacy concerns.”

That had to be a made-up thing. Elias threw that kind of sentence out there whenever he didn’t want to share information. Sounded like Thomas knew the same trick.

“You do understand that a detective is looking into Richmond’s life, right? That includes Richmond’s medical practice. Detective Sessions is going to rip every piece of this story apart.” Probably not true, but I needed leverage.

“My understanding is there’s no need for further investigation.” Thomas seemed to hesitate for maximum impact. “They have a suspect in Richmond’s murder.”

The entire town had weighed the nonexistent evidence and found me guilty. “I didn’t kill my husband, which means someone else did and that person better hope they covered their tracks.”

“I wouldn’t know anything about that.”