Page 9 of Little Merry Murder

Still no good.

“I came here today to figure out what happened to your wife, so I can investigate and exonerate youifyou’re innocent.I find your abrasive, tough-guy attitude repugnant. I’m sure I can solve the case without your input, so … with that said, I’m leaving.”

I stood with every intention of walking out.

“Hey, now hold on a minute,” he said. “Just … hold on.”

“Why should I?”

“I’m not sure whatrepugnanteven means, but I’m guessing it’s not good.”

“You’re correct.”

“I’ve been through a lot over the past several days, and I’m freaking out here, okay? I would appreciate your help. I mean it. I’ll tell you everything you want to know. I promise. And I’ll … I’ll try my best not to offend you. Just please … sit back down.”

I remained standing for several seconds, to ensure the moment delivered the impact I wanted. Then I took a seat, looking him right in the eye as I said, “Tell me about your affair with Nadia DeMarco.”

CHAPTER 7

“What do you want to know about it?” Owen asked.

“For starters, was Claire aware you were sleeping with another woman?”

“I’m not sure. If she knew, she never said anything to me. I was careful not to communicate with Nadia when I was at home because Nadia’s also married. We did our best to keep things quiet.”

“The police found out, so you didn’t keep it that quiet.”

“They looked over my cell phone records. Figured they’d talk to Nadia, which they did, so I didn’t see any point in denying it.”

“You spoke to a divorce lawyer not too long ago,” I said. “Did Claire know?”

“I don’t think so, no.”

“When did you plan on telling her?”

“I had a second meeting scheduled with the lawyer, and he was going to help me plan everything out.”

“When you sayplan, was it a plan to keep her from getting your money?”

He blinked at me, going quiet for a moment. “All right, yeah. She didn’t need any of it. When her mother died, Claire inherited a bunch of money.”

“Define a bunch.”

“I don’t know the exact amount. Had to be seven figures. Her mother was loaded.”

On one hand, it would have been foolish for him to murder Claire when her mother’s money could have been up for grabs as part of the divorce settlement. On the other, with Claire dead, he may have inherited the money himself.

I crossed one leg over the other, thinking about other questions I hadn’t asked yet. “What time did you leave work the night Claire was murdered?”

“Oh, I’d say it was about seven. I know because it takes eight minutes to get home if there isn’t any traffic, and there wasn’t any that night.”

“Did you drive straight home?”

“Straight home, no stops,” he confirmed.

“Did you speak with anyone between the time you left to go home and the time you discovered your wife’s body?”

“Nope, not a soul.”

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