Page 70 of No One Can Know

“Ms. Palmer,” Mehta said. She’d lost track of the conversation. Mehta had asked her something.

“I’m sorry. What was that?” Emma asked.

“I asked whether you had confronted your husband about the affair,” Mehta said.

“No. We never discussed it,” Emma said.

“You knew your husband was cheating on you, and you didn’t say anything?” Mehta asked.

Emma stared at the wall behind Mehta. Her cheeks were flushed, the back of her neck clammy. Mehta must think she was pathetic. “I didn’t want him to stop just because he got caught.”

“And did he?” Mehta asked. “Stop, I mean.”

“I think so,” Emma said.

“You’re not sure?”

“I couldn’t exactly ask him, could I?” Emma pointed out. “Do you know… did he break it off?”

Again, a pause. Again, considering whether to offer this information.

“The affair ended two months ago,” Mehta said. Emma’s stomach twisted. Then it hadn’t been long after she found out. Before they knew about the baby, though—so he hadn’t ended it because they came here. “But it appears that the woman was the one who broke it off.”

Emma let out a breath that was almost a laugh. “I see.” Then he hadn’t chosen her after all.

“I think we’re done here,” Chris said.

“I still have questions,” Mehta replied.

Chris shook his head. “I think Ms. Palmer has been more than cooperative, and she has been through quite an ordeal. We can talk about setting up another time to continue this discussion, but for now we are done.”

“One more thing,” Mehta said. She took a piece of paper from a folder and slid it over to Chris. “We have a warrant for Ms. Palmer’s phone and computer.”

“My computer is at the house,” Emma said. “My phone—I need my phone.”

“We can get you a phone to use,” Chris said, looking the paperwork over. “This is all in order.”

“We need you to hand it over now,” Mehta said.

“Can I get some numbers off it first?” Emma asked, and Mehta nodded. Chris offered a pen and a pad of paper, and Emma sat frantically scribbling things down. When she was done, Mehta took the phone from her without so much as a thank-you, and Chris touched her arm, indicating that it was time to get up.

Back at the car he gave her a look that was not entirely pleased. They were standing on the street, baking in the sun. A few people passed on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street, well out of earshot. Some of them cast curious glances at Emma.

“I’d like to have someone go talk to this woman,” Chris said. “I’d like to know why she broke things off with Nathan, and what was going on between them. And most of all, I want to know what she’s going to tell the police.”

“Do you think I’m a suspect?” Emma asked.

“Of course you’re a suspect. Right now, you’re pretty much the only one. We need to make sure there is nothing that could bolster that suspicion, and it wouldn’t hurt to have some alternate avenues to investigate. I want you to keep thinking about who else might have wanted to harm Nathan.”

“Wait. The cameras,” Emma said. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Nathan got them set up, so there should be footage, right? We didn’t have a camera covering the carriage house, but there was one at the front door and the back door. It would show me getting home and not leaving again. If someone else came to the house, they might be on it. That’s got to help.”

“Do you have access to the footage?”

“I think so. I’ll have to use a computer,” Emma said. “I can probably borrow Gabriel’s.”

“Ms. Palmer, do I need to point out the obvious?” He only called her that when he was frustrated with her.

“You’re just going to have to deal with it. I can’t give up the one person who actually likes me in this town. Someone I have never had any romantic involvement with at all, by the way,” Emma said.

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