Page 16 of Dead Man's List

“Suspect,”Wilhelmina said firmly. “I never had proof that he cheated with any of his women, but I know that he did.” She lifted her chin, twin flags of embarrassed color on her cheeks. “As long as he kept it discreet, I didn’t rock the boat.”

Kit didn’t think Munro had kept it discreet at all, not if what Connor’s mother had said had been true. Wilhelmina and Munro had been the subjects of country club gossip.

“When did you call to report him missing?” Kit asked.

“Thursday, a little after noon Pacific time. I’d called Veronica again at nine a.m. and she said that he hadn’t come in to work. She sounded truly worried, and I knew he was alone here in the house. I thought maybe he’d fallen. He sometimes drank too much and…well, I despised him, but he was still my husband.”

“He didn’tsometimesdrink too much,” Rafferty inserted. “Healwaysdrank too much.Sometimeshe got violent. He hit Miz Wil. Gave her a black eye.”

Wilhelmina closed her eyes. “That’s true. That was what made me leave a month ago. I just packed my bags and left.”

“If he drank, cheated, and got violent, why didn’t you divorce him?” Connor asked softly.

Wilhelmina’s slim shoulders sagged. “Initially, it was because I was humiliated. Rafferty had tried to get me to see that he was a lying philanderer before we got married, but I refused to see it. Brooks had me utterly charmed. He always denied sleeping around, and I wanted to believe him. I finally decided to divorce him this last time, when he hit me. I had the papers drawn up, but I didn’t get a chance to sign them before this happened.”

“Would he have gotten much of your personal fortune?” Connor asked.

“Fuck no,” Rafferty snapped. “At least she listened to me on that.”

“He would not have,” Wilhelmina answered calmly. “And I never would have married him without a prenup, Raffie. You know that.”

“Maybe. But he was trying for an insane payoff in the case of divorce and you were looking like you were going to give in. The prenup her lawyer drew up kept Munro on a short leash.” He looked at Kit and Connor. “He wanted a million bucks in the event of divorce, but I threatened to put my foot up his fucking ass. He signed the prenup because he thought I was crazy enough to follow through.”

“Are you?” Kit asked. “Crazy enough to follow through?”

“Hell, yeah. I would have messed up his pretty face. I hated that man. He hurt my Wil. And nobody hurts my Wil.”

“How long has he been your protector?” Kit asked Wilhelmina.

“Since I was ten years old. Raffie was my father’s caretaker. He and his wife were like second parents to me, so you have to understand Raffie’s feelings about Brooks. I had to beg him not to get on a plane to California when I arrived in Boston with a black eye. I hated my husband for cheating on me and using me, but I didn’t kill him. Neither did Raffie.”

“So what prompted you to report him missing?” Kit pressed. “Why didn’t you assume he was avoiding you, instead of thinking he’d fallen in a drunken stupor?”

“He missed a meeting with the mayor on Thursday morning,” Wilhelmina said. “This was according to Veronica. I figured something bad had to have happened to keep him from going to that meeting. He was so proud of his access to the mayor. Bragged like he was the mayor’s BFF or something. He never missed an opportunity to flaunt his influence.”

There was something the woman wasn’t telling them. Kit could see it in her eyes. She’d come back later and ask the question again once she’d learned a little more about the players.

“Mrs.Munro, who do you think killed your husband?” she asked.

“I don’t know. He got hate mail every day from angry constituents. Maybe one of the construction firms he double-crossed.”

“That’s specific,” Connor noted.

“Yes, because that was what led to him hitting me. It’s been in my mind for the past month. Brooks thought it was hilarious, taking their money as bribes, then not following through on his promises. I heard him talking on the phone, saying things like, ‘What’re they gonna do? Report me? They’d be confessing.’ ”

Connor’s head tilted. “You knew he was accepting bribes?”

“I knew that he bragged about it to someone—and I don’t know who he was talking to. I didn’t report him because I had no proof. I tried to get proof, but that was when he hit me. He caught me going through his office files and he was very angry.” She touched her eye, now healed. “I left that evening. I’d planned to come back for divorce proceedings, but this happened first.”

“Will you be in town long?” Connor asked.

“I’ll be here until he’s in the ground. Then I’m selling this awful house. Do you want to see the blood in the garage?”

Kit and Connor rose. “Yes, ma’am,” Connor said.

“I’m going to ask Raffie to show you. I can’t tonight. He’ll show you out. Raffie, let them search Brooks’s office, too. Whatever they want to take, they’re welcome to. Good night, Detectives.”

Kit shook her head. “Ma’am, you can’t stay here. At least not for a few days. Before, this house was the scene of a possible abduction. Missing Persons searched and released the scene, but now we have a homicide. I’m afraid you’ll have to stay somewhere else until we’ve done our searches.”

---