Page 51 of Cold Vengeance

“My partner and I were wondering about the ex-husband, but according to my notes, he had an alibi.”

“Yeah, he did,” Vincent said. “But he was the only one with any motive. And his alibi was only backed up by one person.”

“Can you tell me how to find him?”

“I could, but you’d have to go to the cemetery. He died about ten months ago. Cancer.”

Well, so much for that idea. “So do you believe he did it?”

“That’s just the thing. I don’t know. I’d love to see this case solved, but I could never prove that his alibi was false. Or that the second wife, the woman who called, wasn’t saying what she did because she was angry with him. Seems their marriage was breaking up too. But even after Tom died, his boss stuck to his claim that he was working out of town at the time Cheryl was killed.”

“Where did he work?” River asked.

“He worked for a building maintenance company. Cleaned offices at night.”

“Kind of hard to be certain he was at work then, right?”

“True,” Vincent said. “Most of the buildings he cleaned had security systems. It’s not impossible to leave a building if the alarm is turned off and come back in later, but here’s the reason we couldn’t make a case. Why would he leave work, drive twenty miles away, run down his ex-wife who he had no way of knowing would be drunk and out on the road that night, and then hightail it back to work and enter a building, just hoping no one would see him? And then keep his messed-up truck with him until he drove home the next morning ... in daylight when everyone could see the damage? It’s not entirely impossible, but the idea has too many holes in it. We just couldn’t prove anything.”

“I understand.”

“I wish I could help you,” Vincent said, “but Tom couldn’t have taken April. He was dead when she went missing. I’m not saying he didn’t kill Cheryl, but unless you find new evidence, this case is pretty much a dead end.”

“Just two more quick questions?”

“Sure,” Vincent said. “Like I said, I’m retired. I have all the time in the world.”

“I read that before she died, Cheryl whispered the phrasethreelittle piggiesto the EMT who was with her. Do you have any idea why she would say that?”

“No, we couldn’t connect that to anything. In the end, we decided she was probably hallucinating. She had three times the legal limit of alcohol in her system.”

“This may sound really odd, but does the dogwood flower have anything to do with this case? I ask because it might be connected to two other deaths, both victims found near the side of the road.”

Vincent frowned. “No, I’m sorry. Nothing like that ever came up. No flowers were found on Ms. Armitage.” He shrugged. “I’m afraid this is a case that will never be solved. I really wanted to close it before I die. It’s a sad thing.”

“Yes, it is. I appreciate your time.”

Vincent stood. “Listen, if you run across anything that might shine a light on this case, will you contact me again?”

“I absolutely will. It may not seem like you’ve helped us, but you have. We obviously need to move on to something else. Thank you, Vincent.”

“You’re very welcome, River. And I hope you find April. I’d like to know about that too, if you don’t mind.”

“I’ll make sure to call you if that happens. Thank you again.” She held out her hand and he shook it.

After he left, she locked the door. Then she wrote down the details of their conversation. She was disappointed. Talking to Vincent hadn’t helped at all. She wondered how Tony was doing. So far, they didn’t seem to be making much progress.

The doorknob rattled. River looked up and saw the security guard. She got up and opened the door. “Just making sure you’re okay,” he said.

River smiled at him. “I’m fine. Sorry to put you out.”

“This is probably the most interesting thing that’s happened today,” he said. “Mr. St. Clair must care a lot about you.”

“Maybe a little too much.”

“Not sure anyone can care about you too much.” He nodded at her. “I’ll be back in a while.”

After he left, she locked the door again and went back to her notes. But the guard’s words echoed in her mind.Not sure anyone can care about you too much.Was that true? Because she wasn’t sure anyone could possibly care more about Tony than she did right now. Her feelings for him were so strong that sometimes she felt as if she could barely breathe.

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