Page 13 of Ghostly Bother
"The pregnancy just made this case a bit more interesting." Franks started the car.
"Maybe. It could be Michael's child, and she just hadn't told him." Angus didn't believe it for a second, but it was possible.
"Right, and that's why she was trying to keep Lance from mentioning it in the autopsy report?" Franks rolled his eyes.
"I know, but the chances of us finding out who the father is aren't high. If he hasn't come forward already, upset about her death, I doubt he's going to. Maybe he's married as well and doesn't want his wife to find out." He rubbed his neck, feeling a headache coming on. "Let's see what Michael says about it and go from there."
"You're breaking the news to him," Franks stated. "Telling a man his wife might have cheated on him is not something I want to do."
"I get the feeling since he filed for divorce, he might already know."
"Maybe, but then why not mention it to us? You'd think he'd want to take suspicion off himself and put it on someone else if he could." Franks pulled onto the road.
"True. Maybe he was in shock at the news that she was dead and wasn't thinking. We'll see what he has to say today after having all night to think about things." Angus pulled out his notebook. "The warrant is for the whole house, but I think ourmain focus will be the office. We can peek in the kids' rooms, maybe look around in her bedroom a bit, but I don't think she was dumb enough to keep anything at home."
"You think she'd keep it in her office at the City Center with an audit going on? If there is something to find, I'd think her home would be the place we're going to find it." Franks pulled out a piece of gum from his pocket as they waited at a red light. "Want one?"
Angus shook his head. "You might be right. At least at the house we don't have to fight with the city attorneys to search. For once, we got the easy job." Not that telling the family their loved one was dead was easy, but it was easier than dealing with a ton of warrants and legal issues to see what the mayor had been working on. "Do you think she might have kept stuff at her sister's house?"
"Possibly, but we'll never get a warrant for there without some proof she was working from there. The best we can do is ask and hope they'll be honest. We're set to meet with the sister tomorrow morning." Angus shoved his notebook back in his pocket.
"Are we telling the sister about the pregnancy?" Franks asked.
"We'll play that by ear. I'm not sure anyone needs to know anything other than her husband for now. The last thing we need is the press focusing on that. If it is Michael's this will make the loss even harder on him. If what Lance said is true, wouldn't she be starting to show at four months?"
"You're asking me? My knowledge of pregnancy is about as in-depth as yours probably is. I don't know anything about them, but it seems that's about when most women start to show. I'm sure we could look it up. The internet can tell us." Franks laughed. "Or you could ask your mom."
"Yeah, she'd know, but it's not important enough to get her involved. I didn't see the body, so maybe she was showing. You'd think that's something a husband would notice, right?" Angus glanced over at Franks.
"I'd think so. I'd like to say I'd notice, but then again, if he filed for divorce, how intimate were they? They already have two kids. Maybe the passion had worn off and they didn't spend much time together so he'd notice. Wear a baggy shirt or a suit coat and you could cover it up for another month or so probably." Franks shrugged. "We'll know soon enough."
Angus nodded as Franks parked the car in front of the large home. Michael's car was in the driveway, but he didn't see any signs of anyone else there. Usually, they'd have other officers help them when they served a warrant, but this job didn't seem big enough to need a bunch of people parading around the house. So far, it appeared that Michael Anderson was cooperating with them, and they had no reason to make things harder for him. He might be a person of interest, maybe even their main suspect, but Angus's gut told him that Michael hadn't killed his wife.
They got out of the car and headed up the walkway in silence. He wasn't sure how to tell Michael about the pregnancy. If he got lucky, Michael already knew and had just forgotten to mention it, but Angus didn't think that would be something someone would forget. Michael would have been grieving the child along with his wife the moment he'd found out about the murder.
Franks rang the doorbell and a moment later the door opened. "Mr. Anderson." Franks smiled. "Thanks for agreeing to meet us here."
"No problem. I want to do all I can to help find who did this. If Eden left something here that can help us figure that out, Iwant to know." Michael stepped back and let them in. "Do you have any updates?"
Angus turned and waited for Michael to shut and lock the door, then gestured to the living room. "Can we sit and talk for a few minutes?"
"Of course." Michael led them into the living room. "Can I get you anything to drink?"
"We're good, but thanks." Franks took a seat on the couch beside Angus.
"So, there is news?" Michael sat down in a chair across from them.
"Nothing as far as who killed your wife, but the autopsy was completed this morning." Angus watched Michael closely, wanting to see his reaction to what he was about to tell him. "Were you aware that Eden was pregnant?"
Michael sat back, almost as if he'd felt a physical blow. "No. Are you serious?" He took a deep breath and sat up straight again. "Are you sure?"
Angus nodded. "They estimate she was around four months pregnant."
Michael shook his head, rubbed his brow, then pinched the bridge of his nose. After another deep breath, he met Angus's direct stare. "If she was pregnant, it wasn't mine. I had a vasectomy right after our last daughter was born. We decided that two kids were enough. Eden was focused on her career, and we knew as the girls got older, we'd be busy with sports, clubs, and all the other stuff kids are involved with. We didn't want to overwhelm ourselves." He shook his head. "Four months?"
"That was the guess the medical examiner had," Franks told him.
"She had to be seeing someone else. Eden and I hadn't…" Michael bit his lip, then sighed. "I already told you that Eden and I were having issues. We hadn't been together in a while. I can'tbe sure. I'd have to really think about it, but we hadn't had sex in quite a while, maybe even longer than four months. But the vasectomy should be enough to count me out as the father."
