Page 25 of So Normal

“Why, Michael?” she said, throwing her hands up in frustration. “Why do we need to talk about it? Why must we fixate on everything negative in our personal lives? Why can’t we just leave our personal lives for when we’re home off duty minding ourownbusiness? I want to be your friend, Michael, but I don’t want to be your damned wife. I don’t want to talk to you about my nightmares or my therapy, and I don’t want to have a long discussion about your relationship with Ellie. You’re dating her, not me. You love her, I don’t have to. It’s that simple. Now can we focus on the case, please?”

“I already said we can,” Michael said, “but when this case is solved, we’re picking this discussion up where we left off.”

“Noted, Michael,” Faith said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “I’ll look forward to our next argument. Right now, though—”

“Right, the case,” he said. “So, where do we look next? I think we can safely say that the Hornfeldt case isn’t related to McIlhenny’s death.”

“I think it’s too early to say that,” Faith said, relaxing. “It’s true that Richard Hornfeldt isn’t involved, but the fact that none of the other jurors have been targeted yet doesn’t mean they won’t be. Even if they aren’t, McIlhenny was the foreman of the case. Our killer may have believed he would only get one chance at revenge, and McIlhenny would have been his number one target.”

“Still,” Michael said, “I think we should expand our horizons and see if we can find any other leads.”

“I agree,” Faith said. “I just don’t want to dismiss the connection prematurely.”

“Fair enough,” Michael said. “In the meantime, I think it will be useful for us to talk to his family and friends and see if there might be another reason someone would want him dead.”

“Does he have friends and family? The coroner said they didn’t want anything to do with him.”

“His family is estranged, but that doesn’t mean they had no contact with him, just that the contact wasn’t positive.”

“I’m not sure I agree with that definition,” Faith said, “but I’ll bite. Do we know who his living relatives are?”

“I’ll look him up,” Michael said. “The IRS will have his info.”

Faith fed Turk while Michael searched for info. Turk nudged her and met her eyes with a sympathetic stare. She smiled at him and scratched him under his chin. “I’m all right, buddy,” she said. “Just another nightmare.”

He nudged her again then began to eat.

“Got him,” Michael said. “Chester McIlhenny, born December 17, 1958, deceased March 13, 2023. Three children, Brandon, thirty-four, David, twenty-nine, and Elizabeth, twenty-three. Wife, Norma, sixty-one, married 1979, divorced 1993. She died of cancer eight years ago, and by all accounts, his children have had no contact with him since then.”

“You found all that from the IRS?” Faith asked.

“Not all of it, no. I looked into his phone and email records. Seventy instances of contact with the aforementioned between January and August 2015 when Norma died. Three since then.”

“Damn,” Faith said, “looks like they blamed him for their mother’s death.”

“Or for the separation. It’s possible Norma was the one who encouraged contact with their father and when she died, the kids finally disconnected from them.”

“Let’s see if we can talk to the kids,” Faith said, “and get the straight story from them.”

“Good idea,” Michael said. “I’ll send you the contact info and you can get started on that. In the meantime, I’ll talk to his coworkers. Looks like he worked for Anderson Lumber as a comptroller for their Northeastern office. He was eight months away from retiring with a full pension. Maybe someone didn’t want him to reap the fruits of his labor.”

“Works for me,” Faith said, “Send it over, and I’ll—”

Faith’s phone buzzed, interrupting her. She checked the caller ID and frowned. “It’s an NYPD number,” she said.

Michael’s lips thinned into a grim stare as Faith answered. He must have known already what the call was.

“Bold? It’s Rameses. Is Prince with you?”

“He’s here,” Faith said. “Go ahead, Rameses.”

“We have another body,” he said. “Same place.”

Faith sighed. “Okay. We’re on our way.”

“Make it quick,” Rameses said. “We’re having a hell of a time keeping the vultures away.”

“You keep them away however you have to,” Faith said. “If the Metro Authority gets in your way, blame it on the FBI. We’ll see you soon.”

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