Page 77 of The Nature of Secrets

“I’m sorry,” the woman said. “She left in September of last year.”

“Any forwarding information?” Finley mentally crossed her fingers.

“One moment.”

The line went on hold, and elevator music piped through.

While she waited, a text came in from Houser.See you at 6. Your place.Finley sent him a thumbs-up.

Just over a minute later, the woman returned to the call.

“We don’t have a forwarding address on file, but I do recall her saying she was moving to Nashville, if that helps.”

“Thank you for checking.”

Marsh and Grady had moved from Atlanta to Nashville during the same time frame. The link between the two was undeniable. Finley moved back through the house one last time to ensure she hadn’t missed anything.

On her way through the kitchen, she checked the oven and the microwave. There wasn’t a dishwasher. At least she had something for her breaking-and-entering trouble. Outside, the neighbor waited for her between the two driveways.

“Did you find anything helpful?”

“I didn’t,” Finley lied, “but I appreciate the assist.”

Before leaving, Finley took the name and number of the landlord who owned the property. She thanked her partner in crime once more and headed for home. Houser would be there by the time she arrived.

She called Jack and filled him in on Marsh’s abrupt departure and what her neighbor had to share.

“You’re right,” he agreed. “The Duncan thing may have been Marsh’s way of trying to throw us off-track. That said, I’m with you on the other. If Marsh and Grady were in Atlanta together, it’s a safe guess they were running a scam there as well.”

“No question,” Finley agreed. “It’s possible the partnership goes back further, and I suspect it does, considering the level of planning and manipulation that has obviously gone into this gig.”

“He may have made that final trip to Atlanta,” Jack suggested, continuing that line of thought, “to follow up on a job there or for something new the two had going. Based on what we know, he was clearly on the verge of disappearing from Winthrop’s life.”

Exactly. “You know what this means,” Finley said, making a right at a major intersection.

“You need to go to Atlanta.”

“Yeah. Like first thing in the morning.” Finley mentally calculated the drive. Too long for a day trip, and she didn’t want to be gone two days unless necessary.

“Nita will get you on an early-morning flight down and something late evening coming back.”

“Sounds good to me. Considering Winthrop was a patient of Dr.Mengesha—Marsh’s place of employment—I plan to check into Dyson and Mekler tomorrow. Maybe someone there was close enough to Marsh to have learned a bit of personal information. It’s possible Marsh and Grady were preying on older, lonely, rich women. What better way to find them than through their therapists?”

Jack grunted his agreement. “If your theory is right, maybe they got in over their heads this time. Or one of them wanted out.”

“The question is, If Marsh wanted out, did she kill him? Or had Winthrop found out about Marsh and in blind jealousy did the deed?”

Finley thought of Marsh’s comment about the secret activities. “Then again, maybe there was something going on we’re missing.”

“At this point anything is possible. Be careful, kid,” Jack warned. “Whoever killed Grady is certainly capable of killing again. You could end up a target.”

Finley agreed. But it was the other case—with Dempsey and his thug—she suspected posed the biggest threat.

If she lived through that one, maybe she really was bulletproof.

23

6:10 p.m.

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