Chapter 5 - The Detective’s Question
Detective Bell was younger than Nicole expected.
Forty, perhaps.
Plain blue suit.
No dramatic expression.
No accusation.
That made him more unsettling.
He sat across from Nicole in Margaret Sloan’s conference room and placed a small notebook on the table.
“I’m reviewing the warehouse fire.”
“I thought the fire marshal ruled it accidental.”
“He hasn’t.”
Nicole tried not to react.
Bell continued.
“We found evidence that one exterior door had been secured from the outside.”
Margaret interrupted.
“Detective, is my client being questioned as a witness?”
“At this time.”
“At this time,” Margaret repeated.
Bell smiled faintly.
Then looked at Nicole.
“When did you last see your brother?”
Tuesday night, Nicole thought.
Then yesterday morning in my car.
“Before the fire.”
Bell waited.
Nicole realized she had not answered.
“Tuesday afternoon.”
“Where?”
“At Archer Properties.”
“Did he seem worried?”
“Yes.”
“About what?”
“Business.”
“What kind of business?”
“I don’t know.”
Bell wrote something.
“Your husband says Raymond had become increasingly suspicious of company finances.”
Nicole’s eyes flicked toward Margaret.
Gregory had volunteered that?
Bell noticed.
“Is that true?”
“Raymond questioned everything.”
“Did he suspect theft?”
“I’m not aware of a specific accusation.”
True enough.
Bell leaned back.
“Your daughter said something unusual yesterday.”
Nicole’s heartbeat changed.
“How do you know what my daughter said?”
“A funeral guest contacted us.”
“Who?”
“I can’t disclose that.”
“What exactly were you told?”
“That Emma said the man in the casket wasn’t Raymond. And that she had seen Raymond alive the previous day.”
Margaret placed one hand on the table.
“My client’s six-year-old daughter is not available for informal questioning.”
“I haven’t asked to question her.”
Bell looked at Nicole.
“I’m asking you.”
Nicole forced herself to breathe.
“Emma was mistaken.”
“About which part?”
“All of it.”
“The scar?”
“Funeral makeup.”
“Seeing Raymond?”
“She saw a man from a distance.”
“In your car?”
Nicole hated how prepared he sounded.
“She may have seen someone near my car.”
Bell closed the notebook.
“Mrs. Hart, I have children.”
Nicole stared at him.
“They mix up Tuesday and Thursday. They say strange things. They confuse dreams with memories.”
He paused.
“But they usually don’t invent a specific person sitting in a specific car unless something gave them that idea.”
Margaret intervened.
“My client has answered.”
Bell nodded and stood.
At the door, he stopped.
“One more thing.”
Margaret frowned.
“I thought you were finished.”
“This isn’t a question.”
He looked at Nicole.
“The body scheduled for cremation is now under county hold.”
Relief flooded Nicole so quickly she nearly showed it.
Bell watched her.
“You look relieved.”
“My brother deserves certainty.”
“Whoever is in that casket deserves it more.”
Then he left.
Margaret waited until the hallway door shut.
“You need Raymond in this office.”
“He won’t come.”
“Then convince him.”
“He thinks Gregory is monitoring everything.”
“He may be right.”
Nicole stood.
“I need to pick up Emma.”
Margaret blocked her path.
“Nicole.”
“What?”
“Your husband told police Raymond suspected financial theft.”
Nicole nodded slowly.
“So?”
“So if Gregory were trying to conceal theft, why would he volunteer that?”
Nicole considered it.
“Maybe because he knows they’ll discover it.”
“Exactly.”
Margaret looked troubled.
“He may be preparing a story in which Raymond became unstable, paranoid or criminal.”
“To explain why Raymond disappeared?”
“Or to explain why you helped him.”
Nicole felt the logic settle into place.
Gregory was not simply reacting.
He was planning.
When Nicole reached Emma’s school, she saw Gregory’s SUV in the pickup lane.
She froze.
Emma came out holding her teacher’s hand.
Gregory stepped from the SUV and opened his arms.
Emma ran toward him.
Nicole parked badly and hurried across the pavement.
“What are you doing here?”
Gregory smiled.
“Picking up my daughter.”
“You never pick her up on Thursdays.”
“I wanted time with her.”
Nicole looked at Emma.
“Sweetheart, get in Mommy’s car.”
Gregory’s smile vanished.
“She’s coming with me.”
“No.”
Emma looked confused.
“Mommy?”
Nicole crouched.
“You’re not in trouble.”
Gregory lowered his voice.
“Don’t do this in front of her.”
“Then don’t force me to.”
His eyes hardened.
“I’m her father.”
“And I’m her mother.”
The teacher lingered nearby.
Gregory noticed.
His expression softened instantly.
“Fine.”
He kissed Emma’s forehead.
“I’ll see you at home.”
As he walked away, Nicole saw him remove his phone.
Her own phone rang ten seconds later.
She did not answer.
Instead she put Emma in the car.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Why is Daddy angry?”
Nicole looked at her daughter in the mirror.
For the first time she answered without lying.
“Because the grown-ups are keeping too many secrets.”
Emma hugged her rabbit.
“Is Uncle Raymond a secret?”
Nicole’s hands stopped on the steering wheel.
May you like
Before she could answer, Emma added something that made every hair on Nicole’s arms rise.
“He told me not to tell Daddy.”
