She shook her head. “None,” she said. “I’ve spent the past four days going over our lives together, looking for signs, things I missed...”
“If he didn’t want you to find them, and you weren’t looking because you trusted him, you wouldn’t have been able to see them.” Everleigh piped up whether she was supposed to speak or not. Some things just had to get out there.
Muriel’s gaze turned back to Everleigh. “I’m sorry...”
“You didn’t do anything.” The other woman was going to have a hard-enough row to hoe. She didn’t need to compound it with a guilt that didn’t belong to her.
“We believe your husband was seeking revenge on those who were cheating on their spouses, and rewarding those who were loyal,” Clarke said. “Do you have any idea why that would be?”
She shook her head immediately. Her eyes were wide, and there was seemingly no place her gaze could land where it could make sense of what she’d see. And then it landed on Everleigh again.
“I’m sorry about your grandmother,” Muriel said. “I’ve met her a couple of times. She used to bake for the department Christmas charity event... To think that she’s sitting in prison because of Randall... I just... I have to believe he didn’t do it...”
“I absolutely did not kill my husband,” Everleigh said. “Nor did I cheat on him.”
“I did.” Tears filled Muriel’s eyes as they continued to focus on Everleigh, who didn’t look away, in spite of her shock. She couldn’t desert this woman who obviously had more to say and was struggling to get it out. “A year ago...I had an affair. Randall found out. I didn’t want my marriage to end... I just... I don’t know what I thought I was doing... Anyway, I ended the affair, promised I’d be faithful for the rest of my life, and Randall took me back.”
“And were you faithful after that?” Clarke’s tone wasn’t unkind, but Everleigh was surprised how different it sounded than when he’d been questioning her. It lacked...a certain warmth...that she’d figured was a natural part of him.
“I was.” Muriel’s tone was emphatic on that one as, with a brief glance in his direction, she answered Clarke. And then looked at Everleigh again. “He brought up the affair a lot, though, to the point where it about drove me nuts, but I understood, too, and just kept tell
ing him how sorry I was. I did everything I could to reassure him that it wouldn’t happen again. I’d check in with him every time I left the house, though he didn’t require that I do so. I just...”
She glanced at the two men. “In my heart...I know he did this.” And then back at Everleigh. “I’m just so furious, you know? That after all we’ve been through, after all the groveling I’ve done, how hard I’ve tried...he’d just leave without even so much as a phone call to let me know he’s all right.”
Everleigh nodded. “I know,” she said softly, her heart in her voice. Because she did. Clear to her soul. How did you live with a man for so long and misjudge him? How did you hold your head up high after everyone knew what a fool you’d been?
At least Fritz had been only a cheater. Not a criminal who’d let killers run free. Who’d put question marks on cases handled by the GGPD. Suddenly she wasn’t feeling as sorry for herself.
Or rather, as bad about herself. Her life might be a huge mess, but it was one she could clean up.
As soon as she was safe to get to it.
She wasn’t responsible for ruining lives. Muriel had to live with the fact that her affair had most likely been the trigger that set off Bowe’s crime spree.
“Your husband has a brother.” Detective Colton spoke up. “Baldwin. Do you have any idea where he might be? Is he someone Randall might turn to for help?”
Muriel shook her head, seeming to be a mite stronger now that she had gotten her sins off her chest. Everleigh figured it would be a good long while, if ever, before the woman truly recovered. “As far as I know, Randall and Baldwin haven’t spoken for years. And before you ask, I have no idea why. I never really knew Baldwin. And have no idea where he is...”
As they left, Clarke and Troy thanking Muriel for her time, Everleigh couldn’t help but wonder if Muriel had any family or friends of her own. Any emotional support at all.
Getting in Clarke’s car, she was a bit more thankful for her own parents. They weren’t perfect by a long shot. They’d let her down and she’d probably never trust them the same again. But she loved them, and they loved her still.
That meant a lot.
* * *
Conducting surveillance wasn’t a hopping party, Clarke told himself. It took a lot of patience and mind control to be able to sit for sometimes hours at a time, staring at not much, waiting for something to see.
Sitting there with a woman who was so captivating proved particularly challenging. How did you control your mind, keep from thinking about something that was slowly taking over your senses? The sound of her breathing, her fresh scent, memories of the kiss they’d shared the night before.
That one kiss had been better than some of the sex he’d had.
They were parked outside Brenda Nolton’s place—a little house on the corner of an intersection not far from downtown. He was a bit on edge out in the open. But so far had seen no evidence that they’d been followed at all that day. And if, as he was suspecting, Brenda turned out to be the culprit, he was on the offensive this time.
And keeping all four sides of them in view with the mirrors at his disposal. If anybody even so much as took a second glance at the car, he’d have Everleigh ducking.
“I didn’t cheat on my husband.” They’d been parked for fifteen minutes or so. She hadn’t said much since they’d left Muriel Bowe.