“Apologized for what?”
“Oh, he’d tell her to get him a drink, as if she were waitstaff. It wasn’t so much what he said, but the tone. Master to servant. I’ve spoken to him about it a number of times, and he feigns ignorance. Since Cate could laugh it off, I let it go rather than stir up family conflict.”
“She didn’t like him. She never actually said so,” Martella said thickly. “She never would, but she didn’t. She’s family, too, Lance.”
“I know, Tella. I know.”
“You don’t like him, either,” Eve observed. “Either of you.”
“He’s family,” Schubert said simply as his wife wept quietly on his shoulder. “You don’t get to choose. Tella and Tash are close. He’s Tash’s husband. I might consider him a bit of a dick, as I said, but I can’t conceive of him doing any of this. You think he killed Ziegler, too.”
Rather than answer, Eve changed tacks. “You and Catiana must have talked about Ziegler. What he’d done, his murder. And now that it’s come out your sister and he had an intimate arrangement, you must have talked about that.”
“We were surprised, all of us,” Schubert confirmed. “But then . . . he’s her type.”
“Oh, Lance.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but good-looking users seem to be Tash’s type.”
“Did the three of you talk about that situation today?”
“Actually, I didn’t really talk to Cate today, just in passing as she was getting ready to go as I got back from Florida.”
“We did. Cate and I did.” Struggling with tears, Martella burrowed closer to her husband. “I was a little angry that Tash hadn’t told me, even when she knew how horrible I felt when I thought I’d cheated on Lance. I told Cate, and she calmed me down. She does that. She did . . . Oh God.”
“I’m going to get you some brandy.” Schubert kissed her temple before he rose.
“You and Catiana talked about the situation,” Eve prompted.
“We did. It was all so . . . so sordid, really. What happened to me. Cate and Lance, they’ve both been so supportive. And Tash, too. So I was upset when Tash finally told me she’d had an affair with Trey, and that JJ was having one with some stripper. I can understand, really, I can, how Tash would turn to Trey. A kind of revenge, I guess.”
“So Catiana knew the details.”
“I told her. She was like my sister, too. She’s family. Her poor mom. Oh, Lance, her mother.”
“We’ll be there for her.” He handed Martella a snifter, swirled his own. “Catiana would never insert herself in Tash’s marital business. Never.”
“Was she invited to the party at the Quigley-Copley residence the night Ziegler was killed?”
“Yes. Well, more, really. Tash asked her to help out with the prep. Cate’s a whiz with party preparations. So she was over there a good part of the day. Family,” she repeated. “Tash and Cate were good friends, were close. She must have gone there tonight to talk to Tash about something. I don’t know. I can’t imagine the rest. I just can’t. It doesn’t seem real.”
“You knew about your sister-in-law’s relationship with Ziegler,” she said to Schubert.
“I just found out.”
“And Copley? To your knowledge when did he learn about it?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know if he knew or not. He certainly didn’t tell me, or show any signs of it. But then, I didn’t know he was having an affair himself. It’s not the way we live, Tella and I. We don’t live that way.”
“My sister. Please, I need to see my sister.”
“Give me a minute.” Rising, Eve pulled out her comm, stepped out of the room.
“Do you . . . do you know where Catiana is?” Martella asked Roarke. “Can we see her? Can we do something? Anything?”
“I know the person who’s looking out for her now. He’s kind. Lieutenant Dallas is looking out for her now as well. It’s a terrible thing that’s happened. When terrible things happen to those we love, we couldn’t ask for anyone more capable and determined than Lieutenant Dallas.”
“How could he do this to Cate, to Tash? I didn’t even ask. I’m so turned around, turned inside out. What did he do to Tash? Did he hit her?”