“So what about enemies? Anyone you know might want to harm her?”
“No. Madge is so sweet.” He must’ve caught the skepticism on Alvarez’s face because he lifted his hands, palms out. “We had fights. She was a passionate woman. But I can’t imagine anyone would want to hurt her. Usually she was the nicest girl you’d want to meet.”
“How did your ex-wife feel about her?” Alvarez already knew that Marjory had be
en the wedge between Richtor and his first wife.
“Oh, Terri.” He pulled a face. “They didn’t get along. Of course. I mean, that was my fault. I fell in love with Madge before I was divorced. The marriage was dead, mind you—Terri and I hadn’t . . . been intimate in years. We’d shared the same bed, but we may as well have been time zones apart. I think we just stayed together because it’s what we were used to and we had the boys . . . so . . .”
“But you met Marjory.”
“Yes.” He smiled, remembering.
“How?”
“Well.” He seemed a bit embarrassed. “You know she’s a lot younger than me and . . . well . . .” He was slowly shaking his head, bouncing it a bit, as he tried to find the right words, finally settling on, “She was actually dating my youngest boy, Emmett, at the time it all began.”
“The youngest?”
“I know. I’m not proud of that, of course, but hell, there was just such a connection, you know? And Madge felt it, too. She actually came on to me and I . . . I gave in. She’s the most . . . incredible creature I’ve ever met.” His throat tightened and he squeezed his eyes shut. “I just can’t believe she’s gone.”
“What about Emmett?”
“What about him?”
“How did he feel?”
“Oh, well.” Another embarrassed grimace . . . or was it something else? Was there a little pride attached to it—the old man besting his son? “He was upset, of course. Fancied himself in love with her, I think. I mean, come on. Who falls in love at that age?”
“Marjory did. That’s what you’re saying.”
“Yes, but she’s a woman and mature for her age. Not like boys. They take forever to grow up. I know. I was one.” Beneath the fluorescent lights, he looked every one of his years as he leaned back in his chair.
“Did Emmett get over it?”
“Sure. Both boys did. Preston, he didn’t like it much, either, but hell, what’re ya gonna do when your old man’s in love?” He cleared his throat. “Terri and I got divorced quickly and she was angry. No woman wants to lose her husband to a younger, more beautiful woman. Of course she was upset. But I was fair in the divorce, not . . . overly generous, maybe, but more than fair.”
Now he was lying. She saw it in the shift of his gaze, the way he was trying so hard to agree with himself.
“Your sons were okay with your divorce and remarriage?” she asked, just making certain.
“In time, yeah. The next hiccup was her pregnancy. Of course, that took them by surprise.”
“So they still haven’t accepted it.”
“They’re coming around and . . . oh, hell . . . now they don’t have to.” The idea seemed to hit him anew.
“Did she know Kywin Bell?”
“He’s . . . a friend of Emmett’s. Why?”
“So they hung out?”
“I don’t know, but I suppose. They all ran around in the same circle.”
“Did you ever see her with him?”
He frowned. “I think . . . yes, of course. He’d visit Emmett, come over to the house. I saw him there a couple of times.”