My gaze went to Van as the muffin churned in my stomach. “No one knew we were together yet.”
“The Butlers knew I seized Wade stock.”
Van’s phone now on the table vibrated. After looking at the screen, he announced, “Michael is escorting Officer Lawson from the gate.”
Van
“Mr. Sherman,” Detective Lawson said. “We appreciate you contacting us. We’d only recently been made aware of your and Ms. McGrath’s return to Ashland.”
Lawson was seated across from Julia and me in the living room. Vicki and Oscar were seated in chairs at each end of the sofas. Detective Lawson wasn’t alone. He had a uniformed policewoman with him. I wondered if they intended to ask us questions separately as the state patrol officers had done.
Lawson continued, “Mr. Hall was able to give us a firsthand account of what occurred between you and Mrs. Thomas.”
Hall. Albert Hall.
Oscar was the one to speak. “Mr. Sherman and Ms. McGrath want to cooperate fully. They’d also like to put this behind them. That’s why you were invited to their home.”
“Both of your home?” Lawson asked.
“Yes,” I answered. “Julia and I are about to be married. As you know we were to be married two weeks ago.”
“And the wedding is still planned?”
“Yes. This afternoon,” Julia replied, her grip of my hand growing tighter by the second.
“Is there anything,” Lawson asked, “that either of you want to put on record?”
My gaze went to Oscar. This was the exact opposite of the type of questioning that he wanted.
“Do you have questions for my clients?” Oscar asked.
Lawson was a short man but by his body language, he was confident, and I hoped competent. Sitting back in the chair, he brushed the screen of his tablet and looked our way. “Did either of you know that Mrs. Thomas was living in your home?”
We both shook our heads.
Before Lawson could speak, Julia did. “I had the feeling of being watched, but after what had happened with Phillip, Van’s brother, I thought it was just me.”
“It wasn’t just you,” he replied. “I saw the third floor. She’d been squatting or what some call phrogging for a few days at the least.”
“Did Albert or Michael mention the cabin and guesthouse?” I asked.
Lawson nodded. “We’re still waiting on a DNA match from the spoon at the cabin. Since it was female, we can assume that it was Mrs. Thomas. We’ll need more than an assumption in court.”
“Does this have to go to court?” I asked.
“Mr. Sherman, you were shot. That’s a crime. And, Ms. McGrath, ma’am, you were drugged.” He turned to Vicki. “Miss Woodson, you and I spoke at Ashland Memorial. Ma’am, you too were poisoned as well as Margaret Curry. If you ask me, this needs to go to court.”
“What if she can’t stand trial?” Julia asked.
“That’s not my job. My job is to gather the evidence. Mr. Sherman, tell me what you remember.”
I took a breath and straightened my back. “I was on my way to the cabin. We were supposed to have our ceremony there. I got a call from a friend.” I looked at Oscar who nodded. The police had my phone records. There were no secrets. “Lena Montgomery, Madison Thomas’s sister. She told me that Madison had been released from the institution where she’d been staying—committed.”
“And that phone call is why you turned around and returned to the house?”
“Yes. The phone call and the papers I’d received that morning. I believe you have them or copies. They were divorce papers—Madison and Phillip’s.”
“Why would Mrs. Thomas send you her and your brother’s divorce papers?”