“How did they meet?” asked White.
“I’m not really sure. I know she was on the Hill a lot, and of course so was Alan. She was really pretty and dressed kind of sexy, and Alan, well, like I said.”
“Yeah, anything in a skirt. You ever hear them talking about stuff that seemed weird?”
Daniels looked confused. “How do you mean?”
“Stuff that sounded more like a business rather than only a sexual relationship?”
“Funny you should say that. They certainly were into gossip. They knew everything that was happening in DC, I can tell you that. I mean, folks in politics and so on.”
“Anything else?”
“I went over to his place one time. The door was open so I just let myself in. Nobody was around. Alan’s laptop was open on the table. I just took a peek. It was like a spreadsheet with names and, I don’t know, information on each of them.”
“What kind of information?”
“I couldn’t really say. It was about that time I heard someone coming. I went back over to the door and pretended to open it as though I were just coming in. It was Alice walking in from the other room. She saw me and then went over and closed the laptop.”
“What did you take all that to mean?”
“That they were up to something, I just didn’t know what.”
Nash looked at White. “I guess that’s your job to find out. And I don’t envy you one bit.”
Chapter52
G?LORIA CHASE LIVED IN ANupscale part of Ocean View and only a short drive from her boyfriend, Dennis Langley. It was also about a twenty-minute drive to Cummins’s house. She was a knockout in her midthirties, with long blond hair and perceptive blue eyes. She had on a short white skirt that, by contrast, emphasized her long, tanned legs. Her home was expensive and the woman seemed the same to Decker.
His creds got him in the front door, and they sat across from each other in a small, light-filled space off the kitchen.
“Are you a lawyer as well?” he asked.
“No, I have my own business. An internet services platform to help startups in Florida. Business is booming. I’m printing money.”
“Congrats! The Aston Martin outside looks new.”
“It is. I understand you want to talk about Dennis.”
“That’s right.”
“I’m sure he told you that he spent the night with me when Julia Cummins was killed.”
“He did.”
“Dennis wouldn’t hurt a fly,” she said.
“No flieswerehurt. It was his ex-girlfriend who was murdered.”
She shifted, crossed her legs, and did the same with her arms. A classic defensive posture during questioning. Decker had expected to see it at some point, just not this soon.
“When did he get to your house that night?”
“Oh, around eight.”
“And when did he leave?”
“The next morning. He was due in court.”