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“What do you say that after we’re done talking to them, we pay the lovely Mrs. Cressey a visit?” Jessie suggested.
“Oh, are you thinking that we might want to talk to a woman who made a veiled threat against our murder victim about an hour before she was killed?”
“The thought had occurred to me,” Jessie acknowledged, smiling tightly despite the throbbing in her head.
“Are you okay?” Ryan asked, apparently noticing that her grin was forced.
“Yeah, just a little headache,” she said before quickly adding, “it’s not a migraine, I promise. I just need some sleep and a bit of food, and I should be good to go.”
Ryan frowned, concerned.
“We’ll get you the first when we can, but there’s no reason we can’t get you a bite right now.”
“My Prince Charming,” she said, batting her eyes. “Providing me with sustenance and accompanying me to talk to a potentially murderous socialite. How did I get so lucky?”
“Right back at you,” he replied, his cheeks turning pink.
If the next employee hadn’t walked in at that very moment, she would have kissed him.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
The infamous Mrs. Cressey’s full name was Janet Cressey.
On the short drive from the hotel to her house, during which Jessie popped two ibuprofen to go with the scone Ryan had secured for her earlier, Beth gave them the lowdown on the woman. Jessie opened the car window, letting in a little cold air to help refocus her amid her exhaustion and the dull throb in her head.
“From everything I can find, she’s a big social butterfly,” Beth told them. “She’s on countless committees and boards. She’s the executive vice-president of this one. But if I could offer an opinion, I don’t think it’s all about altruism with her.”
“What do you mean?” Jessie asked, intrigued.
“Her husband, Trent Cressey, is a financial bigwig but he’s under investigation for securities fraud,” Beth explained. “So far it hasn’t hit the news. My theory is that Janet is overcompensating, so that if and when this all blows up, she’s insulated from the bad press. I noticed that she never did any kind of charity work until a week after her husband was notified that he was being investigated. That seems awfully convenient to me. And if Gabriella Silva somehow found out about the investigation and threatened to spill the beans…well I’m just saying.”
“Good catch,” Jessie said, impressed.
“There’s more,” Beth said. “tell them what you uncovered, Jamil.”
“Right,” Jamil said. “I did some background research into Janet Cressey and found some old articles from a decade ago, mostly local weekly newspapers and online blogs. It looks like she and Nolan Silva were an item back then.”
“Wait, she dated Gabby Silva’s ex-husband?” Ryan confirmed, clearly stunned.
“Yeah,” Jamil replied, “and from what I can tell they were together for a while, at least three years. But then I found items about Nolan and Gabby starting to go out together about seven years ago and then a wedding announcement less than six months after that. It looks like it was a whirlwind romance.”
“So we’re thinking that Gabby might have stolen Nolan away from his longtime girlfriend, who still resented it all these years later?” Jessie asked.
“I just present the facts, Ms. Hunt,” Jamil. “You get to draw the conclusions.”
Jessie chuckled softly at Jamil, who was being the most Jamil he could be at this moment.
“Well, we’re about to find out about the credibility of these theories and conclusions,” Ryan said as they pulled up, “because we’re here. Great work guys.”
After they hung up, Jessie and Ryan approached the house, a modern monstrosity that was dominated by giant, tinted windows and steel beams jutting awkwardly into the sky. While it might have been a technical marvel, Jessie wasn’t a fan. Besides, she’d seen so many fancy homes in the last day that they were all starting to run together anyway.
Ryan pushed the Ring doorbell just after 8:30 a.m., and they stood there waiting in the still-chilly morning air. Jessie flashed back to the last time they rang someone's front doorbell just over two hours ago. That was when she'd made her unfortunate, tossed-off comment about kids opening presents at Christmas. Ryan hadn't brought it up since then, but she knew there would be a reckoning at some point. She hoped Janet Cressey would open the door soon, so it didn't have to be now.
“How long do we give her?” Ryan asked.
Jessie realized that she’d been lost in thought for a while and lost track of time.
“How long has it been?
