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Amanda nodded at her partner. She’d been wanting to ask about top suspects in the case, but the conversation had taken a detour.
“No stalker, but we questioned the ex-boyfriend at length. He had a solid alibi, and it landed us nowhere. It really looked like it was connected to those other home robberies. The trail went cold.”
It seemed apparent why Felicity had chosen the ex-boyfriend as the killer in her initial proposal. “I take it you told this much to Felicity… about the ex?”
“I did, not feeling it was too much of a secret.”
Amanda could argue the point, but let it be. Dennis was talking. “Tell us more about Chapman’s life.” Her cheeks heated from suppressing her anger.
“She had everything going for her, a real daddy’s girl, and hers just happened to have gobs of money. He spoiled her, bought her the house in Triangle, set her up with a Mercedes.”
“And paid for her Harvard education,” Amanda chimed in, recalling that fact from a news article.
“That’s right. Chapman just received a promotion at Between the Pages the same day as her murder. Before coming home, she had celebrated with her fellow interns at a local bar.”
“The name of the place?” Trent asked.
“It’s all in the file, but Taps and Cocktails. They’re in Woodbridge. Just a small place.”
Amanda had been there before, but if she was going to pick a bar in Woodbridge, it would be the Tipsy Moose Ale House, hands down. It was also where she’d met Logan.
“Chapman left after everyone else, so it’s a little unclear the exact time she got home,” Dennis said. “Her time of death was pegged between midnight and two AM and was never narrowed down.”
“You shared all this with Felicity?” This amount of detail wouldn’t have made the news.
“I didn’t see the harm. The case is how old, Amanda?”
She kept her mouth shut, resisting the urge to argue. They needed Dennis on their side. But just because the investigation dated back fifteen years, it didn’t mean it was open season to spill all. Even more so because the case was technically still unresolved. The mystery cop who sent Felicity to Dennis was at fault, but Dennis should have turned her away. Amanda hoped like hell this case hadn’t been what led to Felicity’s murder.
“You should know that she didn’t seem completely in the dark when she came to me,” Dennis offered, as if reading Amanda’s mind.
“You think this contact she had in the department told her a lot?”
“Yeah, I don’t want to say much more, and I’m not about to push anyone under the bus.” He drained the rest of his coffee and set his mug back on the table. “I really don’t know what more I can tell you.”
“You said Felicity was insistent,” Amanda began. “Did you get the impression she doubted it was a home invasion?”
“She made no secret of the fact. That’s why when you told me she was murdered, I honestly wondered if she did stick her nose in this too far. Did she attract the attention of Chapman’s killer and set him on edge?”
“We are considering the same,” Amanda admitted now. “And the more you tell us, the more I’d say it’s quite possible. Did she happen to ask about a Sheldon Lowe, by chance?” It was a shot in the dark, but he was an avid fan who might have secrets to protect. It just may be that his past had transected with Naomi Chapman.
“Not that I remember, and I’ve never run across him. Who’s this Lowe guy?”
“Someone who has our interest,” she said, keeping it vague.
“Well, pretty much anyone could have killed Felicity Kelley. She was in the spotlight.”
“Before we go,” Trent started, “were there any aspects of the case she seemed especially fixed on?”
“She didn’t like the timing, which I think I mentioned. That really bothered her. Promoted and murdered the same day. She also mentioned that she found out Chapman’s front light came on the night of the invasion. Guess it was around midnight when that happened. I’m not saying it didn’t happen, just that I don’t remember that tidbit.”
“Where did she find that out?” Amanda prickled, assuming it had something to do with the flapping jaws of the officer.
“From the next-door neighbor. A Shirley Morton. She lived there with her husband, who is deceased now, but she’s still there.”
“She spoke with the neighbor?” Amanda said.
“Guess so.”
