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“That’s right.”
“Do you know if the light was set up with motion sensor?” Amanda asked.
Shirley shook her head. “It wasn’t. Thankfully, or Paul and I would have gone insane. Though more me, I suppose, as I’m a rather light sleeper.”
“Did you happen to hear anyone knock?” This came from Trent as he settled back in his chair.
“I don’t think so. But we all have doorbells.”
It sounded like Chapman may have had a guest the night she was murdered. Robbers don’t typically ring the doorbell—and there was the broken window and prints in the back to consider. But it was hard to ignore that the timing of the visitor fell right within Chapman’s time-of-death window. “When you told the detective about the light, what was his reaction?”
“He thanked me, but I don’t think he made much of it. I mean he mustn’t have. Naomi’s killer was never caught. At least that young woman, Felicity, was actually paying attention to me. You don’t think she put her nose in too far and got herself killed?”
“We’re still investigating,” Amanda said. “You said that Felicity just showed up one day. When was that?”
“A few months ago. She fudged the truth though. Told me she was an investigative reporter revisiting the case. Guess I can’t blame her. She just wanted answers. Now why she cared so much, I don’t know. What happened to her? The author? The news only says so much.”
“We can’t disclose those details.” Amanda had no qualms about shutting out civilians from police matters.
Shirley shuddered, pressed her hands together, and looked up toward the ceiling. Her lips moved, as she spoke in a quiet undertone, uttering words to herself, possibly her deity. A few moments later, she let her hands relax and placed them in her lap.
Amanda waited a few beats, then asked, “Did you and Felicity speak about any other things relating to Naomi?”
Her green eyes danced from Amanda to Trent and back again. “Yes. One thing. I shared my suspicion with her.”
“Which was?” Amanda asked.
“Naomi’s maid was bad news.”
The maid had been the one to find Naomi Chapman. Was it a coincidental or planned discovery?
Trent edged forward in his chair. “Can you elaborate?”
“I tried to warn Naomi, but she wasn’t listening to a word I said. She was young and thought she knew everything. But I knew the maid from my past.”
Tingles spread on Amanda’s arms, just anticipating what Shirley might tell them and suffering from the suspense.
“She worked for a friend of mine, and she had things go missing. The maid, Faye Douglas, swore it had nothing to do with her, but my friend is smart as a whip. She set up a hidden camera and caught her red-handed, taking cash off her dresser. Confronted with the video, Faye returned the money and other trinkets she had stolen. My friend still fired her ass.”
Amanda wanted to know more about this maid. Had she stolen from Naomi? And if so, had Naomi found out and confronted her about it? Faye’s sticky fingers had extended to trinkets. Did it stretch further to include valuable jewelry? The jewels could even have been gone before the supposed home invasion. Had Faye killed Naomi and simply pretended to find Naomi? Dennis Bishop hadn’t told them the maid was even considered suspect, just that Chapman’s ex-boyfriend was questioned. “Did you share this information with the police at the time?”
“I didn’t.”
“And why’s that?” Trent asked.
“There’s a long leap from stealing some things to killing a person in cold blood, but people are capable of anything.”
Shirley had said she’d shared her suspicions about the maid with Felicity. Had it further sparked Felicity’s interest and landed her in trouble? But Amanda couldn’t completely ignore that they already had a suspect in custody for Felicity’s murder. “Just one more question before we leave,” Amanda started. “Does the name Sheldon Lowe mean anything to you? Maybe he was a friend of Naomi’s…?”
Shirley seemed to give it some thought, but a few seconds later, shook her head. “The name doesn’t sound familiar.”
Amanda gave her a brief description of his current looks, though they could have been far different fifteen years ago. Still, it didn’t bring anyone up for Shirley. Amanda stood and handed Shirley her card. “If you think of anything else, either from your time with Felicity, or from when Naomi Chapman was killed, please call.”
After Shirley assured Amanda that she would, Amanda couldn’t get out the door fast enough.
They loaded into the car, and as the vents belted out cool air, her heart was racing.
“We need to speak with this maid, Trent. Feel her out, see what she has to say. Even if it’s just to rule her out from suspicion.”
