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“Might be tough, but I’ll see what I can make happen. Anything else before I go?”
“Just that Trent and I feel our strongest lead rests with the Chapman case. We were just about to head over and talk with her best friend.”
“Always trust your instincts, Steele. I do. Keep me posted.” With that, Malone hung up.
“Huh. He trusts your instincts,” Trent said.
“He meant ours.” She shook her head, and he smirked as he put the car into gear.
THIRTY-NINE
A woman in her late thirties answered the door, and Amanda held up her badge. “Are you Victoria Eaton?”
“I am. Come in.” She let Amanda and Trent inside, and they took seats at the table in the dining room. A fan swirled overhead, the light off, as the room was bright enough with the late afternoon sun streaming in through the window.
Amanda managed to tamp down her curiosity until they all got situated. It normally took more effort to get themselves invited into a person’s home. Victoria must have been expecting police to show up at her door. “Thank you for being so willing to talk with us.”
“Well, she’s dead… that crime author, Felicity Kelley. The article came up as a suggestion on Google for me. I figured you would have seen that she called me and been curious. I mean you guys do that, right? Look at call histories?”
“We do,” Amanda confirmed.
“She wanted to talk about Naomi, but I didn’t want to. That time was painful for me. Hardest time in my life to date, truth be told.”
Amanda nodded, understanding Victoria’s viewpoint. She also appreciated that she was being so open with them. Before she could open her mouth to speak, Victoria continued.
“Ever since I saw that Felicity was dead, I’ve been beating myself up about not hearing her out.”
They’d been trying to figure out how Felicity had assembled the pieces in the Chapman case, and it would seem she hadn’t received much help from Victoria. Hopefully that would change for her and Trent. “Would you be willing to answer some questions for us?”
Victoria licked her lips. “About Naomi?”
“Yes.”
Victoria took a breath, straightened her posture, and said on a breath, “All right.”
“During a police interview after the murder, you brought up Naomi’s fellow interns. Why was that?”
“The police were interested in who might have known about her jewelry. Naomi wasn’t exactly quiet about flaunting what she had. I was her best friend, but I knew about the heirloom brooch she inherited. It was worth a lot of money. I assume whoever killed her took that, and these pricey cufflinks she had, and her Tiffany studs…” Victoria looked at her and Trent as if seeking confirmation, but the stolen items weren’t to be public knowledge.
Amanda didn’t recall reading mention in Victoria’s statement that Naomi Chapman flaunted her wealth. Such a tidbit might have not only aided the investigation but steered it in a completely different direction. “Did you mention this much to the detectives at the time?”
Victoria seemed to hesitate, then shook her head. “I didn’t want to make Naomi look bad, you know. I didn’t want them thinking she was a spoiled brat, which she was, and I’m only now comfortable saying that out loud.”
If she had been bold enough, Chapman’s killer might have been caught years ago and Felicity Kelley and Jane Burr could still be alive. “Did her fellow interns know about the items you just mentioned?”
“I’d be more shocked if they didn’t.”
“Do you know the names of the other interns? I saw from the file that you celebrated with everyone at the bar the night she died,” Amanda said.
“After all this time? All of them? No way. That feels like another lifetime. But I do know who got Naomi’s promotion in her place. He was a worm and not worthy of it.”
“Do you have a name?” Trent asked, the question rushing from his lips.
“Wendell Barrett.”
Trent pecked on the tablet.
When Amanda and Trent had first turned their thoughts to the Chapman case, they’d considered the person who might benefit with her out of the way. They finally had a name. “Do you remember a Kurt by chance?” Edmond McCormick mentioned he was gone before the promotion, but Amanda still thought she’d ask about him. He could have felt pushed out by Naomi. Then the news of her promotion could have found him and prompted him to murder.
