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“We were not having an affair,” Evans said firmly. “We were talking business.”
“What kind of business?” Connor asked mildly. “We’re all ears, Miss Evans.”
Kit glanced at her phone, then at the glass, nodding imperceptibly. Connor followed her lead, a Cheshire cat grin spreading across his face.
“I just forwarded them the message from Marshall about the search of Evans’s home,” Navarro explained.
Connor leaned closer to Evans to murmur, “You wouldn’t have been talking about how to fence Benny Dreyfus’s stolen coins, would you? You had been searching the internet for how to sell valuable coins, and you did know about the collection. You printed an article about them seven days ago.”
Evans gasped. “You’ve been in my house? You had no right!”
“We have a search warrant,” Kit said coldly. “Based on the information provided by Archie Adler. I wonder what he’ll add to his statement when he finds out that you and Crawford were planning on stealing the coins and cutting him out?”
Evans’s skin went gray and Sam feared they’d need to pause the interview to get her medical assistance.
Evans closed her eyes for a long moment. When she opened them, she looked resigned. “We planned to steal them, but we didn’t. I was as shocked as anyone else to hear that they’d been taken. I guessed that Crawford had stolen them himself.”
“She did seem shocked at the news,” Sam said. “But she and Crawford put up a nice act about their relationship, so her reaction to the stolen coins could have been bogus, too.”
In the interview room, Kit sat back, her expression stony. “Considering you’ve lied about so many other things, why should we believe you?”
“Because I was out of town when they were stolen. I was in Temecula, visiting my mother.”
“Whose monthly fees for assisted living were costing you five grand a month,” Connor said with sympathy. “Four million dollars would buy a lot of care for her.”
Evans huffed in frustration. “I did not steal the coins. I wanted to, but I didn’t. Someone else got to them first.”
“You did steal from Shady Oaks, though,” Kit said.
Evans looked away.
“We’ll find the money,” Connor said, his tone still mild. “I promise you that. We’ll tell you the same thing we told Archie Adler—we’re going to ask the prosecutor to charge you for every time you took even a dime. Separate occurrences. Even if you’ve only been at it for the year you’ve been at Shady Oaks, that’s more than thirty years in prison.”
“So start talking,” Kit snapped. “Because I’m still inclined to believe that you killed Crawford. I know what your alibi is and what it is not. You still could have driven back from Temecula, killed Crawford after he stole the coins, then killed Frankie Flynn when he threatened to expose you.”
Evans covered her face with her hands. “I didn’t kill anyone. That was Kent.”
“Who did he kill?” Connor asked. “Besides Selma Waite, your predecessor? Because we figure that she caught Crawford in the act, so he killed her and brought you in. You were in the know from day one, weren’t you?”
Evans swayed, then propped her elbows on the table, steadying herself. “Crawford killed her. Told me that I’d get the same if I told anyone what we were up to. Told me to look the other way and he’d pay me.”
“So you weren’t actually stealing from Shady Oaks,” Connor said. “You were just accepting money Crawford had stolen.”
Evans nodded miserably. “Yes. But I didn’t kill him. I didn’t kill anyone.”
“Then who did?” Kit asked, her face unsmiling. “I want answers, Miss Evans. Because you and Adler are still alive. You’ll bear the brunt of both the theft and the murder.”
“I don’t know who killed Kent or Frankie Flynn!” Evans cried loudly. Tears began to stream down her cheeks. “I don’t know!”
Connor pushed a box of tissues in front of her. “Then tell us what you do know. The sooner we find the real killer, the sooner you’re not a suspect. You were meeting Crawford once a month. Why?”
“For sex,” Evans admitted quietly. “But it wasn’t an affair. It was…payment.”
Kit tilted her head, studying the older woman. “For what, exactly?”
“When the board came to me asking if I’d like the job as director of Shady Oaks, I didn’t know that Kent was involved. I jumped at the chance to change jobs. It was a big step up and more salary. My mom needed the care and I’d gone through my savings. Then I showed up for my first day and there was Kent, looking smug.” Her expression hardened. “I’d had an affair with him a year before and regretted it. His wife is nice and…I don’t know why I started with him. I was in a bad place then, and he was charming when he wanted to be.”
“So you took the job at Shady Oaks,” Kit said. “Then?”
