DETECTIVE RANDYFellowes was good at his job, and it wasn’t often that a case caught him off guard, but this one was off to a messy start. The officer who’d arrived at the scene had taken down some notes, but it was a very short list of details that didn’t line up.
He looked back at Natalie. “You flew back this morning? Is that correct?”
“Yes. It feels like a year ago,” Natalie said, pushing her hair behind her ear. “If I weren’t still wearing this dress I might not be so sure.” She smoothed the wrinkles with her hand. At least being stuck in the ER instead of being moved to a private room, she wasn’t given one of those horrible hiney-exposing hospital gowns to wear. “This might be the longest day of my life.”
He couldn’t help but smile at that. He’d had days like that before. “I hear you. So, you were not in an accident. Not in Mexico? Not here?”
“No. I guess I fainted to land here in the hospital, but there was no accident. I’ve been vacationing on the beach in Cancún with no issue, and I had an uneventful flight until I came home and found my house empty.”
“I see.”
“Did the other officer tell you that even the lightbulbs were gone? Every nail hole was patched too, and you know how many pictures I had on the walls.” She looked to Sheila for confirmation.
“I do. That is weird,” Sheila chimed in. “I’m in real estate. I mean, seriously, I can’t even get sellers to do that before they vacate.”
Natalie clicked her fingers. “The landscaping had just been done too. I’d been on Marc to raise the profile on the bushes and put down some new mulch for a month. Remember me telling you that, Sheila?”
“I do. Yes.” Sheila nodded.
“He did it. It looked great. I was so excited,” Natalie explained to her friend. “I can’t believe everything I own is gone. And I can’t reach Marc. And my neighbor is saying she saw him the other day and he was telling her I’d been in some kind of accident.”
“What have you found out?” Sheila asked the detective.
“Not much yet. I haven’t been able to connect the dots on Mister Marc middle-initial-ISwindell. There’s no driver’s license with that name registered in the state. Do you know if he lived somewhere else previously?”
“No. Well, Texas, maybe? We were both on flights between here and Dallas when we met. I’d assumed he was from here, but he may not have ever specifically said.”
“I can check on that. You told the officer that Mr. Swindell worked for a company in the State Street Building in Richmond.” He flipped his notepad. “Global TMG?”
“Yes.”
“What does TMG stand for?”
She blinked. “I really have no idea.”
“You’d been to his office to see him before?” Detective Fellowes asked.
“Yes. Two, maybe three times. His office was on the fourth floor.”
The detective shook his head. “No company by that name has a lease in that building. Do you recall which suite number?”
“It was to the right as soon as you came off the elevator. There were blue chairs in the reception area. The lady who answered the phone, her name was Dory. I spoke to her often. A young woman.”
“You’ve called his office before?”
“Several times. Earlier today, even. From the airport, and then when I got home and everything was gone. No answer.”
“Okay. Is that unusual?”
“Yes.” Her voice rose a pitch. “Look, I don’t know what they rented that space under, but I’ve been there. You can see the calls on my phone if you check. Do you know where my things are? My purse? Luggage?”
“Yes, we have it. I can get your phone for you.” He leaned forward. “So, here’s the thing. You told the officer that you and Mr. Swindell bought the house together. Correct?”
“Yes. We each paid half. Those houses go for over seven hundred thousand in that neighborhood. Nearing foreclose, we were able to get it for half that. It was a steal,” Natalie explained.
Sheila nodded.
“A steal. Yes.” Randy paused.
