Marcus flinched, and Kate realized what she’d said.Her blood drained to her feet.She wanted to apologize, to tell him that the two of them were different, but she couldn’t say that in front of a suspect.
Damn it.Way to put your goddamned foot in your mouth, Kate.
“Yes,” Graham replied, untroubled by Kate’s question.“After it became clear that Ginger wasn’t going to return to me, I allowed myself time to grieve the marriage, then moved on.I would be lying if I said I was sorry that the Carltons are dead, but I wouldn’t throw my own life away to kill them.Besides,” he waved his hands in front of his girthy form.“Do I look like I’m up for the task of murdering people?”
“I’ve learned that physical shape rarely matters,” Kate said.“If someone wants someone else dead badly enough, they’ll find a way.”
Graham shrugged.“Well, I’m not sure what to tell you.I didn’t kill them.My girlfriend can confirm that I was with her the entire night.”Petty triumph flashed across his face.“Ginger may have preferred another, but Honey is quite satisfied with my performance.”
“I’m sure she is,” Marcus said drily.“Do us a favor and don’t leave town, all right?”
“As a litigator, I feel I should remind you that you don’t have the right to ask me that.However, I have no intention of leaving the area anytime soon.Should you feel a need to talk to me again, you can find me here every morning saves for Wednesdays and Saturdays.”
“Thank you, Mr.Sterling,” Kate said.“You’ve given us a lot to think about.”
In the car, Kate addressed the enormous elephant in the room.“Hey, Marcus, what I said back there… I was just trying to get a rise out of him.Get him to admit something.”
“It’s fine,” he said tersely.“I’m going to head back to the field office and keep digging through the guest list.I’ll catch a bus, and you can keep the car.Why don’t you verify Sterling’s alibi, and if it checks out, keep working on the cipher?We’ll call each other if we come up with something.”
Kate nodded.“All right.”
He looked at her and sighed."Don't worry about it okay?Seriously.It's no big deal.You and I aren't the same thing as Graham and his girlfriend.I know that."
Kate tried to be encouraged, but she could hear the tension in Marcus’s voice.At least a part of him was stung by Kate’s observation about Graham moving fast.He was moving fast too.He hadn’t even divorced his wife yet.The two of them were breaking the seventh commandment, strictly speaking.
“I think that there might be more to the Carltons than meets the eye,” Marcus said.“That’s why I want to keep working on the list.I’m not trying to get away from you.”
“All right,” she said again.She smiled at him to show she meant it.
“Cool.”
She wasn’t exactly placated, but she realized there was nothing to be gained by agonizing over this anymore.If they needed to have a longer conversation about it, they could have it once the case was solved.
She didn’t believe Graham was right about the Carltons using these planned liaisons as some sort of business tool, but there was mounting evidence to suggest that the Carltons did, in fact, specialize in facilitating adultery.If that was the case, it made them the perfect targets for the latest commandment killer.
The question was: who would they target next?
