“We weigh in on message boards, and we’ve done quite well on our cases,” Edward said.
“Some friends play bridge, we solve murders,” Mike said. “Or try to.”
“We’re lucky because Edward has all kinds of databases, connections with the right people,” Anne said.
“Databases?” Kate asked.
“Like Mike, I retired a few years back. I owned a private security firm,” Edward said. “And I keep up the subscriptions.”
“We’ll do our best,” Nola said. “One hundred percent for Conor’s defense.”
“Only if he needs a defense,” Anne said with strong emotion in her voice. “There is no way that Conor hurt that woman. Belinda. I don’t even want to say this ...” She paused, then took a step closer to Kate.
“What?” Kate asked. “Tell me.”
Anne took Kate’s hand and looked into her eyes.
“I think the murder was a case of mistaken identity. Belinda was never the intended victim,” Anne said.
“Then who was?” Kate asked.
“The killer saw Belinda wearing your wedding dress and thought he was killing you,” Anne said.
“Conor thought it was me, when he found the body,” Kate said quietly. She felt a cold chill run down her spine. In spite of how she felt about Belinda, her heart seized to think of her so violently killed—even worse if it had been a mistake.
“What do we know about the actual murder?” Nola asked, pulling a notebook from her purse.
“From what Conor told me,” Mike said, “Belinda was attacked from behind. The killer reached around to cut her throat.”
Nola listened, taking notes.
“Exactly,” Anne said. “So the killer wouldn’t have seen Belinda’s face. And it was early morning.”
“The sun was just coming up,” Kate said slowly. “There would have been shadows in the room. The light would have been dim.”
“There are a few obvious issues,” Edward said. “What is Belinda’s height in relation to Kate’s? Kate, you’re what—five six?”
“About,” Kate said.
“So the murderer had to be at least that tall, probably taller—to reach around and make his cut,” Nola said.
“I’ll get the medical examiner’s report from one of my contacts on the state police,” Edward said. “That will tell us a lot. And I’ll get him to pull Belinda’s driver’s license. It will have her height. Does anyone have a photo of her?”
Kate scrolled through her phone, found a couple of shots she had taken the night before, with Belinda in the background. Edward gave her his number, and Kate texted them to him.
“Thank you,” she said, looking around the group. “For helping with this.”
“Of course,” Mike said. He put his arm around Kate’s shoulders. “We’re family, Kate. And our friends are very good at what they do. We’ll figure this out.”
Kate nodded, and then she left the five old crime-solvers to keep working on Conor’s case. She had to walk away from them before she cried.
16
Sunday, July 4; 11:00 a.m.
Sam and Hadley took CeCe to the Ocean House pool. It was located a level below the lobby, with a wall of glass that opened onto a terrace lined with hydrangeas, with a view of the sea. The pool was long and serene, with turquoise water sparkling in light slanting in from outside. A semicircle of shallow water, with a gentle fountain glittering in the sun, curved onto the wide terrace, reaching toward the ocean. Hadley played in the pool with CeCe while Sam sat on a lounge chair, staring intently at her laptop. She googled Belinda Tyler. Many websites advertised all the information anyone would want about any Belinda Tyler in the United States, including current and past addresses, family members, and background reports. Most of them required payment. But there were much simpler and obvious ways, where she could actually see pictures and, sometimes, snippets of real life. She could go to any of the major social media sites—Facebook, Instagram, and X—and type in the name. Sometimes she would get a hit. Even though she didn’t consider “Belinda” a common name, quite a few Belinda Tylers were coming up.
One bit of data might help her narrow things down: the fact that Belinda had grown up on the same street in New London as Conor and Tom Reid. Their families had been neighbors. Sam knew from experience that available online information could go back many years, even decades. There could be multiple addresses. She didn’t know thename of the street, so she typed Conor and Tom’s parents’ names into the search bar.
