Page 52 of One of Us Is Guilty

‘No,’ said Harry, flatly and without hesitation.

‘Why not?’

His gaze drifted off. Then he said, ‘You’re much better at reading people than me, but I just don’t think she cares about Patrick enough to kill Molly Green.’

‘That’s dark,’ I said.

‘He’s rich, but I’d guess that Vanessa would do well out of a divorce. I think he’s controlling her, Eddie. There could be some violence in that relationship too. You’ve been thinking the same thing. It’s just a matter of time before she tells us. Spousal abuse coupled with her husband’s infidelity would give her strong groundsfor a favorable divorce. The best thing to happen to Vanessa is her husband’s affair with Molly.’

‘Then why is she lying to us? Why is she not telling us the whole story? And now the DA can prove that she lied to police. She told them she’d never been to Molly’s apartment. Now they’ve got her DNA on a possible murder weapon, and thanks to a security camera they can prove she was there on the night of the murder and lied about it to everybody. There’s a lot of heavy lifting to do before we could persuade a jury of reasonable doubt.’

‘And yet the murder doesn’t make sense to me,’ he said.

‘Then what are we going to do?’ I asked.

My phone rang – Bloch.

‘I finally got a lead on Teresa Chase,’ she said, no greeting or small talk. All business.

‘Who is she?’

‘Lake and I are on our way to East Hampton to find out. We were looking for victims, crimes, deceased, but this morning I tried a different kind of search. Got a hit. Teresa Chase is a missing person.’

‘Missing? For how long?’

‘Six years.’

‘Do we have any kind of link with the Vanderpools yet?’

‘Just one,’ said Bloch. ‘According to the reports, the last person to see her alive was Patrick Vanderpool.’

She said she would check in later when she knew more and hung up.

Harry and I spent the afternoon going through the discovery, over and over again, re-reading everything. Denise made an appointment for us to call at Vanessa’s hotel that evening. I wasn’t looking forward to this, but it had to be done.

I heard footsteps coming up the stairs to our office. Fast, excited. A light step.

I knew exactly who it was. I got up and opened my office door,stepped into reception and was standing there when Amy walked in. She was carrying an overnight bag, wearing her jeans and a hoody. A dress was in a travel bag.

‘Dad, you haven’t forgotten,’ she said.

‘Of course not. Harry and I can take you to dinner, then we’ve got to see a client while you’re at the party and when you’re done I’ll pick you up.’

I heard heavier footsteps on the stairs, and Christine followed Amy inside.

‘He’s forgotten,’ said Christine.

‘I haven’t forgotten. I’ve been looking forward to tonight. I swear.’

‘Are you excited for the party?’ asked Denise.

‘Stressed. I don’t have time for dinner. I’ve got to do my make-up and get ready. Dad, can we go back to your place?’

‘Sure, let me grab my coat. Christine, how are you?’

‘Fine, just don’t forget to pick her up.’

‘I won’t. Jesus. What makes you think I forgot about today?’