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“Go home.”
Henry had an idea. After the evening home visit, it was clear they were going nowhere with Shelly Markham. But Laura Long lived across the street from Dan Chua. She might be able to get something out of Shelly that they had not been able to get because they were cops and Shelly was on the defense.
He picked up his phone and keyed in Laura’s number.
“Henry, is everything okay?”
“Yes and no. I have a lot of nerve calling you this late.”
“It’s okay. Will ran back to the hospital to do a frozen section on an emergency case, so I’ll be up, waiting for him. What’s going on?”
He explained the evidence they’d gotten and the doubts they had about Alan being the murderer. “Shelly’s living with Dan Chua now. Did you know that?”
A tiny bit of something akin to jealousy scratched at Laura. It made her angry that she still thought of Dan at all, especially since she loved Will with all her heart.
“I wondered. She leaves Dan’s house and runs on the beach a couple of mornings a week.”
“Do you think you could engage her?”
“I can. Are you in a position to tell me anything about the case?”
He told her everything they had. “I understand from Will that Lily probably didn’t even know she was pregnant.”
“That could be the thing that tips the scale, Henry. Bring that up in an interrogation room, with the video camera going, and see what happens. In the meantime, I’ll make the sacrifice and go out there when I see her. Maybe I can pretend to run.”
“You look like you run, if I can make that observation without being obnoxious.”
“I don’t run, trust me. Ugh!”
“I’ll give you a tidbit that has been made public that she may not have heard yet. Tell her that Alan said Lily broke up with him the night she was killed, saying that she was in love with someone else.”
“Wow, that’s shocking! That could be a motive, you know. Unrequited love.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think so. Alan isn’t passionate about anything.”
“I’ll use that,” Laura said. “I’ll be in touch tomorrow.”
“Okay, do your thing, and we’ll do ours. Let me know what you find out.”
“So, this means I have to be poised at the door with my sneakers on when I see her run past.”
“Ha! Pretty much. I’m sorry. But I’ll pay you. We actually have a budget for PIs now.”
“No way! I’ll take it,” she said, laughing.
They said goodbye and ended the call. Was the person Lily had dumped Alan for Lisa? Laura looked out the window above the sink, at the shadow of Dan’s house across the street. Someone wearing a dark hoodie had snuck into her yard and planted a gun there. Who? Alan?
Grabbing her phone again, she went to the couch and sat down, glad for the warmth of the fire Will had made before he left. She scrolled through the videos on her phone until she found the one she’d saved from the security camera. It was dark, but the figure was obviously lanky, maybe even female. She wondered if Henry had ever submitted the video as evidence. She quickly sent him a text.
Watch this video again. I don’t think that’s a guy, do you?
She didn’t get a response, so he might have been on the road. For the first time in a while, since she’d lived with Will, she felt the need to talk to Dan.
Chapter 10
Thanksgiving was just around the corner. Laura was in full-on nesting mode, preparing to have her mother and Will’s family over for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
Her monthly period was now technically late. Will had stocked up on pregnancy tests, and she debated whether to do one privately so he wouldn’t be disappointed if it came out negative or wait and do the test when he was home, trusting him to be an adult.
