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“I still don’t understand,” he said. “Is this…this looks like Claudia’s résumé. What relevance does this have to your investigation into her murder? What are you trying to tell me? That my wife was actively looking to close her practice and move on to this place?” He reached out and pulled the copy of the cover letter toward him. “This— Wait. The date on this—”
Noah interjected. “Is fourteen years ago. What do you know about this, Mr. Collins?”
Beau took a long moment to study each document. Then he tapped a tremulous finger against the page. “I told you what I know about that. I told this entire city what I know on the air yesterday. I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish here, but—”
Josie said, “We think that you got the answer wrong.”
Beau looked stricken. “What?”
“The answer to the killer’s question,” said Noah. “‘What is my wife’s greatest failure?’ You answered it incorrectly. We believe that may be why the killer targeted Trudy.”
Josie said, “The killer put this inside one of your puzzle boxes and then left it in her hand after he killed her. He staged it so that we would find it and know that it was significant.”
From her periphery, Josie was aware of Liam Flint moving closer, not even bothering to pretend to fiddle with his camera any longer.
Beau shook his head vehemently. “I did not get the answer wrong! What I said was correct. That was the right answer. I don’t know what you’re saying.”
Josie pointed to the cover letter. “The Pennsylvania Women’s Alliance for Refuge and Assistance didn’t ‘go another way,’ did they? Claudia didn’t get the job because they never received her application. Trudy took it. Held onto it. Since Trudy was the practice secretary, Claudia probably asked her to call and confirm that they’d received it. It would have been easy enough for Trudy to lie and say she had called and was told they had gotten Claudia’s application.”
“I don’t—I don’t understand what you’re saying or where you’re going with this,” said Beau. “Trudy was a loyal, steadfast employee. I don’t appreciate your impugning her character like this.”
Josie said, “Did Trudy do this on her own or did you tell her to do it?”
Beau wouldn’t look at them. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know what any of this has to do with my wife’s murder.”
Noah said, “It has something to do with it or the killer would not have brought it to our attention.”
Beau took one more horrified look at the pages on the table and then he stood and stomped off. Margot hurried after him, her heels clacking. Josie looked over toward the camera, but Liam Flint was gone. They were as alone as one could be on a television set.
FORTY-THREE
In the hall, WYEP employees gave Josie and Noah curious glances. It was the third time they’d been to the station in five days. They were halfway to the doors that led back out to the lobby and security desk when Liam Flint emerged from an unmarked door. He didn’t see them. He was in a hurry as he walked away from them, head down, a backpack and bike helmet clutched against his chest. Around his neck was a tan cashmere scarf.
Josie’s heartbeat ticked upward. “Noah, look,” she whispered. “He’s got a bike helmet.”
Something else struck her as well, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
“Mr. Flint,” Noah called.
The sudden hitch in his shoulders told Josie that Liam had heard Noah, but he didn’t turn around. Instead, he hurried his pace, bypassing the doors to the lobby and swinging a left down another hallway.
Josie and Noah followed. “Mr. Flint,” she said loudly when he came back into view. “Please stop. We’d like to talk with you.”
He stopped this time but didn’t turn around, instead waiting for Josie and Noah to catch up with him. Without looking at them, he asked, “What do you want?”
Josie said, “Where are you going? Isn’t the show about to start?”
Liam looked down at the backpack and helmet in his hands. He lifted one hand and adjusted the scarf. Again, Josie felt there was something important right in front of her—besides the bike helmet—if only she could key in on it. Liam said, “I can’t be a part of that show anymore. I’ll give Beau my resignation some other time. I just can’t be in there.”
“Because of Claudia?” Josie asked softly.
Finally, Liam looked over at her. Tears spilled down his cheeks. With one hand, he used the end of the scarf to dab under his eyes. “There is no show without Claudia.”
That was when it hit Josie. The clue staring her right in the face.
“She was important to you, wasn’t she?”
He didn’t answer.
