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“Claudia didn’t donate that money. What did she do with it?”
“I don’t know. How would I know?”
“You never asked her for a receipt?” Noah asked. “For tax purposes?”
“I—I didn’t think to—I thought she was the one who—I—” He broke off and took a moment to slow his breathing. “I don’t know what she did with the money. I assumed she handed in the receipt to the accountant. I trusted her to do that. I didn’t check up on her. Like I said, Claudia was honest. She never lied. If that’s what she said she was going to do, that’s what she did. Maybe she gave it to a different charity.”
Either he genuinely didn’t know what had become of that thirty thousand dollars or he was lying. Josie’s money was on the latter.
She took her phone out and brought up the photo she had found on Facebook. Turning the screen toward Beau, she said, “You told us that you were at the WYEP studio at the time that Claudia was being murdered.”
He glanced at the photo but didn’t take a good look. “I was. I told you, the security guard could verify what time I left.”
Josie said, “You lied.”
“No, I didn’t! I—”
Noah cut him off. “Our colleagues, Detectives Palmer and Mettner, just spoke to that guard. He admitted that you paid him to lie about what time you left the studio.”
“No, no. He’s wrong. He’s mistaken. There’s been a misunderstanding—”
Interrupting him again, Noah said, “Mr. Collins, you were very clearly at the rec center next to the city park. Why?”
“I was—” He broke off, looking at the garbage bag Margot had left on the floor. Josie let the silence stretch out. A creaking sound came from the bathroom. Margot eavesdropping, most likely. Beau rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. “It was stupid. I was on my way home and I stopped…”
When he didn’t finish the sentence, Noah said, “You were running late for your fifteenth anniversary dinner so you decided to stop at the rec center to watch a bunch of seven- and eight-year-olds play basketball?”
Another creak. The bathroom door opening a crack. Josie put her phone back into her pocket. Liam’s words came back to her. Beau would never admit to anything even if confronted with hard evidence. “Mr. Collins,” she said. “As you can see, we’ve got photos of you there. My colleagues are pulling footage from inside and out of the rec center. There are only two reasons I can think of for why you would lie about this: either you’re involved in these murders, or you are hiding something very big. Something you don’t want anyone to know. Something you definitely did not want Claudia to know.”
Beau looked stricken. “I didn’t have anything to do with any of this. If you can get me on camera, you will be able to see that I was at the rec center at the time that my wife was at home setting up. I got here right after Margot. She’ll tell you.”
“Why were you at the game?” asked Noah.
Beau didn’t answer.
Josie said, “On Saturday, the killer left Eve’s body inside Lovers’ Cave with your wife’s wedding rings on her hand. Eve was your lover.”
“I told you that I had broken things off. It was a mistake. A lapse—”
Josie interrupted him. “A lapse in judgment, yes. We know. On Monday, the killer texted and asked you about Claudia’s biggest failures. You said it was not getting the job with the Pennsylvania Women’s Alliance for Refuge and Assistance. Whether you answered correctly or not is immaterial. When Trudy Dawson was murdered, the killer staged her body with the application that you and Trudy took from the outgoing mail.”
“I didn’t tell Trudy to do that,” he protested.
Josie held up a hand to silence him. “I don’t care. I want you to listen to me. Your answer to the question was related to Trudy and Trudy’s murder. Whether you told her to or not, Trudy took that application and made sure it was not mailed. Trudy was killed. Tell me you see where I’m going with this.”
He gave her a blank look. Josie couldn’t tell if it was genuine or not.
Noah said, “You went on air today and told everyone watching that Claudia’s deepest regret was not having children.”
Beau made a noise of exasperation. “According to some guy. A camera operator, evidently. I don’t even remember seeing that guy before. You should check him out.”
“We did,” said Noah. “He’s worked for WYEP for almost ten years. He moved from the news division to your show when it began airing.”
“He was right, wasn’t he?” asked Josie. “Claudia wanted children. You did not. When only one person in a marriage wants children, typically, you don’t have children. Claudia stayed with you, but she regretted not becoming a mother.”
“So what? Claudia made a choice. She chose to stay with me and to pursue our careers.”
Noah said, “What happens if the killer thinks you got the answer wrong?”
