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“Of course,” Gary said, standing aside and allowing the agents to pass.
The first thing Faith noticed when they entered was the lack of smell. That didn’t surprise her since the police had already released the scene, but the second thing she observed was more interesting.
Benjamin Montgomery was a broken man. He carried a weight of grief which Faith knew would never fully leave him. Gary Navarro carried no such weight. He didn’t seem happy or relieved, emotions which Faith would have associated with guilt, but he seemed neutral about the whole thing, far more accepting than Benjamin was. She knew that he could simply be past the initial flush of grief and decided to reserve judgment until after she questioned him.
“Thank you for seeing us, Mr. Navarro,” she said.
“Please, call me Gary,” he said.
“Gary,” Faith said, “we were hoping to ask you a few questions.”
“Of course,” he said, “would you like some coffee? Water?”
“No thank you,” Faith said.
He shrugged and led them to the living room, gesturing for them to sit on the couch. They did, and he sat opposite them on a massage chair that Faith speculated cost as much as a new economy car. Everything in the house spoke of wealth. Not extreme wealth, but comfortable wealth, much like the residents of the Cedar Hills neighborhood from their previous case.
“Gary,” Faith said, “can you please tell me where you were the night your wife was murdered?”
“Driving home,” he said. “I got there three to five hours after she died according to the officers, so that would put me somewhere around Kingman.”
“Any reason you didn’t fly?” Michael asked.
“I needed room for my gear,” he said. “I was on a solo trip to North Vancouver Island.” He smiled. “I guess I didn’t trust myself to go out there with nothing like the guys on TV.”
“Probably wise,” Michael said. “You don’t have helicopters waiting to pull you out.”
“No sir,” Gary said. “You a fan of the show?”
“Can’t say that I am,” Michael replied.
“Gary, can you describe what you came home to?”
His smile faded, and Faith saw the first sign of real grief. “The front door was unlocked. That was the first clue that something was wrong. Katherine always left the door locked, even when she was home.”
“Was there any damage to the door?” Michael asked.
“No, but our bedroom window was broken. I realized that second. That’s when I knew someone had broken in.”
“Were you concerned for your wife’s safety at that point?” Faith asked.
“Honestly, no,” he said. “I assumed she was at her lover’s house.”
Michael lifted an eyebrow.
“She was cheating on you?” Faith asked.
“Oh yeah,” Gary said. “I found emails back and forth between her and a guy named Antonio. Good-looking guy. Very big, if you know what I mean. I can see why she liked him.”
“What did Katherine say when you confronted her?” Faith asked.
“I didn’t confront her,” he said. “I planned to divorce her, and my lawyer advised me not to confront her until we filed.”
“Tell me about finding her body,” Faith said, “and we’ll get back to the affair.”
“Yeah,” Gary said, “well, I saw the open window, then looked down and there she was.” Another flash of grief crossed his face. “She was torn up badly. Have you seen the pictures?”
“We’ve seen them,” Michael answered.
