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“Turns out, that’s not a problem,” Arnett muttered.
Chelsea stared at him, horrified.
Jo’s gaze returned to Julia—something about her reaction wasn’t sitting well. But she sensed Julia wasn’t the type who’d respond well to pressure while in front of others, so she momentarily switched gears, turning back to Chelsea. “Did she mention anything to you?”
“No.” Chelsea rubbed one of her upper arms. “But I don’t understand. What does the money have to do with anything if this is about some creeper watching us?”
“Hold on.” Julia frowned. “Naomie did say something about someone going through her files. I just figured she was being paranoid, because why would someone do that? Everyone at Triple-B has clearance to look at whatever client files they need to without sneaking around behind her back.”
Chelsea’s head whipped around. “But theclientsdon’t, right?”
“No, absolutely not. Only staff,” Julia said.
Jo followed Chelsea’s train of thought. “Are the files locked away?”
“Yes,” Julia answered. “Either in Naomie’s office or Rhea Blondell’s office. Rhea’s the CFO.”
“But they leave the offices open all the time,” Chelsea objected. “I went to have lunch with Naomie last week and I sat in her office alone for ten minutes while she finished up talking with someone else in another area.”
Julia’s nod was reluctant. “No, that’s true. Once you’re past the reception desk, there are no cameras or anything. We never had reason to worry.”
Jo turned back to Chris. “Did she ever bring work home with her? Does she have a home office where she keeps records?”
“The only records she keeps here are whatever files she’s currently working on. She has a home office of sorts, a desk in the solarium. She likes to work in the natural light, with the view. Liked.” He choked on the last word, then stood and left the room.
* * *
They followed him silently through the house. The solarium, enclosed by three walls of floor-to-ceiling windows, would have created a beautiful space during the day. But now, with the wind howling and the rain chattering across the glass, Jo felt oddly exposed, like the darkness had stripped away all protection and was waiting to swallow them whole.
“There, on the desk,” Chris said, pointing.
Jo pulled her eyes away from the glass and crossed to the minimalist white table in the far corner. A squat vase of fresh white daisies, a cup of pens and pencils, and a computer monitor were the only accoutrements, all placed pristinely as though readied for a magazine photo shoot. A brown satchel hanging from the top of the office chair added to the effect, like a purposeful addition meant to make the room look casually lived in.
She mentally shook herself. “Do you mind if we take the bag with us?” Jo asked.
“Take whatever you need,” Chris whispered.
After a quick trip to the kit in the trunk of her car, Jo bagged the satchel and gave Chris a receipt. “We’ll get it back to you as soon as possible.”
“Take your time.” Chris’s eyes filled with tears again. “She doesn’t need it now.”
Jo cleared her throat. “In the interest of checking all the boxes, we need to know where you all were between five-twenty and nine.”
“At five-twenty I was on the way back to the office from an on-site assessment,” Chris said. In response to Jo’s confused expression, he paused to explain. “I have to go out to damaged properties for insurance claims. I got back to the office around five-thirty, closed everything out, and left about six. I got home a short time after, I’m not sure when. I grabbed a beer and started watching the Bruins game I’d recorded. When the kitchen alarm went off, I pulled out the shepherd’s pie thinking Naomie would be home soon. When she didn’t show up, I called Chelsea and Julia, and you know what happened after that.”
“Would your front-door camera show when you got home? And was there anybody at your job who saw you return?” Jo asked.
“Yes, the camera should show the exact time. And yes, not only do we have key cards to get into the building, my job is open concept. Several people were there when I got back, and we all left around the same time.” He gave names, which Arnett jotted down.
She turned to Julia, who answered before she asked. “I had two one-on-one appointments for midwife clients up to about four-thirty, then I went to pick up an early dinner before my Lamaze class at seven. I was just about to start class when Chris called.”
Chelsea volunteered her answer when Julia finished. “I’m not working right now. I was at home, trying to set up the crib I just bought. Then I was going to head out for the Lamaze class, because that’s one of the ones I attend. But then…” She lifted a limp hand, then plopped it back down again.
“Thank you,” Jo said. “There’s one last issue. Chelsea, Julia. I don’t want to alarm you unnecessarily, but there’s a possibility, especially if the person you thought was watching you at the juice bar is the one who did this, that they might come after one of you next.”
Chelsea’s head bobbed in furious agreement—this wasn’t news to her.
“So we need to be sure you’re protected,” Jo continued. “The ideal situation would be for you to leave the area, go stay with a friend or relative. We can put a patrol on each of you until you figure that out. Do you both have someone like that?”
