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“We believe this man is behind the attack on Thomas in the parking lot a few weeks before Julie was murdered.”
Lorrie shot off the couch. “You mean he was telling the truth about that?” Her chin trembled as tears filmed her eyes. “How… Why…” She shook her head, her blond hair swaying. “I accused him of lying, said horrible things to him when we broke up.”
Her voice came out on a sob. Hannah rose and grabbed a few tissues from a nearby table before returning to Julie’s side. “We don’t know anything definitive yet. The investigation is still in its early stages.”
“But could Thomas really be innocent of Julie’s murder?”
“You doubted his innocence?” Hannah kept the shock vibrating through her from bleeding into her voice, but it took effort. Lorrie had been Thomas’s fiercest defender throughout the course of the investigation.
“I…” Lorrie sank back to the couch. “No. I don’t know. Thomas is very good at painting a picture of what he wants you to see. I’m not sure anyone really knows who he is or what he’s capable of.”
Hannah settled into the seat next to her. “Is that why you broke up?”
She nodded and swiped at the tears on her face. “I was foolish to get involved with a married man. My parents raised me better than that, but when Thomas hit on me, I was at a low point. I’d broken up with an abusive ex and was desperate for attention and love. Thomas swore his marriage to Julie was over. They slept in separate bedrooms and barely talked. He was going to file for divorce, but things took time.”
Classic. Hannah had heard this type of story over and over again. Julie was complicit in the affair, but it wasn’t unusual for a vulnerable woman to be taken advantage of by a manipulative man. “How were his interactions with Julie at the office?”
“Strained. That’s part of the reason I believed him.” She let out a long sigh. “They genuinely seemed to have marital trouble. And maybe they were… I don’t know. There were a lot of weird things going on at the office in the months before Julie was killed.”
“What things?”
“Billing issues. Staffing problems. Several people were fired from Julie’s side of the practice and replaced by temps. It was chaotic. Julie was incredibly tense in a way I’d never seen her before. Once I forgot to log out of the main computer before leaving the office and she flipped out. At the time, I thought the issues with Thomas were making her tense, but in the last several months since we’ve broken up, I’ve reconsidered.” She chewed her lip. “Julie was worried about something and becoming paranoid.”
“Paranoid? Can you give me a specific example of an incident that made you think that?”
“Well, there was the computer incident. That was weird because it wasn’t the first time I’d done that. Then I walked into an exam room one time and she nearly jumped out of her skin. In March, she suddenly decided not to see any new patients. Once someone popped in with an emergency issue and Julie adamantly refused to see him. I had to talk her into it because I could tell the patient was in a great deal of pain.”
“Refusing to see an emergency walk-in was strange behavior?”
“Very. Julie was patient-oriented and never turned away anyone who needed her. More than once, she stayed late to handle a patient having an unexpected tooth issue.” Lorrie twisted the tissues between her hands. “It’s hard to explain. The way Julie reacted when I asked her to see the patient… it was out of character. The only way I can describe it is paranoid.”
“Did she think the man would harm her?”
“I didn’t get that sense. More like suspicion. As if he was lying about his problem. It was so strange. Like I said, at the time, I thought she was just having issues with Thomas. After her murder, he and I were talking, and I told him about these incidents. He convinced me not to tell the police. Thomas was worried that Julie’s strange behavior would make him appear more guilty. By that time, I was in love with him, so I kept quiet.”
“And you didn’t think to tell the police after you two broke up?”
“I did, but so much time had passed…. I wasn't sure it was important. Thomas is a liar, but I’m not convinced he killed Julie. Deep down, I think he truly loved her.” She picked up the photograph of Cash from the coffee table. “If this is the man who attacked him in the parking lot, doesn’t that mean he was telling the truth about what happened? Maybe Julie was involved with these people somehow.”
It was something to consider. Maybe Thomas was telling the truth about the incident in the parking lot, but wasn’t honest about his conversation with Cash. A half-lie. It was also possible Lorrie was lying now. It seemed very convenient that she spilled all this information a few days before Thomas’s trial.
Hannah studied the other woman. “What caused you and Thomas to break up?”
“It wasn’t one single thing. I discovered he was lying to me. Had been the entire time we were together. First, I learned he never attempted to file for divorce. Then it came out that Julie was pregnant at the time of her death, which meant he lied about the state of their relationship. Thomas convinced me things weren’t how they seemed in the media. I stupidly believed him. But over time, more and more lies piled up. Plus the reporters were hounding me every day. It all became too much to handle.”
New tears filled her eyes. “We had a huge fight. I said some awful things to him. Accused him of lying about the incident in the parking lot just like he did about everything else. I stormed out of his house and haven’t seen him since.”
“He hasn’t attempted to contact you?”
“No, he tried. Sent flowers. Called. I refused to talk to him.” Her shoulders sagged. “I can’t do this with him anymore. I want to get this trial over with and move on with my life.”
Ryker hung up his cell phone and rejoined them. “I’m sorry, Ms. Michaels, but we need to go. Thank you for your time.”
His tone was curt and abrupt, but he gently reached down to take Hannah’s arm and pulled her into a standing position. She wriggled away long enough to grab her leather file folder, say goodbye to Lorrie, and then hurried to catch up with him at the elevator.
He was already inside, holding the door open for her with one strong hand. The second she slipped past him, Ryker stepped back and the doors swished closed.
She turned to face him. “What are you doing? I wasn’t done—”
