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“Maybe sixteen,” she said. “It’s hard to remember. He left after that and didn’t come back to visit for a long time. I kept expecting my schooling to stop or to be taken away, but it didn’t. So I knew that he would be back. I woke up dreading the day of his return.
“And then one day he showed up and said his wife died and that I was to take her place,” she said. “My schooling was finished. He gave me new papers with a new date of birth and age. The papers already had me as his wife so we could travel freely together. Even my citizenship had been changed to American.”
“How old were you really?” Jack asked.
She smiled and drained the glass. “It was my seventeenth birthday.”
“Do you know a William Kirby?” Jack asked.
“The name is not familiar,” she said, shaking her head. “Is he the man who killed David?”
“No,” Jack asked. “Had your husband gotten any threats? Did anything come here to the house that might have been suspicious?”
“Not that I know of,” she said. “I always put his mail and packages on the desk in his office. I’m not to touch anything in there or open his mail.”
“What about drugs?” I asked.
She hesitated and looked down, as if she were deciding how to answer. “Yes, I believe he was taking something. I found a package taped to the back of the toilet upstairs. There were many drugs in the house I’d lived in before David, so I recognized what it was. I didn’t say anything to him about it, but sometimes he would have terrible fits of rage. I always stayed out of the way or left the house. It was never good to be too close to him during those times.”
“How about money?” Jack asked. “Did he ever seem worried about money? Or owe money to anyone?”
“I know nothing about those things,” she said. “I’m given an allowance every week, but that is all I know about our money.”
Jack nodded and stood up, and I followed suit. “We’re sorry for the inconvenience of having to go through your home.”
“I understand,” she said. “I guess I am trying to get used to the fact that he will not walk through the doors again. I’m not sure what to do next.”
“Take all the time you need,” Jack said. “You might discover you have dreams of your own.”
She laughed softly as if the thought were unimaginable and we let ourselves out.
CHAPTERTEN
“Breakfast seems like years ago,”I said once we left the Sowers’ neighborhood.
“I’m assuming that means you’re ready for lunch?” Jack asked. “That chicken salad place is up here. We can drive through.”
“I want the kind with the little grapes in it,” I said. “Nia Sowers was lying about not knowing Kirby.”
“Yeah, I picked up on that,” Jack said, getting in the drive-thru line. “The question is why.”
“Most obvious reason would be that she’s scared of him,” I said. “If he’s the one who has control over her legal status or papers maybe she’s afraid what he’ll do to her, especially now that Sowers is dead.” I paused to look at the long line. “Good grief. Who knew chicken salad was so popular.”
“It’s the new boba tea,” Jack said. “All the fads fade at some point.”
“I just don’t understand why people want chewy balls in their tea,” I said. “I don’t drink things just so I can chew. It makes no sense.”
Jack grinned and tapped his fingers on the wheel. I amused him.
The phone rang and Jack hit a button on the steering wheel to answer. “What’s up, Cole?”
“Thought you’d want to know we’ve got a visual of Bobby Pickering,” Cole said. “We got a hit back after we put his picture on the news as a person of interest. He’s eating lunch bold as you please at Heart Attack Burgers in King George.”
“We’re two minutes away,” Jack said, pulling out of the line and heading back on the highway. “What’s your feel? You think he’s oblivious?”
“No, I think he’s meeting someone,” Cole said. “He keeps glancing at the door and he hasn’t ordered yet. Seems impatient. I was waiting to see if anyone else showed up before we moved on him.”
“Your call,” Jack said. “What’s your twenty?”
