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“Would you know if she wasn’t?”
“We told each other everything. Every. Single. Thing. If she was having an affair, I would’ve known. She never so much as looked at another man since the day she met Marcel. She was madly in love with him.”
Sam took notes as Kelly spoke. “Did she mention any specific problems or challenges they’d been having lately?”
“They took a big financial hit when he scaled back to part time at work. He did that without telling her until it was already done. She wasn’t happy about it, because it meant she’d have to take on more at her job. They were juggling a lot with the kids, their activities, Eloise’s gymnastics. Money had become an issue for the first time in their marriage.”
“We heard that one of his partners in the medical practice was upset about his decision to scale back, too. Do you know anything about that?”
“Rory was furious. Liliana said he and Marcel had gotten into a screaming fight over it, but Marcel was unwilling to change his mind. I guess the partners were as surprised as his wife was when he made the decision without their input.”
“What was their relationship like with the partner before that?”
“They were close friends with him and his wife. Had been for years.”
“Was the partner angry enough to murder Marcel and his family?”
“Liliana described the argument as vicious. I’ve met Rory and his wife, Brittany, many times. I can’t picture him murdering children, but then again, I can’t imagine how anyone can commit murder.” She dabbed at her eyes. “It’s unfathomable to me that they’re all gone.”
“When was the last time you saw or talked to Liliana?” Freddie asked.
“We had brunch last Sunday, just the two of us.”
“Did she express any concerns or say anything that might be relevant with hindsight?” he asked.
“Just that she was worried about their finances now that Marcel’s income would be cut in half. She made a joke about how your lifestyle expands to meet your income, and now that theirs was being cut, she was going to have to figure out how to scale back. She said she never expected to be worried about money at this point when they had two successful careers.”
“What kind of law did she practice?” Sam asked.
“Estate.”
“With a firm or on her own?”
“On her own. She worked from home so she could be there for the kids. She could’ve made much more money working for a firm, but chose the sole-proprietor path because it was best for her family. She was shocked when Marcel decided to go part time at his job. She said he knew what a hit that would be for them, but he didn’t seem to care. He was very determined to spend more time with his kids and to hell with the consequences.”
“Did she have any idea what brought on this sudden desire to be with his kids?” Sam asked.
“Eloise placed first in an important regional meet while he was delivering a baby. He was very upset to have missed that, and it seemed to have sparked something in him that led to the decision. That was what Liliana believed. They’d been mostly not speaking since he told her the news—after he’d already done it.”
To Sam, he didn’t sound like the kind of man who’d viciously slaughter his children after scaling back at work to spend more time with them. He seemed like the opposite of a man who’d do something like that.
“Is there anything else you can tell us that might be relevant?” Sam asked.
“I’m not sure if it’s relevant, but Eloise was beginning to make a big splash in gymnastics. She was very talented, and there was some stuff online that really upset Liliana.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“Nasty racist shit that made Liliana want to remove Eloise from competition. She was enraged by it, as anyone who loved Eloise would be. I was enraged by it. People are disgusting.”
“Where can we find these posts?”
“I’m not sure, but there’s a group on Facebook that might provide more info. It’s a local gymnastics community.”
“Was Liliana planning to take Eloise out of gymnastics?”
“No, because she knew how much her daughter loved it. But she was angry about the jealousy and vitriol over Eloise’s natural talent. She said you never see that kind of thing directed at the white girls.”
Filled with disgust on behalf of a young girl she’d never have the chance to meet, Sam took note of the issues Kelly had raised. “Had Liliana had any confrontations with anyone over the posts, that you know of?”
