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“Every spin of the wheel is progress. We just more or less ruled out four potential suspects, and we can start fresh with a closer look at the wife. I want to know what their relationship was like with those allegations about to blow their lives wide open. I bet she wasn’t too happy with him. Maybe she’d hired a divorce attorney or was considering it.”
“Her best friend knew nothing about it.”
“Which speaks to how traumatizing it must’ve been for her. There was also the matter of Marcel thinking she might be having an affair.”
“True. I’ll finish reading the autopsy reports and go through the dump on her phone after we see McInerny.”
“Sounds good, but don’t work all night.”
“I won’t. I’ve got Lindsey looking at another possibility—that Marcel had something wrong with him that could’ve changed his personality.”
“Interesting theory. It would explain why a trusted doctor suddenly became sexually aggressive with his patients.”
“And why he cut back on his hours without consulting with any of the people who’d be most affected by the decision.”
“That, too. Good thinking.”
“We’ll see if it gets us anywhere.”
Dr. Rory McInerny lived in Glover Park, near the vice president’s home at the U.S. Naval Observatory and close to Georgetown University. McInerny’s three-story townhouse on 40thPlace Northwest was only about two miles from the Blanchets’ home.
Freddie rang the bell.
The man who came to the door looked like he’d been on a multiple-day bender. His light brown hair was standing on end, his face unshaven and his eyes rimmed with red.
Freddie and Gonzo showed their badges.
He pushed the storm door open. “Come in.”
“I’m Detective Cruz, and this is Sergeant Gonzales. We’re investigating the murders of the Blanchet family.”
“I assumed that’s what this was about.” He led them into a kitchen where dishes were piled in the sink. It smelled like the trash had sat for days. “Sorry for the mess. We’re in total shock.”
“Is your wife at home?”
“She’s upstairs.”
“Would you mind asking her to join us?”
“Um, sure. Okay.” He went to the stairs. “Hey, Brit? Can you come down? Some police are here about Marcel and the family.” He came back to the kitchen. “She’ll be down in a minute. Do you guys want water or anything? Not sure what else we have.”
“We’re fine,” Freddie said. “Thanks.”
A dark-haired woman with haunted brown eyes came into the kitchen, wearing an oversized Georgetown sweatshirt and sweats.
“This is my wife, Brittany.”
“I’m Detective Cruz. This is Sergeant Gonzales. We appreciate your help.”
“Whatever we can do,” Brittany said as she sat next to Rory at the table and reached for his hand. “We’re heartbroken over the loss of our dear friends and their precious kids.” She blinked back tears. “They were like our kids, too. We went to every birthday party, dance recital, school play and gymnastics meet.”
“Do you have children?”
Brittany shook her head. “I had uterine cancer as a younger woman and had a complete hysterectomy. We’ve been talking about adopting, but haven’t started that process. In the meantime, the Blanchet kids were ours, too. We loved them so much. Little Gus… He was my special friend.” She wiped away tears. “I just can’t imagine someone hurting them.”
“We’re very sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” Brittany said. “It’s been such an awful couple of days.”
