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Leo cleared his throat softly. “I’m sure you don’t want to speak ill of the dead, especially given the circumstances of Rex’s death, but we need to know what kind of person he was if we’re going to find out who would have a reason to kill him.”
Brian exhaled and scrubbed his face with his hand. “I understand. Look, I love Annette. She’s a ray of sunshine in my life. Her brother just wasn’t my cup of tea. We had nothing in common, so I kept my distance from him—emotional and physical.”
Sasha changed the topic. “How did you and Annette meet?”
Smart,Leo thought as a warm grin spread across Brian’s face. Get him on more comfortable ground.
“We met volunteering for a pet rescue. She’s on the board and fosters cats in her shop until they can find their forever homes. I run the transport to rescue dogs from rural Washington and Oregon and bring them to Seattle to be fostered and adopted. We both signed up for the same volunteer work day one weekend and met while we were hosing down puppy kennels and litter boxes. Really romantic.” He gave a small laugh.
Leo noted the smile that blossomed on his own wife’s lips.
“I think you could make an argument that it’s very romantic. But I’m guessing that’s not the sort of thing that Rex was into, to put it mildly.”
Brian snorted by way of answer.
“What do you do for work?”
“I’m a logistics specialist for an equipment supply company. That was another thing. Rex couldn’t believe my job was so boring and unimpressive. Honestly, I didn’t care what he thought of me, but it was clear he didn’t think much.”
“His loss,” Sasha said.
“That’s what Annette always says, too.” He shrugged.
“She mentioned he liked to throw his money around.”
Brian nodded. “Yeah, he lorded over us that he had so much more money than we did, which is funny because we’re very financially comfortable. We have different priorities than he did. We value different things. He hoarded money like a dragon, but he also wanted to secure a place in history. The past few years, he’s been obsessed with his legacy.”
“Did it ever get heated between you and Rex or Annette and Rex?”
Brian thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t say heated. If anything, our relationship was cool, chilly. We kept him at arm’s length.”
“But you still came this weekend,” Leo observed.
“Rexwasher brother. Besides, she went to college with this whole crew, and at one time, they were a tight-knit group,” Brian explained. “We were in town, so why not come? And, in classic Rex fashion, he was footing the bill for the whole thing. Spending New Year’s with my brother-in-law on his dime was better than paying to do it.”
“What did you think of the friend group?”
“I’ve always been on the periphery,” Brian replied. “I mean, I’ve met them all before—aside from Grady’s newest arm candy. They were all at our wedding. Most of them were in the wedding party. So, it’s not as if they’re strangers.”
“But?” Sasha prompted.
“But I don’t know their group dynamics or whatever history exists between any of them and Rex. I mean, except for the obvious, which is, well, whatever he and Tessa have or had. But everybody knows about it. So it was always a little weird when he would bring other women around. It was weird when they were sleeping together. It was weird when they were breaking up. There was just a lot of drama between the two of them. Although the past few years, from what I understand, that all died down.”
“Why?”
Brian continued, “Tessa went into business with Grady. She grew up, got serious, and put her angsty college romance in the past. Which was fine until Rex decided he wanted to reignite it, and she didn’t.”
“Did she ever bring anyone she was dating around?” Sasha wondered.
“No, never. She wouldn’t have because there’s no question Rex would have been an absolute jerk to the guy. He could be a bully when he wanted to.” He looked down at his hands.
“Do you think Tessa—?” Leo started to ask.
Brian didn’t let him finish the sentence. “I don’t know. I’m not going to point fingers when I have no evidence,” he said firmly.
Sasha doodled a snowflake on her notebook and kept her tone casual. “Someone killed your brother-in-law. Who do you think could have?”
“Anybody could have.”
