AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s correct.”
“What about ex-boyfriends?”
“Of course she had ex-boyfriends.”
“Would you mind giving me their names?”
“Those I know of, sure.” Zach offers two names, which I scribble on my notebook.
“Mr. Kaing, I know this might be uncomfortable for you, but I need to ask a few things that pertain to the manner in which your wife was killed.”
His eyes remain ice cold.
“We spoke about her eyes and how they were mutilated. Does the letter X mean anything to you? Or to her?”
“No.”
“We have multiple theories we’re chasing down, but the one we keep coming back to is that the letter X serves as a symbol that perhaps your wife saw something that she either wasn’t supposed to, or maybe she didn’t realize that she wasn’t supposed to see. And she paid the ultimate punishment. Do you have any thoughts on this?”
“N-no,” he stutters, shifting in his seat. “No, I don’t.”
Kellan and I exchange glances.
Bingo.
TWENTY-FOUR
ROWAN
Kellan pushes off the wall where he’d been leaning and joins me at the table, though he stands while we remain sitting. He peers down at Zach and his attorney. An act of intimidation.
Zach is now fidgeting with the cufflink on his dress shirt. His attorney has noticed his client’s shift in demeanor as well, and is sitting on the edge of his seat, ready to pull the plug on this interview.
“Mr. Kaing, I understand that you and your wife have been trying to get pregnant, but have had trouble doing so.”
Zach’s dark eyes pop. “How did you hear that?”
Simultaneously, Dennis says, “Detective, that’s irrelevant. Zach, you don’t need to answer this.”
“No, it’s okay,” Zach frowns, eyes locked on me. “Where did you hear that?”
“Your neighbor, Amos Hoyt.”
Dennis scribbles in his notebook.
Zach closes his eyes and blows out a breath. He shakes his head. “I told her—I told her that man was a gossip.” He scrubs his palms over his face. “I can’t believe she would tell our neighbor that.”
“So it’s true?”
“Yes.” Zach raises his hand to cut off his lawyer, who was about to interject. “Alyssa has had two miscarriages, and we had trouble even getting pregnant in the first place.”
“That must be difficult for you.”
“Yes, and to be honest, it’s causing—did cause—a lot of tension between us.”
“Why?”
“Alyssa…” Zach glances at his attorney. “Alyssa hasn’t always been a clean-living person. And I—well, I wonder if that’s why she has had so much trouble getting pregnant.”
