Vendetta in Death (In Death 49)

“I was not. I’ll admit I wondered if he’d stray, or simply tire of Marcella. She’s young, and naive, and, well, demanding. But he seemed genuinely devoted to her. They seemed happy together. Are you saying this woman, the one who posed as an LC, killed Thaddeus?”

“Yes.”

“It makes no sense. I can’t think of anyone who’d want to kill Thaddeus.”

“No,” Rozelle agreed. “It doesn’t make sense. We had this trip planned for weeks. And he surprised Marci with the extra day. He asked me to arrange it, a surprise because, apparently, she complained she wouldn’t be able to get all the treatments she wanted in the two days. I couldn’t get the extra day because they were fully booked— then there was a cancellation, so I grabbed it. She was so excited.”

“When did you book the extra day?”

“Just two days ago. It was really last minute, so Claudia had to scramble to work in the extra day. Thad even arranged for champagne and flowers in our suite.”

“You all had rooms in the same suite?”

“Yes, it’s a two-level, their best. Marci treated—or, realistically, Thaddeus treated us to the suite.”

“I need to go up to my daughter.”

“Bondita, before you do, can you tell us the last time you used your car?”

“My car? What does that— Oh my God! You think … We weren’t even here!”

“It would just help to have that information.”

“Two days ago, for my volunteer work. And to run some last-minute errands before the trip.”

“Who else has access to your car?”

“My husband, of course. He has his own, but we have the codes to each other’s. Before you ask, I know he was home because I spoke to him last night, just a check-in, around midnight. He had friends over for a poker party—something he likes to do if I go out of town. We spoke, not long, as they were on the last hand of the night. He had at least six people here, you can check.”

“Thank you. We will if we find it helpful. We appreciate your time.”

As they rose, Peabody spoke up. “We could give you the names of some good grief counselors. It might help Marcella.”

“Yes. Rozelle, I want to go up to Marcella.”

“You go. I’ll get the names. She wouldn’t have had a clue,” Rozelle said quietly as her mother went out. “Marci, I mean. If she had, she’d have told me, or Claudia. Maybe not Mom, not right away, but she’d have told me or Claudia.”

“Why not your mother?” Eve asked.

“Because she knew our parents didn’t really approve, at least at first. Thaddeus won them over, for the most part. He really seemed completely devoted, made her so happy, indulged her. But he was older, divorced, and they’d hoped for something, someone different for her.”

Rozelle paused, pressed her fingers under her eyes.

“She’ll get over this,” she said. “She doesn’t think she will, but she will. Once it gets through he’d cheated on her, she’ll get over it, move on. She’s young. But for now, a grief counselor would help.”

After Peabody gave the names, Rozelle showed them out. Eve studied the town car as she walked to her own.

“It’s not going to fit. You’d have to figure, if the family—speaking of which, she mentioned a son, so let’s find him—but if the family’s covered, why use this car? People in the house, maybe going in and out, they’d notice if the car came and went. So it’s not going to fit.”

Eve got behind the wheel, took a moment. She shook her head, pulled out of the drive. “She’s a girl.”

“Well,” Peabody said. “Yeah.”

“No, not a woman, not a female. A girl. The youngest of the family, and they baby her. You can see it, the dynamics there. Maybe she loved Pettigrew, maybe at least she thought she did, but the older sister’s got it right. She’ll get over it, move on. She’s not going to torture, mutilate, and kill two men because the one she lived with hired LCs. That takes purpose. She doesn’t have one.”

“That came loud and clear,” Peabody agreed. “And I’m going to say she struck me as the type who’d squeal if she saw blood. I can’t see her slicing off a dick.”

“People take care of her. She doesn’t take care of people—for good or ill. They also didn’t talk about the big gorilla.”