Emma smiled. “I’d love to, thank you.”
“Great, we’re heading over by four at the latest. Grab Sheila and we’ll see you there.”
Justin was all energy and enthusiasm. When he left the lobby to go back to his office, the room felt so quiet, like a balloon that lost all its air. Until Alyssa walked up and the phone rang.
“I’ve got it,” Alyssa said.
Emma headed back to her desk and ate the sandwich that she’d brought with her. She dove back into her work and wanted to finish as much as possible before the day ended, especially if they were closing earlier than usual.
Sheila popped by a few minutes later.
“We’re shutting down early today. Justin said he invited you to join us for drinks. He does this once a month or so. It should be a fun time. We can walk over together.”
“Okay. I’ve actually never been to the 110.”
Sheila smiled. “Oh, it’s fun. Justin makes it fun. You’ll see. He brings the party no matter where we go. And he insists on paying for everything. He’s very generous.”
She went back to her office and Emma went back to her typing. She finished up at a few minutes before four and began shutting down her computer. Sheila stopped by a minute later and Alyssa joined them and they walked over to the 110 together. The bar was big and they took up most of it. Justin told everyone to order whatever they wanted for drinks and he put in a few orders of appetizers for people to share, nachos, fries, wings.
Emma had a glass of La Crema chardonnay and Sheila and Alyssa both had cosmopolitans. Emma could handle just a sip of the sugary vodka drink. It was stronger than she liked for a whole drink, though. She tended to avoid vodka as it went right to her head. Wine was a slower buzz. She could sip a glass of wine slowly, and she wanted to be careful to pay close attention and not miss anything. But when Sheila finished her drink quickly and wondered aloud if she should have another or switch to wine, Emma encouraged her to have another.
“It looks really good. I’m not really a vodka drinker, but that is such a pretty drink.”
Sheila laughed. “It tastes as good as it looks. Okay, I’ll have another.”
Justin walked over then and put his arm around Sheila. “Of course you will. We’re just getting started. And you’ll have another wine, too, right?” He met Emma’s gaze and smiled, and she marveled at his charisma. When Justin looked her in the eye, it made her feel like she was the only person in the room. It was hard to say no to that. So she nodded. “Sure, that would be great, thanks!”
“Excellent!” Justin flagged the bartender, put their order in, and then wandered off to chat with someone else.
“He’s so full of energy,” Emma said.
Sheila laughed. “He is that. I tell him he’s like a Tasmanian devil sometimes, going in a million different directions. He’s effective, though. Justin gets things done.”
They chatted for a while, and Sheila’s second martini went down almost as quickly as her first. She didn’t even hesitate to order another this time.
“Three is my limit. I’ll sleep well tonight. Peter has the kids, so I can indulge a little. And it’s been a long week.”
Alyssa saw a friend at the bar and excused herself to go say hello. That gave Emma an opportunity to ask about Mickey. She was curious what Sheila would say, if anything.
“What was that guy here for earlier? The older gentleman. He said he was a private detective.”
Sheila looked sad for a moment and hesitated before saying, “I guess it doesn’t hurt to tell you, as it’s not anything confidential. He was here to help investigate Nancy’s murder. Her mother hired his agency. And I did have some new information for him.”
Emma was about to take a sip of wine, but set her glass down instead. “What new information?”
“Well, I’d already talked to the police with this update too. I was going through Nancy’s emails yesterday afternoon looking for something for one of her clients. They said they’d emailed her a document a while back, and I found it, but I also saw something else. It was an email exchange with some guy she was seeing, evidently. They were making plans to meet for drinks and he said something about going to the same place they’d been to before, where they wouldn’t run into anyone they knew. Makes me think maybe the guy was married or something.”
“She never mentioned him to you?”
“No, and I thought she told me everything. But if this guy was married, well, she knows I don’t like that. Peter cheated on me. That’s one of the reasons we split, so she knew it was a sore spot. But yeah, she never mentioned him to me before. The name didn’t ring any bells, Owen Sturgess.”
Owen Sturgess. That Owen. Deadbeat husband of Claire Sturgess.
“How weird,” Emma said.
“I know, right? So now the police have something new to look into. They haven’t turned up anything yet, as far as I know.”
“Hopefully, they’ll find something soon,” Emma said.
Chapter 14
Lee had invited Cindy and Emma to come to her appetizer party around seven on Saturday night. She said she’d invited a bigger crowd of people than usual, some other neighbors they only knew in passing, and she made a point of inviting Rich Gregory, the new neighbor and handsome Plymouth police detective.
It had taken Cindy longer than usual to decide what to wear. She finally settled on her most flattering soft faded jeans and a pretty flowered top in varying shades of blue, her favorite color.
Emma arrived just as Cindy was coming downstairs and heading toward the kitchen to take her artichoke and spinach dip out of the oven. Emma was carrying a dip too, a seven-layer taco dip that was good cold. She set it on the island along with a bag of tortilla chips and settled into one of the chairs and watched as her mother opened the oven.
“Artichoke and spinach—my favorite. Smells amazing. It looks done to me.”
The casserole was golden and bubbling. Cindy grabbed two potholders and carefully took it out of the oven and set it on the stovetop to cool.
“You look really nice. I haven’t seen you wear that top in ages,” Emma said.
“Thanks, honey. It has been too long since I’ve worn this one. I always loved it.”
Cindy found the glass lid for the casserole dish and carefully put it into a wicker basket for easy carrying to Lee’s house.
Emma watched her silently and looked deep in thought for a few minutes. Finally she spoke, “So, I’ve been thinking about Owen. Did you let Claire know yet?”
“I did. I called her right after we spoke yesterday.” Emma had called her on the way home from work and filled her in on what she’d learned from Sheila. “She doesn’t think Owen had anything to do with Nancy’s murder, but it wouldn’t surprise her one bit if he dated her. She said he admitted to using a dating site when he first asked for a divorce, but now he says he’d deny it and she’d never be able to prove it. He’s been quite a jerk evidently.”
“But even if he had nothing to do with the murder, it might help Claire’s case if he admits to dating Nancy? Or maybe to clear his name, he’ll spill the details and admit that he’s dating someone else?” Emma wondered aloud.
“Or he could lie and refuse to admit anything,” Cindy said. “And I’ll be shocked if he agrees to talk to Mickey. Though, of course, I hope he does.”
“I wonder what he will say to the police?”
“I imagine we’ll find out soon enough.” Cindy picked up the basket. “Are you ready to go?”
A few minutes later they arrived at Lee’s house. It was only ten minutes past seven, but there were already a dozen or so people there.
“You can set everything on the kitchen table or island wherever you can find a free spot. Help yourselves to whatever you want to drink.” Lee said before going to answer a knock at the front door.
Cindy and Emma set their dips and chips down and helped themselves to some chardonnay. They sipped their wine and looked around the room. The first familiar face they saw wa
s Rachel’s, and she came over as soon as she saw them.
“Rich is here. That police detective. We were just chatting a bit. He seems like a nice guy. You should talk to him. I don’t think he knows all that many people here, other than Bob.”
Cindy hadn’t seen Rich yet, but as Rachel was talking, she saw him pass by on his way to the food table.
“Let’s go get some food and find a place to sit and chat,” Emma suggested. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m starving.”
“I am too. I haven’t tried anything yet,” Rachel agreed.
Cindy followed them into the kitchen and they all grabbed paper plates and filled them with food. There were so many appetizers and dips to choose from. Whenever Lee had her parties, she encouraged everyone to bring their favorite appetizers, which made for a good variety.
Cindy had a full plate and was debating between adding a few cocktail shrimp or steak on a stick when an amused voice behind her said, “I just had the shrimp and steak, I’d get them both.”
She turned and Rich was standing there, holding a beer in one hand, a paper plate with a slice of pizza in the other.
“Good to know, thanks. It’s Rich right?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yes and it’s Cindy?”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you come sit with us?” Emma suggested. She led them to an outside table on Lee’s back patio. Rachel excused herself just as they were sitting, to go say hello to someone. Once they were settled, they all chatted for a few minutes about nothing in particular. And then Emma asked him about Owen.
“Have you talked to him yet?”
Rich looked surprised by the question. “How do you know about Owen Sturgess?”
Emma smiled, somewhat smugly, Cindy thought. “We have our ways.”
“Right. Okay. Yes, we talked to him late yesterday afternoon, actually.” He took a sip of his beer and looked like he wanted to change the subject, but Emma wouldn’t allow it.
“What did he say? Did he admit to dating Nancy?” she asked eagerly.
Rich sighed. “He didn’t admit to much. He did say he and Nancy went out a few times. Says he was at home the night Nancy disappeared. But his wife said he wasn’t with her.”
“Can anyone corroborate his story?” Emma asked.
“He gave us a name. A young woman, Amber Thomas. We’re talking to her on Monday.”
“Do you think he’s involved?” Emma asked.
Rich shook his head. “Probably not, but I’ve been surprised before. So, we talk to everyone, consider everything.”
“We were already following Owen.” Emma told him about their surveillance case for Claire.
That seemed to intrigue Rich. “Have you talked to him?”
“No, we weren’t planning on it before, but now of course we’d like to. It could help both cases if he agrees to talk to us.”
Rich nodded. “It could, but I wouldn’t hold your breath on that. If he does though, please let us know if you learn anything useful.”
Before Emma could speak, Cindy jumped in. “Of course we will,” she said with a smile.
Emma stood and excused herself. “I’m going for more wine. Do either of you need anything?” Rich still had a full beer and Cindy had barely touched hers.
“Okay, I’ll be back in a bit,” Emma left and then it was just the two of them. They’d both finished eating and were sipping their drinks. Rich didn’t seem in any hurry to get up and mingle.
“So, tell me more about yourself. I didn’t realize when I stopped by your office the other day that we were practically neighbors. Have you lived in the Pinehills long?” he asked her.
“A little over thirty years. I love it here.”
“Do you golf?”
She laughed. “Sort of, but not really. We’re just taking golf lessons now. Me, Lee and Rachel. We’ve lived here for so long and are only just now getting around to it.”
Rich smiled. “It’s a great game. You all might want to join a ladies league. There’s one or two here, and you don’t have to be an expert. That’s what handicaps are for.”
“So, I hear. Maybe next year. We still need to get on the course and play an actual round of golf first.”
He laughed. “Well, that would help.”
A few minutes later, Rachel, Lee and Bob joined them and as a group, they laughed and chatted for the next few hours. Emma left after an hour or so to go meet up with her brother and Dana downtown, and Cindy couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun. Rich was easy to talk to and funny. When the party wound down and people started leaving, he asked to walk her home.
“My car is at the end of the street, so I think I’m probably walking by your house anyway,” he said.
A few minutes later, they reached her front door.
“I almost didn’t come to this tonight. I’m not usually good with parties, and I really only knew Bob. But, I’m glad that I did. I really enjoyed talking with you.”
Cindy felt herself blush a little and was glad it was too dark out for him to see it.
“I did too. We were saying the other day that we’ve lived here for so long and don’t know as many people as we should. So, I’m glad you came too.”
Rich was quiet for a moment, and it was too dark for her to see his expression well.
“I’m very rusty at this. But would you like to go out to dinner sometime?”
Cindy was happily surprised by the invitation.
“I’m rusty too. And yes, I’d love to go to dinner with you.”
He grinned. “Great, I’ll call you next week. We’ll make a plan.”
“Sounds good.”
He waited for her to step inside and as she locked the front door, she watched through the window as he turned to walk to his car. And then she smiled. She had a date. First one in a very long time.
“You’re going out with Rich?” Emma was surprised and intrigued. Her mother had just finished telling her about the rest of the evening at Lee’s and the dinner invitation. Emma refilled her coffee mug and settled back on the soft leather sofa. They were in the office Monday morning and Mickey hadn’t arrived yet.
Her mother looked like she was having second thoughts, though.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea? I’ve been thinking about it all weekend and I’m not sure it is. I mean, isn’t it a conflict of interest, maybe?”
Emma grinned. “No. You just have cold feet. If anything, it’s a good thing. You’ll get to date a guy that seems nice and isn’t bad looking at all, and we might get the inside track on what’s really going on with some of our investigations.”
Her mother looked worried about that though, too. “That doesn’t seem right. I don’t want to expect any special favors.”
“And I’m sure you won’t get any. Rich has been with the force for years. He’s not going to share anything that he shouldn’t. It will be good to have someone on the inside.”
“I just want to have a nice dinner and conversation. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
Mickey arrived a few minutes later and Emma filled him in on her day at the law firm on Friday and what they learned from Rich at the party.
“So, we’ll try to talk to Owen today then. I’ll call him now. And Amber too.”
They watched as Mickey dialed Owen’s number. He answered quickly.
“Owen Sturgess? Mickey McConnell here from Court Street Investigations. I’d like to meet with you ideally today or tomorrow. It shouldn’t take too much of your time. It’s about the Nancy Eldridge investigation.” Mickey was quiet for a minute before saying, “Yes, I know you already talked to the police. We are actually retained by Nancy’s mother. She’s anxious to get this solved as soon as possible.” Mickey frowned as Owen talked, and Emma wished she could hear both sides of the conversation.
“Okay, well if you change your mind, please let me know.” He ended the call and wasn’t happy. “Owen says he doesn’t have to talk to us and already talked to the police.�
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“Oh, that’s too bad,” Emma said.
“I’ll call Claire and let her know. Maybe she can convince him to talk to us,” her mother said. She went off and made the call and was back a few minutes later. “She said she’ll talk to him, but told us not to get our hopes up. He’s been especially difficult lately.” They’d given Claire all the evidence they’d collected on Owen and Amber, and she handed it to her lawyer. It was still going to be an expensive divorce for Claire, but the more she could show about Owen that could help her case, the better.
They had a new skip-tracing case to work on, so Emma and Mickey both got busy online and the morning flew. By early afternoon, they had the new case almost wrapped up and Mickey was getting ready to leave for the day when his cell phone rang and he winked at Emma as he saw the caller ID and answered the phone.
“Owen, good to hear from you.”
Chapter 15
The next morning at a few minutes before ten, Mickey and Emma pulled up to Owen’s house. There was only one car in the driveway, an older model silver Mercedes convertible. Mickey was driving his convertible too, as they didn’t want to risk Owen recognizing Emma’s car.
Mickey parked next to Owen’s car, and they made their way to the front door. Emma rang the doorbell. There was no response for several minutes and Emma was about to ring the bell again when the door opened and Owen stood there, in bare feet, sweatpants and a blue Boston College sweatshirt. He looked freshly showered as his graying black hair was still damp and combed back.
“Come on in. We can sit in the kitchen. Coffee? I just made some.”
Emma and Mickey both declined.
They sat at the small round wooden table in Owen’s kitchen. Mickey got out his well-worn black leather notebook and opened it to a blank page. He fished a silver engraved Cross pen out of his pocket and set it on the page. Emma pulled out her smart phone and set it on the table.
“Do you mind if we record this?” she asked.
Owen seemed surprised by the question and hesitated a moment. Finally, he shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
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