Grave Paths (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 11)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “Yeah, and it seems this new mother had a lot on her plate.”

  “Definitely.” Maddie leaned against the fence. “Did you ever see anyone visit her other than the husband?”

  “Just her sister, and that was right after they moved in,” Eloise said. “If you ask me, the sister definitely didn’t like the husband. I think she was trying to talk Jennifer into leaving him.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “I heard them talking the day of the move,” Eloise explained. “It was cold that day, but I went out to get the mail and they were arguing a bit. The sister said that the husband wasn’t worth Jennifer’s loyalty, but she argued that the baby deserved a father. This was when she was still pregnant, mind you.”

  Maddie nodded. “From what Nick says, the sister is pretty upset. She’s worried about the baby.”

  “Everyone is worried about the baby,” Eloise pointed out. “We’ve had some murders here and there – a few unexplained deaths – but when it involves a baby that’s somehow harder. I hope that little guy is found. You don’t think he’s dead, do you?”

  Maddie held her hands up, as if signifying defeat. “I hope not. He wasn’t found in the woods. They took a cadaver dog out and everything.”

  “Well, that’s a bit of bright news in a dark day,” Eloise said. “All that’s important now is the baby. We already lost the mother. We can’t get her back so we have to focus on the thing that can still have a good outcome.”

  Sadly, Maddie knew that all too well. She left Eloise with a small wave once the woman started complaining about Maude and returned to Nick. He sensed her right away and slipped his arm around her back. Otherwise he remained focused on the growing argument.

  “You’re making things worse than they have to be, Laura.” Cook’s tone was a mixture of pragmatism and weariness. “I don’t know what you want me to do for you. I can’t fix things the way you want me to fix them.”

  “You’re not even trying,” Laura barked. “You said we were going to get married. You said the only thing we were waiting on was your wife. You said she was too fragile for a divorce at this time. You said you told her we were in love.”

  “I never said I told her anything of the sort,” Cook scoffed. “If you heard that, well, it says a little something about you. If I told her, why would we still be sharing the same house? The same bed?”

  “The same bed?” Laura’s face sparked with venom. “You never said you were sleeping in the same bed.”

  “Are you daft?” Cook charged. “I told you that I couldn’t tell her until the right time. I said that time was coming up, but I wasn’t there yet. Of course I slept in the same bed with Jennifer. She thought I was going weeks at a time without sex. If I didn’t have sex with her, she would’ve been suspicious.”

  “You kept having sex with her?” Laura was unbelievably shrill.

  “I can’t even deal with her,” Cook muttered, fixing his attention on Kreskin. “Aren’t you going to do something about this? She’s creating a scene and being a general nuisance.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Kreskin asked mildly. “You created the situation.”

  “I understand that but … she broke into my house, for crying out loud,” Cook complained. “I was sitting on the couch and I heard a window break. When I got up to investigate, I found her climbing in through the window above the sink.”

  “You broke into the house?” Kreskin turned a dubious look in Laura’s direction.

  Laura balked. “I knocked first. He wouldn’t let me in. It’s not my fault he’s a complete and total wimp who is afraid to be in the same room with me. If you want to know what I think … .”

  Kreskin cut her off with a shake of his head. “I don’t believe I asked what you thought.”

  “I’m going to tell you anyway because it’s important,” Laura shot back. “I think he only broke up with me because he thought it’s what you guys wanted. You think he’s responsible for this – even though he’s clearly not – and you want to blame him. He’s afraid.

  “His love for me is so strong, so pure, that he’s afraid it will blow you all away and make him look bad in the process,” she continued, adding in a sniffle to sell her opinion. “He was afraid to let me in because he knew our love couldn’t be contained and he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off me.”

  “Yeah, that must be it,” Kreskin said dryly. He pointed at the officer holding Laura in place. “Keep her there.” He switched his attention to Cook. “Show me the broken window.”

  Nick remained where he was just in case Laura made a run for it. He was pretty sure he knew what Kreskin had in mind, but he opted to wait instead of giving his suspicions voice. “What did Eloise say?”

  “Not much,” Maddie replied. “She just said she offered to help Jennifer – you know, watch the baby while she took a nap or something – because Jennifer looked down. Jennifer said no, although I would guess that’s because she didn’t know Eloise very well. I’m not sure I would trust someone with my baby under those circumstances.”

  “Yeah. Did she know about the affair?”

  “Not until this exploded all over the lawn. She says she wishes she would’ve thought to make popcorn before coming out.”

  “No matter what, Eloise is a gossip,” Nick said. “This story is going to be all over town tomorrow.”

  “Is that a bad thing?”

  Nick shrugged. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “On one hand, it might agitate the residents if they know that Cook was having an affair. On the surface, this all makes him look very guilty.”

  “But you don’t think he’s guilty, do you?”

  “I don’t know what I think, but if I had to make a choice right now, I would point the investigation toward Laura instead of Cook,” Nick replied. “She seems manic, and it’s not because she loves the guy. She wants to manipulate him with sex and set herself up so she doesn’t have to work. That seems to be all she cares about.”

  “We still don’t know what she did with that ten grand either,” Maddie pointed out. “That’s a lot of money to suddenly ‘lose’ without having a record of it.”

  “That goes without saying.” Nick leaned closer. “I have a feeling that Dale is about to manipulate the situation so we have a reason to take Laura in and officially question her.”

  Realization dawned on Maddie as she flicked her eyes to the back of the house. “You can charge her with breaking and entering.”

  “Yeah. We didn’t have enough evidence for an arrest before. We probably do now. It’s not a big charge, but it’s something.”

  “Do you think she’ll talk?”

  “I have no idea, but she hasn’t proven herself to be smart so far,” Nick said. “We might luck out.”

  “That would be a nice change of pace.”

  Nick’s gaze was expectant as Kreskin strolled from behind the house. He nodded, something silent passing between the two men, and then he pointed his hard gaze at Laura.

  “Laura Ferguson, you’re under arrest for breaking and entering,” Kreskin announced, enjoying the way Laura’s eyes widened with fear and loathing. “We’ll probably add some harassment charges on there and even some phone stalking by the time we get back to the office.

  “Officer Martinez, please read the suspect her rights and put her in my vehicle,” he continued. “I’ll be along shortly for transport.”

  Cook worked his jaw as he watched Laura fight her circumstances. “I didn’t want her arrested. I just thought you could talk to her, threaten her or something.”

  “This is for the best,” Kreskin said. “Now we might finally be able to get some answers.”

  “Only if she’s behind this,” Cook argued. “I don’t happen to believe she is. She’s not bright … or worldly … or even sweet. She’s also not a murderer. She didn’t kill Jennifer.”

  “I guess we’ll have to wait to find out. We’ll keep you updated on any progress we make.”

  16

&nb
sp; Sixteen

  Laura was positively apoplectic by the time she got to the police station. She fought every step of processing, including trying to snag back her hands when Nick pressed her fingers to the electronic fingerprint scanning pad. She screamed, yelled, howled, and swore every chance she got. All of it fell on deaf ears, though.

  Maddie wisely kept her distance, sitting at Nick’s desk and firing off a text to Maude, telling her grandmother that she would be late. Maude seemed disinterested, merely telling Maddie to make sure she spread the gossip wealth when everything was done and not to worry about her. She was caught up in her own stuff. Maddie had no idea what that “stuff” was, but she wasn’t eager to find out.

  Once they finished the processing – and read Laura her rights for a second time – they settled her into a chair in the conference room. Maddie wasn’t sure she was allowed inside until Kreskin nodded his head. She made sure to sit at the end of the table so she was away from the action and didn’t distract from the questioning.

  “You’re in a bit of trouble here, Laura,” Kreskin started. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

  “I think you’re a jerk,” Laura snapped.

  “I didn’t ask what you thought about me. I asked what you had to say for yourself.”

  “I don’t need to say anything for myself,” Laura argued. “I’m not the one in the wrong. Peter is the one in the wrong. Can you believe he was still sleeping with his wife?”

  “Frankly, I’m shocked,” Nick drawled. “I’ve never heard of a man hiding an affair by having sex with his wife. It must be a new thing.”

  “I know, right?” Laura rolled her eyes. “This is freaking unbelievable. My friend Desiree told me that I should get pregnant to lock him in. I didn’t do that because I think kids are stupid and I wanted to be able to travel and do things. A kid wouldn’t allow that. I think I should get points for that, but now I’m wondering if it wouldn’t have been the better way to go.”

  “I’m sure that would’ve solved all of your problems,” Kreskin said. Maddie could tell by his expression that he wanted to throttle Laura. She felt the same way. The woman was unbelievably self-obsessed and obtuse when it came to relationships.

  “I know. I thought Desiree was being a doorknob, but apparently she was right. If I had a kid then Peter would be all over me. He wouldn’t even have to look for that other one.”

  “Yeah, you’re not doing yourself any favors when you say stuff like that,” Nick noted. “You realize that, don’t you?”

  “I didn’t touch that kid!” Laura exploded.

  “From our point of view, that doesn’t look likely,” Kreskin argued. “You lied about having a shift and going to class that day.”

  “I told you the professor made an error on the attendance sheet! I don’t even know why he insists on taking attendance. We’re adults. Attendance shouldn’t be mandatory.”

  Kreskin ignored the outburst. “You took ten thousand dollars out of a checking account you shared with Peter Cook.”

  “He wanted me to have that money,” Laura insisted. “He said it was for me to use for my bills.”

  “He told us it was so he could have a place to hide money from Jennifer before he told her about the divorce,” Nick countered. “He wanted to pay her less than she was owed so he was hiding funds.”

  “Owed? How was she owed anything?” Laura challenged. “He didn’t love her. She got pregnant to trap him. I know it. She knew it. The only one who refused to see it was Peter. She practically said as much to me when we met at the corporate picnic last year.”

  Maddie stirred. “She told you she got pregnant on purpose?” Maddie knew that Laura talked out of her behind more than she did from a place of knowledge, but something about the statement rang true. “She came out and said it?”

  “Well, she didn’t come out and say it,” Laura hedged. “This was in June, mind you. She kept giving me dirty looks and acting like I was doing something wrong when I talked to Peter at the picnic. I swear, whenever she looked at me, it was as if she smelled something foul.”

  “She probably realized you were sleeping with her husband,” Nick said.

  “That shows what you know. I didn’t start sleeping with him until two months later. It was on a business trip to Texas. I only flirted with him at the picnic.”

  “Oh, well, that makes it much better,” Nick deadpanned, rolling his eyes.

  “What did she say to you?” Maddie pressed.

  “She acted all sweet and nice to me, like she was genuinely interested in what I had to say,” Laura supplied. “I liked it at first. I knew that I was going to take Peter and I thought I might get some insight from her on how to do it, you know, how to turn his head. She was all … snotty and stuck on herself, though. Like … um … I came right out and asked what kinds of things Peter liked in bed and she acted like I said something stupid.”

  Nick and Maddie exchanged a quick glance.

  “I can’t imagine why that would bother her,” Nick said after a beat. “What else did she say?”

  “She said that she wasn’t going to talk about that and I said that’s probably because she couldn’t satisfy Peter anyway so it didn’t matter, and then she said she satisfied him enough to make sure they had a kid together,” Laura said.

  Maddie rubbed her cheek, internally doing the math. “The baby is a month old, right?”

  Kreskin nodded, helping her along. “That means she was probably newly pregnant when she said that, not planning to get pregnant.”

  “The baby was three weeks early, though,” Nick pointed out. “That might change things a bit.”

  “Yeah, a bit,” Maddie echoed. “If she purposely did it because of her conversation with Laura, she worked fast.”

  “See.” Laura puffed out her chest. “I was right. Can I go now?”

  “No.” Kreskin shook his head. “Peter seemed surprised when we told him the money he put into the account was gone. He said he didn’t give it to you for tuition, which has already been paid, or housing. The money was to sit there until he could gain access to it without sending up red flags to Jennifer’s divorce lawyer.”

  Laura was blasé. “So?”

  “So what did you do with it?”

  “I don’t have to answer that.” Laura obstinately crossed her arms over her chest. “In fact, I know my rights. I don’t have to talk to you without a lawyer present.”

  “That’s definitely true,” Kreskin said. “Do you want a lawyer?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay. This interview is over.” Kreskin stood. “We’ll transfer you to your cell and you can use the phone inside to make one call and secure a lawyer. Once that lawyer contacts us, we’ll start a fresh round of questioning.”

  Laura made a horrified face. “What are you talking about? I’m not going in a cell.”

  “Oh, but you are,” Kreskin countered. “You’re under arrest. You’ll be arraigned on charges tomorrow morning. Then your bail will be set. You’re going in a cell. The only way that doesn’t happen is if you answer questions.”

  “But … no.”

  “Yes.”

  Kreskin moved to grab Laura by the arm, but she jerked away. “I’m not going in a cell!”

  “You don’t have a choice.”

  “But … what if I answer your question about the money?” Laura bordered on desperate. “What if I tell you where it is? Will you let me go then?”

  Kreskin calmly reclaimed his seat. “If you want to continue questioning, you need to waive your right to a lawyer on the record and answer the question. You will not be released tonight no matter what, though. It’s up to you.”

  “Why can’t you just release me?” Laura sounded like a whiny brat.

  “Because you’re a suspect in the kidnapping and murder of a young mother who happened to be your romantic rival,” Kreskin replied.

  “She wasn’t a threat to me.” Laura defiantly jutted out her lower lip. “She wasn’t even competition. Sh
e was a boring little mouse who did nothing but sit around the house taking care of that baby.”

  “And how do you know that?” Maddie questioned. “Were you watching her?”

  “No, but I hired someone to do it,” Laura said. “That’s where the money went. I hired a private investigator to dig up dirt on Jennifer so it would be easier for Peter to divorce her. I thought he would be happy when I surprised him with the information.”

  “And what kind of information did you find?” Nick asked.

  “Nothing so far,” Laura replied. “She was boring. She sat around watching the baby and crying. That’s all she did. She cried, cleaned the house, and took care of the baby. No wonder Peter came looking for me. He was desperate for some fun.”

  “She was a new mother,” Maddie argued, furious. “Do you have any idea how exhausting that is?”

  “No, and I’m guessing you don’t either,” Laura shot back. “You wouldn’t have that body if you popped out a kid. Trust me. That’s why I didn’t want to go the pregnancy route in the first place.”

  “Go back to the investigator.” Kreskin rubbed his forehead, weary. “Where did you find him? Is he local to Bay City?”

  “No, I tried that, but it was more expensive,” Laura said. “I ended up hiring a guy from up here. That way I didn’t have to pay as much for food, gas, and a hotel room. It still cost a lot, but I couldn’t afford the guy down by me.”

  “Who did you hire?”

  “Um … I think his name was Larry Coon.”

  “Boone?” Kreskin challenged, an edge to his voice. “Do you mean Larry Boone?”

  “Yeah, I think that’s it. Why?”

  “Do you know that name?” Maddie asked, lowering her voice.

  “I do,” Kreskin confirmed. “He’s a low life. He’s a bottom feeder.”

  “So?”

  “So, if he was watching Jennifer Cook, maybe he knows what happened.”

  “Oh. Holy crap.” Nick hopped to his feet.

  “Yeah.” Kreskin bobbed his head. “We need to find him right now.”