you.”
Mo seemed to ignore that. “She’ll be looking for different clothing first. Which way did she go when she left the hospital?” He told her. “Then take that street.”
“There are no stores that way.”
“She has no money. She’ll be looking for clothing she can steal.”
* * *
BRICK WONDERED IF she was talking about what she would do under the same circumstances—or about Natalie. But he didn’t argue. He drove through the residential area as Mo craned her neck down each side street they passed.
“So,” he said. “Tell me.”
She sighed. Clearly, it was a story she’d condensed, having lived with it for so long. “I stopped by Tricia’s that day. She was sleeping so I didn’t want to disturb her. She’d been struggling with everything—postpartum depression, the baby’s health issues, who knows what else? Anyway, I decided to just look in on Joey. I was worried about him because of all his medical problems and even more worried for Tricia. She’d had trouble conceiving. It looked like she and Thomas weren’t going to be able to have children, something Tricia had wanted desperately. Then, out of the blue, she’d gotten pregnant. I’d expected her to be over-the-moon happy, but she seemed anxious all the time. Then, when Joey was born with all the medical problems and the doctors said he probably wouldn’t make a year...” Her voice trailed off for a moment.
“That day I sensed something being...off. Joey was fine. He was such a beautiful baby. If you didn’t know about his health problems... As I started to leave, Natalie stopped me by the front door. She was trying to tell me something when Tricia came down the stairs. I could tell Natalie was upset. I knew she was worried about Tricia. I was, too.”
Brick thought about this for a moment, seeing how upset Mo had become just retelling it. “Natalie never told you what she had to talk to you about?”
Mo shook her head. “We never spoke after that. Natalie was arrested, and evidence was coming out about her. Even if she told me what might have been going on in that house.”
“What do you mean, about what was going on in that house?”
Mo looked away for a moment.
“I realize this is hard for you—”
“Thomas and Tricia were my family. I hate talking about personal details of their lives. I hate that because of what happened, their personal lives have become media fodder.”
“They were having problems,” he guessed. “I would imagine the stress...”
She nodded, some of her anger visibly evaporating. “I think it might have been more than the pregnancy and even Joey’s health.”
“You don’t think Thomas and the nanny were—”
“Having an affair?” She shook her head adamantly. “But something was wrong. Tricia wouldn’t talk about it and neither would Thomas—not that I tried very hard. I was so intent on proving Natalie guilty and getting justice that I wasn’t there for my sister when she needed me the most.”
“That’s why you want to believe that she didn’t kill herself,” he said. “Could there have been another man?”
Mo hesitated a little too long. “She and Thomas had been together since college. They were the perfect couple.” As if sensing his skepticism, she said, “He idolized her. He was so excited about the baby. He was a wonderful father.”
Brick kept driving, wondering what he’d gotten himself into, when she cried, “Stop! Down there.”
Backing up, he drove down the side street until she told him to stop again. By then she was out of the truck. He swore, threw the pickup into Park and went after her, thinking she was already breaking their deal.
Instead, she rushed over to an older house with a long three-wire clothesline behind it. The day’s wash flapped noisily on the line except for the spaces where it appeared someone had removed items randomly.
A woman came out of the house brandishing a broom. “Don’t even think about it. What is this, some kind of scavenger hunt?” she demanded. “You’re not taking any more of my clothing.”
Brick quickly introduced himself. “We’re looking for the woman who stole the clothes off your line. Was she dressed like a nurse?”
The woman nodded. “I couldn’t imagine why a nurse would be stealing my clothes.”
“Can you tell me what she took?” Mo asked. “And describe the items?”
The woman lowered her broom and thought about it for a moment. “A pair of my black active pants, my favorite flowered shirt, a pair of jeans and my husband’s hooded sweatshirt. It’s navy. The flowered shirt