was upset about it, for sure, but she said she couldn’t let it consume her the way it had me and Jack. And she blames me, of course, for the entire mess. I was the one who was gung ho to invest. She didn’t think we should, and when she was proven right, well… Our marriage has been in name only since then.”
“So you were visiting Tina alone?”
“Yes.”
“Are you romantically involved with her, Mr. Townsend?”
“You have to understand what we’ve been through…”
Sam had to bite back the urge to scream. “Are you involved with her?”
“Yes! I’m involved with her! I’m in love with her. Are you happy? Does that help you figure out who killed Ginny?”
“No, it doesn’t, but it helps us to understand who might’ve had motive to kill her.”
“Tina didn’t kill her.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I was with her Sunday night when we found out she’d been killed, and Tina was genuinely shocked. And dismayed, because we all know that with Ginny gone, it becomes that much more difficult to recover any of our money. We’ll have to deal with her estate and all that. I doubt any of us will live long enough to see this tangled, twisted mess resolved. No one knows where the money is. Not even Ken, or so he says.”
“Do you think he knew what she was doing?”
“Not at the beginning, but later on… I can’t see how he didn’t know. How would she explain the sudden windfall?” He glanced at Sam, seeming hesitant and uncertain. “Are you going to have to make my relationship with Tina public?”
“Not unless one of you had a hand in killing her or knows who did.”
“We didn’t.”
“So you say. But we’ve had people with rock-solid alibis turn out to be murderers. Just happened recently, in fact. So you’ll pardon us for remaining skeptical of everyone who had the kind of motive you did.”
“Investigate me to your heart’s content,” he said with a shrug. “You won’t find me anywhere but here, with Tina and then at home on Sunday. All I do is work, and the only pleasure in my life is with Tina. My marriage is basically over because I made the huge mistake of investing with Ginny. I’d give anything to be able to have that decision to do over again. Anything at all.”
Sam handed him a card. “If you think of anything else that might be relevant, or have any thoughts about who might’ve been angry enough to kill her, call me. My cell number is on there.”
“The list of people angry enough to kill her is long.”
“We’re aware of that. Thank you for your time. Don’t tell Tina we’re coming.”
“Why not?”
“Because I told you not to. We’ll see ourselves out.” On the way to the parking lot, Sam said to Freddie, “For fuck’s sake. What part of ‘don’t tell her we’re coming’ does he not get?”
“The part where he has to do what you tell him.”
She huffed out a laugh. “Men hate being told what to do by women.”
“Just for the record, I don’t mind it.”
“That’s because women rule your life at home and at work.”
“And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“You were good in there with the receptionist. I like to see your assertive side coming out.”
“Thanks. I think…”
When they were back in the car, Sam took a call from Malone. “What’s up?”
“Lawyers for the husband and Realtor are here.”
“All right. We’ll be back soon.”
“The Realtor’s lawyer is making a huge stink about unlawful arrests and the usual nonsense.”
“Nothing unlawful about us detaining a material witness in a homicide investigation.”
“You know that, and I know that…”
“No worries. I’ll take care of her when I get back.”
“Where are you?”
“Bethesda.”
“Oh damn. I’ll let them know it’s going to be a while.”
“I’ve got one more stop to make, and then we’ll be in.”
“Got it.”
Sam closed the phone and started the car, heading for the parking lot exit. “You got me an address for Tina yet?”
Freddie shot her a scathing look. “Of course I do.”
“I had no doubt.”
His GPS directed them to Rockville.
“Thank you for taking care of this before we go back into town.”
“There was no way I was driving way the hell out here again if I could avoid it.” And then she recalled the meeting she had scheduled with Hill. That was going to mess up her entire day.
Tina lived in a modest two-story home in a well-established neighborhood. The house was white with black shutters and mature landscaping.