to Baltimore to meet with Myrtis Gunther. They were hoping to find out if Maria had mentioned anything about the flash drive to her mother’s friend when the two had lunch.
When they arrived at the home of Myrtis Gunther’s sister, they were graciously invited in and shown to a sitting room where Mrs. Gunther was waiting for them. She was an attractive woman in her mid-fifties, who had a friendly smile and welcoming disposition. After telling them that she and Constance Evans had become friends when the two worked together years ago, she welcomed any questions they had.
“Thank you for meeting with us today, Mrs. Gunther. We understand that you had lunch with Maria a month before her death,” Toni said.
“Yes. We didn’t actually have lunch because we didn’t have much time. I had come to D.C. to shop, and she drove over during her lunch hour. We met for tea. I hadn’t seen her in years.”
“I understand you moved out of the area after your husband died.”
“Yes, I moved to California to be near my son.”
“Could you tell us what you and Maria talked about?” Drew asked.
“Of course. Mainly, we just caught up. She told me how she was doing and that she loved being a teacher. And she mentioned how much she missed her mother and stepfather.”
“So, she and Morey Evans had a close relationship?”
“Yes. Constance got pregnant with Maria at eighteen, her first year of college. The family of the guy responsible gave Constance money to get an abortion. Instead, she dropped out of college and moved to another state to raise her daughter herself. Constance never saw the guy again and she refused to tell Maria anything about him. So Maria never knew the name of her father.”
Myrtis Gunther paused a moment. “Morey loved Constance, and when he married her, he accepted her daughter. He even suggested that it might be an idea to give Maria his last name, so the four of them could be a real family.”
Toni lifted a brow. “I’m sure that didn’t go over well with Jennifer.”
Myrtis shook her head. “No, it didn’t. Constance said the girl pitched a fit about it and threatened to disown her father. He told her to go ahead, that with her crappy attitude, she’d be lucky if he didn’t disown her first.”
Toni nodded. “Was there anything else?”
“I apologized for not being there when she needed me, when Morey and Constance were killed, but I was going through my own personal hell at the time. The reason my trip with Constance got canceled was because my husband had a heart attack. I rushed back to town and went straight to the hospital. I didn’t know what had happened to Morey and Constance until a policeman showed up at the hospital to ask me questions.”
She paused a moment, then added, “I honestly don’t recall what they asked or what I said. I was not in a good frame of mind at the time. In fact, the day of their funeral was the same day my husband died. He never left the hospital, and I was there with him most of the time. I only heard how Jennifer had treated Maria months later.”
“When you heard about it, did you reach out to Maria?” Toni asked.
“Yes, I did. She was shocked and hurt by Jennifer’s treatment of her. Even though they never got along, she never expected her stepsister to be so cruel.” Myrtis Gunther shook her head sadly. “I guess Morey had had that conversation with Jennifer after all.”
Andrew lifted a brow. “What conversation?”
“He intended to tell her that he had put up with her foolishness long enough, and that she either had to accept Constance and Maria in his life, or he was taking her out of his will.”
• • •
The drive back from Baltimore was a quiet one. Myrtis Gunther had given them a lot to think about.
Just when they hit the Alexandria city limits, Toni finally felt that she had a handle on today’s revelations. She glanced over at Drew. “I wonder if Morey Evans was really going to go through with it, removing Jennifer from the will.”
“It was probably just a scare tactic. Jennifer Evans is a handful now, so I can just imagine what she’d been like six years ago. I sure don’t envy the man marrying her,” Andrew said.
Once they were back at their desks, they documented what they’d learned in Baltimore, and noticed that the judge had not yet made a decision