to give up the gun? Isabel’s family was back east—or so she said. Emily had never met any of them. Did Isabel marry Alex when she moved here to maintain her cover?
Emily shook her head. “Now I’m just sounding paranoid.”
But she couldn’t stop. Emily was on a roll.
Had Colin’s new job as Paradise Valley’s police detective been arranged? Normally a police department would promote from within, but in Colin’s case they put him at the head of the line and hired an outsider. Did he come to Paradise Valley to insinuate himself into her life—with Isabel’s help—as part of the plan? After all, Isabel was the one who introduced them. Was he just trying to get close to her to get information on her late husband? Or did he truly care for her?
How much did she really know about Colin, anyway? She’d never met his parents. Had he actually gone back to San Francisco to help his mother care for his ailing father? Or was that all a lie? Was he ever even from San Francisco? He could be from Timbuktu for all she knew.
Emily was relatively certain she could trust Camille and Maggie. Camille had grown up in the area, as did her husband, and their now-teenage children were born in Paradise Valley. Maggie had brought Josh to Paradise Valley when he was four because her brother, Sully, and his family already lived here.
Camille and Maggie were long-time residents with deep roots in this community, but how would she know for sure if she could trust Isabel or Colin, after what Evan said in his letter. Trust no one.
A sick feeling curled in her stomach as she drove, and she suspected she might have to pull over and give up her breakfast.
~*~
“So what is your timeline, Ernie?” Colin asked, sitting on the edge of the detective’s desk, his eyes fixed on the enormous whiteboard that took up most of one wall of Ernie’s office. “Walk me through it.”
Colin had gone to see Ernie to find out if he’d turned up anything of significance when he and his officers conducted their search of Sully’s and Fiona’s homes. They hadn’t found anything worth mentioning, Ernie told him. The mayor was livid that they had upset his sick wife, not giving him notice so he could be there to prepare her.
“I got an earful about that,” Ernie said.
“What about Fiona’s apartment?”
“We didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. She walked in on us during the search, and she was pretty steamed, too. She said she’s been at the hospital with Mrs. Wakefield for most of the last few days.”
“Yeah, Emily and I ran into her there. Seemed a little odd to us.”
“The old woman doesn’t have anyone else, Fiona said. I think it’s kinda nice of her.”
“Back to the timeline.” Colin gestured toward the whiteboard.
Ernie rose from his squeaky, leather desk chair and sauntered to the board. “Tuesday night was the Whitetail Resort presentation where Lucas asked Maggie to marry him.” He pointed to the notation of the event with his large hand. “Then Friday was the engagement party, here,” tapping the board with his index finger. “Now it gets interesting.”
“Give it to me,” Colin encouraged.
“The security tape shows Mayor Sullivan entering the building at six fifteen, then Josh Sullivan entering at six twenty-eight. After that, Josh is seen leaving at six thirty-seven.”
“When did the mayor leave?” Colin asked.
“I don’t really know. He doesn’t show up on the tape leaving. He claims he left through the back door and he never saw Josh. So, if he’s telling the truth, I figure it had to be before six twenty-eight.”
“Or he could have hidden out somewhere in the building and come back to Lucas’s office after Josh left. He could have gone out the back any time,” Colin proposed.
“You’re right,” Ernie had to agree.
“What about Fiona?” Colin questioned.
“I don’t really know about her either.” Ernie turned to face Colin. “She never shows up on the video tape. That darn cheapskate Pete Peterson! If he wasn’t such a penny pincher we would have a camera outside the back door and one covering the parking lot, as well.”
“What does she say? I mean, you did interview her, right?”
“Of course I interviewed her. I didn’t just fall off a turnip truck.” Ernie scowled.
“Well?”
Ernie walked to his desk and grabbed a file folder from a short stack. He flipped open to Fiona’s interview report and began reading what he’d written. “She said she’d been at work all day.