she couldn’t handle the stress. Honestly, I think he’d drugged her. She had a dazed look in her eyes.”
“And that didn’t concern you?” Marco asked, his voice on edge. It was the first non-neutral tone he’d used since walking into her office.
“Of course it concerned me,” she protested, dropping her hands to rest on the arms of her chair. “But I also know how attached Caroline was to her mother. She had to be beyond devastated, but there was a large crowd for the funeral and Randall needed her to get through it. I presumed it was prescribed under a doctor’s supervision. How else would he have gotten it?”
I felt nauseated. He’d drugged me? Why did that surprise me after everything he’d said and done?
And was she lying to us or to herself? Everyone in this room knew my father could have easily gotten something to dull his hysterical daughter. No prescription needed.
“Did Mary Caroline have many assets of her own?” Marco asked. “Or did she acquire most of it through marriage?”
She looked confused by the question, but said, “She inherited a little money after her parents died. But it was peanuts compared to Randall’s fortune.”
“When and how did her parents die?”
“A car accident,” she said. “About a month before she got married.”
My heart skipped a beat, but Marco looked unfazed. My mother had never told me they’d died in a car accident. She’d only said they’d died before I was born, and I’d never thought to ask questions.
“Did her parents approve of Randall Blakely?” he asked.
Her hand went to the hollow of her throat, and she couldn’t look Marco in the eye. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because . . .” She paused. “They thought she was still in love with someone else. Her mother wanted her to call off the wedding.”
“What did Randall think of her parents?”
“He wasn’t pleased they were meddling, as he called it. But he told Mary Caroline that he loved her and could deal with her parents.” Her face lost more color.
“And how long after that conversation did their accident occur?” Marco asked matter-of-factly.
Her horrified gaze lifted to his. “A week.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
I thought Marco would go in for the obvious kill, to get her to tie both accidents together. The look in her eye made it obvious she didn’t think they were any more random than we did. But he didn’t. Instead, he asked, “How did Mary Caroline handle their deaths?”
“Not well.” Tiffany’s voice shook. “She was close to her mother. She definitely wanted to call off the wedding after that, but Randall told her the best way to honor her parents’ memory was to create a family of her own. With him.”
“So she went through with it?” Marco asked.
She nodded. “Yes. She tried so hard to be happy. To love Randall like she thought he deserved.”
“But she wasn’t happy,” Marco said. Not a question. A statement.
She wrapped her arms around herself as though she were cold. “No. Her mother was right. She was still in love with someone else.”
“And Randall discovered this about a month before Mary Caroline’s accident? That discovery is what led to their disagreements?”
“It might have been a little over a month.” She shook her head. “I’m not sure.”
Marco nodded absently, then crossed his arm.. “Before Randall found out about the affair, how was their marriage?”
“We lived a thousand miles or so apart,” Tiffany said, “so I only saw them a few times a year, and most people try to put on a show. They don’t like to look bad.”
“So you’re sayin’ if your best friend was having marital issues there’s a good chance she hid them from you?” Marco asked.
She started to say something, then stopped. “What does this have to do with Caroline’s disappearance?” She turned to face me, looking resentful. “I still don’t know what happened to you.”
I sucked in a breath, caught off guard by her hostility.
“Humor me,” Marco said good-naturedly, as though he’d missed her tension-laden comment. “Is there a chance they had marital issues before Randall found out? I mean”—he extended his hand—“she did have an affair. She must not have been happy in the beginning. You said she was still in love with someone else.”
“I don’t feel right discussing this in front of Caroline,” Tiffany said, tugging at the neckline of her dress.
“I knew she had an affair,” I said in a flat voice. “You’re not going to shock me or damage my image of her. Tell us.”
Her lips pressed together. “As I mentioned, there was another