“I lived in a gilded cage. Nobody has sympathy for that,” she said, “so that won’t wash. And I’m not trying to take from him anything that I’m not allowed to have. But I do feel like he owes me something.”
“He does, indeed, and now maybe the government is more interested in what he’s doing and why he is here too. I confess that it did cross my mind to wonder if he had killed the lawyer.”
“Me too, but I really don’t think so now,” she said.
“Why not?” he asked.
“I think she had something he wanted, and she was here, so he thinks I might have gotten it from her, since she hated him at that point. I think it was a toss-up as to which of us she hated the most, me or him. I don’t know,” she said, confusing herself.
“Are you certain she didn’t leave anything at your house?”
“I’m not sure,” she said, spinning around and looking. “I haven’t found anything new, but so far I haven’t found anything missing either, after Mathew had my house searched. I’m not sure Robin even came inside the front door, to be honest.”
“Well, see what comes up, when you have time to really think about it,” he said. “Because, in a way, it would make sense that he should come to you to get that. And he surprised all of us by showing up.”
“Right,” she muttered. “But, if he didn’t kill her, who did?”
“Maybe he hired somebody to do it.”
“Or maybe it has nothing to do with any of this,” she muttered.
“Do you know if she has ever been through here before?”
“I have no idea,” she said. “I don’t even know where she is from.”
“Well, I can tell you that she was married before.”
“She was?” Doreen stopped and said, “She was quite young.”
“She was twenty-nine, turning thirty this year. She was married at eighteen.”
“Oh,” she said, in surprise, “that’s young too.”
“Exactly. She was married for three years.”
“I wonder what happened.”
“Like most things in life, it broke up.”
“She didn’t kill him, did she?” she asked, wondering at the potential irony.
“I highly doubt it,” he said, “but, in the world you walk in, who knows?” And then he laughed. “Maybe I’ll just take a quick look and find out.”
“Oh, please do, to get my mind off this mess here,” she said, with sudden fascination. “What’s his name?”
“I’ll text it to you,” he said. “And I’ll do a bit of digging on my own.”
When he hung up, she was a whole lot happier. As a matter of fact, Doreen actually felt like she had a whole new lease on life. How exciting.
Chapter 12
Monday Noon …
Doreen put on a pot of coffee, got out her laptop and a notepad, and jotted down notes. First, she put down everything she could remember of the conversation with the lawyer. Ex-lawyer. Doreen didn’t even want to use her first name. She was just the lawyer. It allowed a little bit of distance in Doreen’s mind from the hurt and the sense of betrayal. Not just professionally but also as a friend. At which point, Doreen realized there was no friendship. That’s not what friends did to each other.
Then she wrote down everything she remembered of her husband’s visit. Ex-husband, maybe not in deed yet but mentally… And the details of her suspicion that someone had gone through her place while they were out. That completed, she opened up the laptop and started researching the lawyer’s past. Indeed, she had been married, and, as the text from Nick confirmed, it had lasted three years, and then her husband had gone back to school. So had Robin, and apparently that had been the end of it. She went through law school, followed by all kinds of suspicious rapid rising success in the law firm.
As Doreen read about it, she wondered because two divorces followed, involving other partners in the law firm. As she read some of the gossip columns, she found some reports of liaisons between Robin and the partners in the law firm where she worked. That would make sense, if she had slept her way to the top.
Apparently Robin had slept her way into other advantageous positions as well. Maybe that’s the only way she knew how to be a success in life. Sad if that were the truth. But Doreen wouldn’t get hung up on that right now. There was just so much else. She searched the first husband because that could make for another suspect. But, as she searched, she didn’t find a whole lot. He was a lawyer in Vancouver, married, with two kids. She frowned as she searched for anything more, but she found nothing. She quickly sent Nick a message back. The first husband seems clear.
Agreed.
And she kept searching, looking for anything, but nothing was to be found. She groaned, as she sank back. “Come on,” she said, to no one in particular, though Thaddeus looked interested. “If you got involved with any of the lawyers in your firm, then potentially one of the wives did something about it. That would be awfully hard to find out for sure.” On impulse Doreen picked up her phone and made a long-distance call to the law firm where Robin worked, until her death. When one of the receptionists asked who was calling, Doreen said she had heard about Robin and that she was an old friend.
“I’m so sorry,” the receptionist replied. “It’s been a shock to all of us here.”
“She said her boyfriend was one of the other lawyers there. Could I talk to him, please? I really want to know she was happy her last few months.”
“I’m sorry.” The receptionist’s voice turned stiff. “To the best of my knowledge, she didn’t have a boyfriend.”
“Oh, yes, she most definitely did,” Doreen said in a gushing voice. “I know she did. She told me how wonderful he was and that they worked together all the time.”
“Sorry,” the receptionist said stiffly, “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, with an innocence to her voice that she was really proud of. “I’m really not trying to step on toes, but she was a really good friend of mine.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” she said, “but I can’t help you any further.”
“Wait, could you at least put me through to him, so I can talk to him myself?”
The woman hesitated.
“Surely it won’t hurt anyone,” Doreen whispered. “My heart is breaking for my friend.”
“I’ll pass on the message,” was all the receptionist said, and then she hung up.
“You’ll pass on the message,” Doreen said out loud. “Fascinating. So the receptionist knew that Robin had a relationship with somebody. Too bad I didn’t get his name.” She quickly texted the information to Nick. It wasn’t helpful, yet it was affirming.
Nick called her and said, “You know that Mack won’t be happy with us.”
“Ah, but you can see just how addictive this sleuthing can be?”
“Very,” he said, chuckling. “But all we know is that she had an affair with some lawyer in her office.”