“My wife?” he asked.
“We have this address listed as the home of Juliet Dunnegan,” Jack said. “Is that correct?”
“Juliet?” Brian asked as if he just now recalled he had a wife. “That’s impossible. I’m sure she’s in her bedroom.”
I raised my brows at that. No wonder he hadn’t reported her missing. Brian left us and went down the hallway, his robe flapping behind him, and he pushed open the door to a room at the end of the hall.
“Juliet,” we heard him call. “Juliet! Where are you? Stop causing drama.” We heard a door slam and he called her again.
He appeared in the hallway moments later, a thread of anger overriding the surprise that he hadn’t found her lurking in a closet. “She’s not there. Her bed hasn’t been slept in. This is so like her.”
“Let’s sit down, Mr. Dunnegan,” Jack said again. “We need to ask you a few questions.”
This time Jack didn’t give him an option, but he moved into the living room and stood in front of a white leather chair positioned near the fireplace.
“Dr. Graves is the coroner for the county.”
“You saw her?” Brian asked me. “You’re sure it’s Juliet? She’s really good with makeup and costumes.”
“The victim we identified this morning was not faking,” I said, a little sharper than I’d usually speak when dealing with someone who’d just lost a loved one. But Brian Dunnegan was rubbing me the wrong way. “We were able to compare the victim with the driver’s license photo from her purse.”
I moved over to the stiff white leather couch and took a seat. It was impossibly uncomfortable, and I had the fleeting thought that if the Dunnegans ever had company over they probably didn’t stay for long.
Brian moved stiffly to the matching couch across from me and sat down, and then Cole took the spot next to him so he was flanked. There was something unusual in Dunnegan’s expression, and I wasn’t sure if it was guilt or fear, but it certainly wasn’t grief.
“When was the last time you saw your wife?” Jack asked.
“I don’t understand any of this,” Brian said. “I’d like to see the body. I just don’t believe it’s her. Juliet loves being the center of attention. It’s her theater background. She can’t help herself.”
“Believe me, Mr. Dunnegan,” Jack said dryly. “There are better ways to prank someone than to have your throat slit.”
Two hot spots of color appeared on Dunnegan’s cheeks and he stared angrily at Jack. “It’s not unreasonable to want proof,” he said haughtily. “Especially considering her background. She’s always done whatever she could to get my attention. And since I told her I wanted a divorce I was expecting her to pull something drastic like this.”
“When did you tell her you wanted a divorce?” Jack asked.
Dunnegan pressed his lips together. “Do I need an attorney?”
“That’s up to you,” Jack said. “But you mentioned before you didn’t have much time for us, so I’m assuming you don’t want to spend the better part of your day down at the station.”
“I sent her a text on Saturday,” he said.
“You told your wife you want a divorce in a text message?” Jack asked.
“Come on, now, sheriff,” Cole said, his drawl more pronounced than usual. “You know how it is in situations like this. Tempers flare and emotions are high. Sometimes a text message is the best way to go.”
Dunnegan looked at Cole as if he was the only one of us who had any sense. Cole liked playing good cop. He said he liked to sucker the suspect in and then watch them trip over their own feet once they realized they’d gone too far. Of course, I hadn’t expected to go from giving death news to suspect in such a short time span. But I guessed while we were here it was better to kill two birds with one stone, especially since Dunnegan seemed like the type of man who’d have really irritating attorneys.
“She’s never here,” Dunnegan said. “She’s been at that stupid festival all week, coming in at all hours of the night. When she bothers to come home at all. Juliet is a spoiled party girl who has no idea what she wants in life unless it’s spending other people’s money. We weren’t married long before I realized it was best to go about my own life and build my company. Marriage is expensive. Divorce is more expensive.” He shrugged as if that should explain it all.
“It looks like you’ve been very successful,” Cole said. “What kind of company do you have?”
“I’m an architect,” he said. “I have a firm out of DC, but I recently moved my main offices to King George. I was able to get a great spot overlooking the Potomac and I designed our new building. It’s a great advertisement for potential clients because they want to come see it firsthand. It’s been featured in several architectural journals.”
“You were never worried when Juliet didn’t come home?” Jack asked.
“Not at all,” Dunnegan said. “Sometimes she’d text if she remembered. More often than not, she didn’t. She’s hated this house since I built it, and according to her I’m cold and emotionally distant. She’s found plenty of warmth in other places during the twelve years we’ve been married.”
“The two of you have children?” Cole asked. “You mentioned your daughter?”
“No,” Dunnegan said. “Juliet and I never had children, thank God. She’s too much of a child herself. I have a daughter from a previous marriage.”
“You mentioned Juliet liked to be the center of attention,” Jack said. “Has anyone ever given her unwanted attention before?”
Dunnegan snorted. “Believe me. There was no such thing as unwanted attention to Juliet. If a man meets her criteria—meaning he’s attractive, has money, and gives her lots of stuff—then she’ll play whatever role she has to until she gets bored.”
“You’ve not noticed anyone unusual in the neighborhood over the last couple of weeks?” Cole asked. “This seems like the type of place where neighbors notice things.”
“Oh, they do,” Dunnegan said. “Which is why everyone in the neighborhood knows exactly the kind of woman Juliet is.” And then he paused and corrected himself. “Was. But despite Juliet’s multitude of faults, she was very popular and well liked. When can I move forward with funeral plans? I’d like to get the details taken care of as soon as possible. I need to call my attorneys and my secretary so she’ll know I’m going to be late today. I’ve got important meetings this afternoon.”
“I’ll do the autopsy this morning,” I said. “If nothing significant comes up in my findings I should be able to release her tomorrow.”
Dunnegan got to his feet and said, “If you’ll excuse me, I really do have a lot to do today. I’m already behind schedule.”
Jack stood and pulled a business card from the inside pocket of his coat. “You can get in touch with me or Detective Cole if you think of anything that might help us find your wife’s killer. He’s still out there somewhere. You wouldn’t want this to happen to anyone else.”