Page 43 of Little Bitter Truths
“A beachfront house in Santa Monica.”
Simone raised a brow.“That will do it.”
“Renee claimed their grandfather intended for the house to go to her, not Wren and Mia, and she even produced a letter saying so, but that turned out to be forged.After the judge ruled against her, she tried apologizing to Wren and Mia for contesting the will in the first place.”
“Hmm, seems like there might be a lot more to the story than what you’ve been told,” Hunter said.
“I agree.”
Simone drummed her fingers along the top of the desk.“Based on instinct, if I had to pick one of these three people as our prime suspect, my money’s on the ex-boyfriend.”
“Why?”I asked.
“Because obsession can lead people down a dark path,” she said.
Hunter shook her head.“I don’t know.The coworker feels volatile to me with his public humiliation, career setback, and proximity.It’s a dangerous mix.”
“And the cousin?”I asked.
Hunter shrugged.“Money’s always a good motive, and it’s an even better one when someone thinks something was taken from them.Where would you like us to start?”
“Hunter, I want you to research all three suspects,” I said.“I’d like background information, timelines of where they’ve been, what they’ve been doing, and anything that connects them to Mia in the last couple of months.”
Hunter grinned, her expression brightening with excitement.“You had me atresearch.”
“Good.”I turned to Simone.“I want you to talk to Mia’s neighbors and see if anyone saw anything the night Wren was killed or last night during the break-in.I also want you to track down Vera Quinn of Sweep Dreams.Vera is Mia’s housekeeper, and she has a key to her house.I’m interested to know if she has anything useful to say.”
Simone nodded.“Will do.”
Hunter narrowed her eyes, looking over my shoulder at the notes I’d taken.“Looks like you missed someone on your list.Who’s Simon Sullivan?”
“He’s a man Mia met at a conference,” I said.“They hit it off and planned to see each other after it was over.”
“And then Wren was murdered,” Hunter said.
“Right.”
“And you don’t think he’s worth looking into?”
“Not yet.Let’s focus on the three suspects Mia gave me first, and we can expand from there.”
I stood, grabbing my handbag.
“Where are you headed?”Simone asked.
“I’m going to start with Karl Holland,” I said.“If he works a nine-to-five, he’ll be getting off work soon.”
“I can tag along, if you’d like,” Simone said.
“Thanks, but I’ll be all right talking to him on my own.”
Simone shot me a wink.“You almost always are.”
“Hunter, will you see if you can find any profiles Karl has on social media, so I know what he looks like?”I asked.
She nodded.“On it.”
I stepped out of the office and into the late-afternoon sun, my thoughts drifting to Karl, a man convinced he’d been robbed of an opportunity he thought he deserved.
