Page 93 of Little Bitter Truths
“On a scale of one to ten, their enthusiasm was an eight.Their ability to tell me something helpful was closer to a two.”
“That’s too bad.”
“They’ve got plenty of theories, just not much evidence.Some are convinced it was a robbery.Others think it was a planned murder.And one woman has decided Mia must be involved in something scandalous because she tried talking to her a few times and Mia wasn’t interested in small talk.”
“What about the night Wren died?Did any of them see or hear anything?”
“Again, nothing useful.No one heard a gunshot.No one heard Wren scream.And no one saw anything suspicious, unless you count the neighbor who spotted the dark truck, which we already knew about.”
My expectations hadn’t been high.If Simone had uncovered anything significant, she would have called me right away.Even so, I’d hoped for more than what she’d given me.
“What about you, Hunter?”I asked.
“I did background research on the three names you gave me,” she said.“Karl Holland, Renee Parker, and Christian Shepherd.”
“And?”
“Karl’s the kind of guy who doesn't see the glass as half empty.He sees it as shattered on the floor.Spend five minutes on his social media, and you’ll know what I mean.Still, being miserable isn’t the same thing as being a murderer.”
“Your opinion of him lines up with my impression of him when we met,” I said.
“He has no violent history, no arrest records, and no obvious connection to Mia outside the one workplace issue.He also appears to spend most nights posting complaints about politics.He may be guilty of using too many exclamation points, but that’s about it.”
“Good to know.”
“Mia’s cousin Renee is more complicated,” Hunter said.“There was the dispute over the grandfather’s will, the forged letter, and the failed attempt to claim the house.Financially, she and her husband aren’t drowning, but they’re not swimming in champagne either.Raising kids isn’t cheap these days.”
No, it wasn’t.
“I spoke with Renee,” I said.“Her neighbor confirmed Renee was home at the time of the murder, so unless she’s lying, we can rule her out.”
“Is the neighbor a solid, believable alibi?”
“Solid enough.Renee lives over two hours away, so the timeline doesn’t add up unless we’re talking about a murder-for-hire scenario.She doesn’t strike me as someone capable of arranging a murder, but she seems fixated on having a relationship with Mia, even though Mia hasn’t put much effort into having one with her.”
Through the kitchen window, I watched Adrian climb into his truck and drive away.Part of me was tempted to poke around his house while he was gone, but I didn’t have the time right now.
“We’ve talked about Karl and Renee, which leaves Christian,” I said.“He died in a car accident before Wren was murdered, so it wasn’t him either.”
“We’re coming up short on our end,” Hunter said.“Your turn.”
I spent the next few minutes bringing them up to speed.I told them about my conversation with Christian’s mother, Bernice, and the brother who had pretended to be someone else to get close to Mia.I explained how Jeremy had entered Mia’s life under the name Simon Sullivan, tracked her down at a conference, lied about his identity, and worked his way into her life.
When I finished, Simone said, “Jeremy pretended to be someone else so he could get close to his dead brother’s ex-girlfriend?”
“Jeremy and Christian were estranged.After Christian died, he found photographs of Mia among his brother’s things, and he couldn’t stop thinking about her.He tracked her down, introduced himself under a false name, and claims he developed feelings for her in the process.Meanwhile, Mia had no idea about his true identity.”
“What do you think about him?”Simone asked.
“I think he makes a good suspect.”
“Send me everything you have on him,” Hunter said.“I’ll dig around.”
“Will do.There’s also been some friction between Mia and Adrian Webb, her neighbor.”
“What kind of friction?”Simone asked.
“The kind involving a large dog named Moose and a lawn that Moose seemed to find particularly inviting.”
