“Hunter doesn’t want me, and that should make everyone in this hypocritical family happier than wolves chewing on a dead deer. He’s been kind to me but nothing more. He’s a decent man, which I know is rare in this cynical time. I wasn’t mature enough to know what I was throwing away. I’ve had other lovers since I married, yes, but none that threatened my marriage. Tom and I had reached an understanding.”
“Did you know that your husband contacted a divorce lawyer?”
Laurel leaned back heavily against the couch. She covered her eyes with her hands. “No. I had no idea. He never told me.” When she lowered her hands and looked Kala in the eyes, hers weren’t as defiant as they’d been. She managed a shaky laugh. “I always believed that I would be the one to leave him. I knew something had changed in him recently, but I didn’t know how much. Perhaps, if you find out what that something was, you’ll find out why he was killed.”
“Can you describe what had changed?”
“He didn’t seem interested in work like he had been and he was moping around. I got the feeling something was gnawing at him, but he never spoke about it. I thought it had to do with his latest project, although going to see Hunter and changing his will … I don’t know. It was as if he was making restitution.” Laurel turned her body toward Kala and turned her palms heavenward. “It’s almost as if he knew he was going to die.”
Kala believed that some people had premonitions of their impending death. It wasn’t clear if Tom Underwood knew the universe was turning on him. Perhaps he’d been threatened. Had he known someone was planning to murder him?
“Is there anything else?” Laurel looked through the doorway at Charlotte, who’d finished her snack and was trying to catch her mother’s attention. “What is it Charlotte?”
“Can I go watch my video now?”
“Just for a bit. I’m taking you to play at Amber’s as soon as we’re done here.” She turned toward Kala. “Any more questions?”
“You and Tom were at a party the night before he disappeared.”
“Yes, but he left some time before me. He was tired but asked me to stay since he was co-owner of the company.”
“Who was looking after Charlotte while you both were away from home?”
“Winnie. She’s our live-in nanny and has a room in the east wing.”
“Is she here today?”
“No, she’s gone to visit her family for the holidays. I spoke with her when I found out Tom died, but she said that she hadn’t seen anything that morning. She didn’t hear him come home from the party either.”
“We’ll need to confirm that. Can you provide us with contact information?”
“Of course.”
“Do you have other staff?”
“I have cleaners come in twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays, but that’s it. Tom was never home when they came so they didn’t know him.”
“Officer Bennett will take their contact information too. Thank you again for your time today.”
“I just want you to find who killed Tom.”
Bennett turned toward Kala, his hands on the steering wheel. “Where to now?”
She checked her watch. “It’s almost four o’clock. Let’s go back to the station so I can fill in the report. Thanks for taking notes, by the way. You can track down the nanny and the cleaning staff and see if they have anything to add. I doubt it, but we need to cover those bases.”
“Phone calls okay?”
“I’d say so, yes.”
Bennett put the car into gear. “Wolves chewing on a dead deer. Nice.”
“Paints a picture. Who knows how much of what she said was true? At certain points, she seemed honest enough.”
“She was startled by the news her husband had contacted a divorce lawyer.”
“Yeah. Interesting since they obviously weren’t a close couple even though she’s been trying to make us believe otherwise. Rouleau and I learned about their separate bedrooms on our first visit.”
“She’s got the grieving widow thing down.”
Kala looked over at him. “Do you work on many murder cases, Bennett?”
“No, but I always thought I’d like to.” He grinned at her. She hadn’t noticed his dimples before. “I don’t even mind the grunt work. You know, door to door and surveillance. I could get into it.”
“Good to know. You’d also have to like writing reports.” She sighed. “Seems like I’ve spent most of my time at the computer since I got here. Whoever said being a detective was glamorous hasn’t got a sweet clue. You did well in there too, by the way. I think she forgot you were sitting behind her.”
“Thanks. We make a good team.” He took his eyes off the road to glance at her.
Kala smiled back. She turned her head to look out the side window, her thoughts already on Laurel, sifting through the things she’d said, the flashes of emotion in her eyes. What was the significance of the will additions and why had Underwood made them? The answer to his murder had to be tied to his changed behaviour in the month leading up to his death. If she could just find the trigger to his recent need to seek restitution with his son and ex-wife, she might have the piece to break the case open.
23
Wednesday, December 28, 8:00 p.m.
It was nearly eight o’clock and dark and cold as any northern night in the dead of winter — a starless night with heavy cloud cover. Kala shivered in her red wool coat and decided to give one more pass around the apartment building before heading for her truck. It was her second evening patrolling the entranceways of two identical towers, the buildings next to the one where Glenda Martin had been assaulted. Kala was doing it on her own time without telling anyone, but only because she agreed with Rouleau that the guy was getting more dangerous. She didn’t want to think too deeply about the reason she wasn’t telling Rouleau about her after hours surveillance. He wouldn’t understand her need to work alone, to avoid being controlled. It was easier just to get on with the job until she had something to share. This way she could focus on the puzzle and not have to deal with the eternal bureaucracy. A couple of coats and hats from the Sally Ann gave her different disguises in case the perp was staking out the buildings. The trick was not to look like she was hanging around because that would tip him off that she was on the hunt.
A man exited the building ahead of her, and she tensed, ready for his approach, but he took an immediate right and got into a car idling in the visitor parking lot. The dropping temperatures appeared to be keeping nearly everyone indoors, even Grab ’n Go, the nickname Malik had given the suspect.
Kala walked slowly up the sidewalk, holding a grocery bag in her left hand and leaving her right hand free. He normally attacked from behind and her senses were on high alert. Somebody was coming up the path behind her. She entered the lobby and pretended to fumble with the bag, keeping herself turned away from the door.
“Need help?” a man asked.
She looked over her shoulder at him. “No, I just forgot something in my car and have to go get it. But thanks.”
She stepped back outside and checked her watch. Grab ’n Go didn’t appear to be on the prowl tonight. It was disappointing to have a second night coming up empty, but she wasn’t deterred. Stalking an animal quarry sometimes took days in the woods. Human targets demanded equal patience. The advantage she had over this serial predator was knowing he preferred hunting in his own back yard. He’d be back to his familiar hunting