“My colleague is with her now. She took her boys to her mother-in-law’s house.”

He sighed in relief. “She should have stayed with them.”

Oliver said, “Mr. Grant, I’m petitioning for bail. I have the paperwork complete, and in light of the fact that until these charges you have been a law-abiding citizen, I think we have a good chance of making bail.”

Stanley barely registered his lawyer’s comments. “Ms. Revere, I didn’t kill Victoria. When I heard you were looking into her murder, I told my attorney I wanted to meet with you, but he never set it up.”

Max glanced at Jones and frowned.

“Longfellow,” Stanley said. “It’s only one of the reasons I fired him. We only met once, but I know your reputation. You don’t stop until you find the truth.”

“Tell me the truth.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Either you killed Victoria or you didn’t,” Max said. “Not complicated.”

“I didn’t kill her.”

“You went to the police a week after her murder and said you did.”

“I had no choice. That’s why I had to make sure Marie was safe. They threatened her to force my confession, and now that I’ve recanted, I’m afraid they’ll go after her. Marie and her boys are all I care about.”

“Who are they?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t believe you.”

He stared at her. “So you’re not going to help me?”

“I’m going to find the truth,” Max said, not batting an eye. “If you want to play games, it won’t stop me from finding out who killed Victoria. You or someone else.”

“I didn’t kill Victoria. I swear to God I didn’t.”

She didn’t hold much stock in anyone swearing to God. People committed a lot of violence in His name.

“Who are they?” she pushed.

He looked her in the eye, hesitated a moment, but she didn’t think he was coming up with a lie on the fly. He’d had two months to develop a story she might believe. Instead, she determined that he was trying to figure out if he could trust her.

She stared back. She didn’t trust him, but she wanted to hear what he had to say.