“It’s not the first time, but I think it’s going to be the last. I can’t believe what she accused me of! She thinks I could actually kill John O’Connor. Can you even imagine?”

“People have killed over jealousy before.”

“I see that she’s voiced her suspicions to you.” Noel ran his hands through his hair. “What do you want, Detective?”

“Why did you tell me that you attended the Big Brother/Big Sister event the night John was killed?”

“Because I had it in my date book.”

“Your date book was off by a week.”

Noel seemed startled to hear that. “My secretary keeps it up for me.” He thought for a moment. “You know, you’re right. It was two weeks ago. I’m really sorry about that. Things have been insane at work lately, and at home…”

“What’s been going on at home?” Nick asked.

Sam glowered at him. “I’ll ask the questions.” Turning back to Noel, she said, “Things have been tense between you and Natalie?”

“More so than usual since we saw John at a fundraiser a couple of weeks ago. She knows how I feel about her talking and flirting with him in public, so what does she do? Flaunts her ‘friendship’ with him right in front of my face—and everyone in the room is talking about the two of them. How do you think that makes me feel?”

“Disrespected?” Nick said.

“I said to be quiet!” Sam hissed.

Noel directed an ironic chuckle at Nick that infuriated Sam.

“I guess you can relate, huh?” Noel said to Nick.

They followed Noel into the living room where he poured himself a drink from a crystal decanter.

Sam shook her head when he offered them one.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Nick said, earning another glare from Sam.

“Were you jealous of John?” Sam asked, anxious to wrestle the interview back from the old boy’s club.

Noel handed Nick a drink and took a seat on the sofa. “I was sick of him. I was sick of hearing about him, sick of running into him. Mostly, I was sick of being her consolation prize.”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this the other day?” Sam asked.

Swirling the amber liquor around his glass, Noel glanced at her. “Because I love her.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Pathetic, huh? She has almost no regard for me or my feelings, yet I love her anyway.”

“Were you sick enough of John O’Connor to kill him, Mr. Jordan?”

“No! Of course not. I didn’t kill him.”

“I’d like to give you a polygraph in the morning,” Sam said.

“Fine. I have nothing to hide.”

“Natalie said she woke up in the middle of the night John was killed and you were gone?”

“I was out running. I do that when I can’t sleep.”