They entered the interrogation room, settling across from Thorne, who continued to wear that smug smile.

“I've never been arrested for murder before,” he said.

Gabe ignored him.

“You have had a restraining order issued against you, though,” Ruby asked.

Thorne leaned in closer, his grin widening. “You're good, I'll give you that. But you're not good enough.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Ruby asked.

Thorne turned his gaze to Gabe. “You let her be in charge?”

Thorne was really just giving them all the evidence that he didn't value women. That was certainly a trait that lent itself to causing women harm.

“Brett, your ex-fiancée is dead. She filed a restraining order against you. Would you like to tell us a bit about your relationship with her?” Gabe asked.

Thorne's face clouded at the mention of Alannah. Without April in the room, he showed much more emotion at the memory. There was good reason to believe that April was under wishful thinking when she told Gabe that Alannah wasn’t that important to Thorne anymore.

“I loved her,” he said. “We were engaged for six months.”

“And what happened?” Ruby asked, glancing down at her own ring finger for just a moment before she returned her gaze to Thorne.

The suspect took a moment to reply, looking away from them before he spoke.

“She was a gold-digger. She wanted to marry me for my money,” Thorne said.

“And you didn't?” Gabe asked.

“Money is the root of all evil,” Thorne said. “Besides, it's my family's money, not mine. They disowned me years ago.”

“I wonder why,” Gabe said dryly.

“So, she found out you had no money and broke off the engagement?” Ruby asked. “Is that what you're trying to say?”

She didn’t know what to make of that just yet. It sounded like Thorne was laying the groundwork to blame Alannah for their problems, or alternatively, a distraction to shift attention away from the actual crime.

“No. Alannah said she didn't want to be with a man who thought about hurting her,” Thorne said. “It was an overreaction.”

Alannah was dead and still; Thorne went to the effort of trying to discredit her, as if Alannah had pointed the finger at him herself. Thorne’s was a fetish that could not be excused.

“Did you kill her because she broke off your engagement?” Ruby asked. “Get back at her? Make her regret her decision?”

She purposely let a tone of accusation enter her voice, just to see how Thorne would react.

“No, of course not. I loved her. I didn't hurt her,” Thorne scoffed, like they hadn’t seen plenty of evidence that he was perfectly capable of hurting her.

Gabe tried a different angle.

“Did you do your murder re-enactments with Alannah?” he asked.