“Well, of course there was. After losing that tiny baby, Ethan took his anger out on her. Why, there was even a bruise on her arm one night after a terrible fight they’d had. She took a picture of it, I saw it on her phone. I know the police are already looking into these things. They’ve been asking us all so many questions. And we’re telling them everything we know, everything we can think of that will help bring Sutton home alive.”

So that’s what they’d been up to. The extended silence from the police. Talking to everyone. Listening to gossip. Laying out the case against him. Letting their circumstantial evidence drive them his way.

He turned off the television. There was no reason to watch anymore.

He’d already wrapped his head around the idea that the police thought he killed his wife. There was really nothing more for him to do than sit tight. They’d come round soon enough.

Might as well take advantage of the solitude.

He poured himself a Scotch, a double, and went back to the computer.

Let the words soothe his embittered soul.

Not Everything Is As It Seems

NOT EVERYTHING IS AS IT SEEMS

Assembling a murder case against a man without the benefit of a dead body is tricky at best.

They worked themselves to the bone, setting it all up. They took turns watching the house to make sure Montclair didn’t run. Each report came back the same—nothing. He had some groceries delivered. We saw him walking through the house. He peeked out the window. The television was on for a short time. No phone calls from the landline, and nothing unusual from the cell phone. The blogger never called back. If he’s making preparations to run, we aren’t hearing or seeing anything. He might be in there destroying everything, but it seems quiet.

Holly had been tasked with talking to the friends some more, getting every last ounce out of them. She’d finally had a chance to sit down with Sutton’s friend Rachel Temora, who was not much help, considering she was wildly ill. Newly pregnant, she had terrible morning sickness and kept having to rush off to the bathroom under the watchful eye of her sweet partner, Susannah. Finally, Holly had left them in peace. There was nothing new to be gained there.

She tracked down Sutton’s mother in Canada. It was more promising, but she really hadn’t learned anything Ethan Montclair hadn’t already told her she’d say.