She stepped into the foyer. Talked to her boss for a few minutes, then hung up, and came back to the kitchen. “Your lawyer is on his way here. My boss is, too.”

“Great. That sounds like a party I won’t want to miss.”

The priest put a hand on his arm. “Sarcasm isn’t appropriate right now, Mr. Montclair.”

“Sorry, Father. Not feeling so well at the moment.” And to the cop, “I’m going to ask you again. Am I under arrest?”

“No comment. Did you kill your wife?”

He gave her a sad smile. “Of course not.”

* * *

It went about how he expected. The sergeant and a few more cops arrived ten minutes post call, with Robinson hot on their heels, pushing reporters out of the way, shouting, “Ethan, don’t say a fucking word,” as he entered the house, which Ethan thought was rather excellent advice, considering. The media continued to mass outside, sensing something major was going down.

They all sat at the kitchen table, and talked at him. Ethan listened with half an ear. Heard words like suspect, murder, lying, alibi, timeline, cooperation. Robinson kept a hand on Ethan’s arm to keep him from speaking and made a lot of impressive-sounding arguments, but finally, at ten after five, they said the words he’d been waiting for all afternoon, all day, all week, really.

“Ethan Montclair, you have the right to remain silent.”

Now the World Knows

NOW THE WORLD KNOWS

The television was muted, but when the breaking news alert popped on the screen, the volume was turned up. A pretty reporter with a perfectly sharp blond bob, green eyes lit up like Christmas, was waiting in the shot. On cue, she began to speak.

“We have an update on the Sutton Montclair case. In a few moments we’re expecting a presser from the Franklin Police Department, who will be—oh, look, here they are. On time. What a rarity. I’ll turn it over to Chief Meecham, let her take it from here.”

She turned toward a bank of microphones. The chief of police, a buxom blonde with strands of gray in her hair, approached the microphone. There were several people alongside, investigators on the case.

“Thank you for coming. I’m Chief Meecham, Franklin Police. We can confirm a body was found early this morning in a wooded area off Highway 96, near Gentry’s Farm. Preliminary findings indicate we have found the body of Sutton Montclair. We will not be releasing any more details regarding the victim, including cause of death, or any other suppositions until after an autopsy is performed.

“Ethan Montclair, the victim’s husband, has been taken into custody and is being charged with first-degree homicide. At this time there are no other suspects.

“Thanks to the tireless work of the Franklin Police Department, especially Sergeant Moreno and his team—”

The television flicked off.

A smile began.

Now, Isn't That Odd?