“Before,” he said, knowing it came out curt. “Here’s your tea.”

She blew on it, took a sip. To her credit, though he could tell the taste wasn’t to her liking, she sipped some more, then nodded politely and set the cup down. “Thank you. Now, the reason I’m here. The protective order you submitted against the reporter who was trying to interview Sutton wasn’t granted.”

“I know that.”

“The judge found there was no cause.”

“I know that, too. Idiot. Sutton was terrified of the man, and the judge blew us off.”

“I talked to the judge. He said you had no cause. That it was only a few phone calls.”

“A few phone calls that made my wife sleep with the lights on. Yes, totally benign.”

“What did the reporter—” She looked at her notebook. “His name is Colin Wilde, correct?”

“That’s the bastard.”

“According to the report, Mr. Wilde claims all he did was call and ask for comment after he’d talked with the reviewer, who goes by the anonymous moniker UMB. This UMB claimed Sutton came to her house. Wilde called you for comment. Sutton hung up on him, and you filed the order of protection. Correct?”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that, but you’ve hit the gist.”

“Were you aware that the reviewer, UMB, filed an order of protection against Sutton?”

He was silent.

“Her name is Rosemary George. She lives in a tiny house in rural Kentucky, gets by on social security for the most part. In the report, she claims Sutton came to her house, beat on her door, and when she refused to answer, lit a small fire on the front step, and ran. They have video of the incident. UMB decided not to prosecute. Your wife dodged a very serious bullet.”

“I can’t imagine...”

Graham put her phone on the counter. “It’s queued up for you. I thought you might want to see it.”

She hit Play, and he watched in lurid black and white as his wife lost her ever-loving mind on a stranger’s doorstep.

When it was finished, he had no words.

Graham pocketed her phone.

“Thank you for sending this. It does help ascertain her state of mind.”

“What the bloody hell are you on about? I didn’t send it. I’ve never seen it before.”

“That’s odd. It came from your IP address.”

“Trust me, Officer Graham. I didn’t send that to you. There’s been a mistake.”

She gave him a completely inscrutable look, and Ethan had a moment’s qualm. He shouldn’t be talking to her without Robinson. He knew this. But she stepped away from it.

“I’ll have my people look into that, maybe it was a mistake. Let’s talk about the video. As you can see, Sutton was acting quite threatening that day. Has she ever been threatening or violent in your presence, sir?”