“Bones broken in her skull indicated she’d been beaten. The hyoid bone in her neck was broken, which says she was strangled to death.”

“Yes.”

“There was nothing in the car,” she said. “The police believe she took her bags and her purse with her. They weren’t with her when they found her body, so the killer must have disposed of them elsewhere.”

“Good a guess as any.” His jaw felt tight. “They don’t know if she was raped. Once I know who the guy is, I’ll find out.” Before I kill him. Kade wondered if Ellie recognized the hard look in his eyes.

“I can get the facts of the case,” she said. “I’ll read everything I can find about your wife and the murder. What I need to know are the things I can’t find in a report.”

Wariness trickled through him. “For instance?”

Ellie looked him straight in the face. “Why did your wife leave you?”

Silence fell. Irritation had him sitting up straighter in his chair. “You think Heather was the one who wanted the divorce?”

“You said she’d started seeing someone. Sometimes when a man sleeps around, the woman wants payback.”

His jaw tightened even more. “Tit for tat. Is that it?”

“Was it?”

He leaned back in his chair, rocking a little on the springs. “Since you’ve already formed an opinion, why bother asking me?”

Faint color rose in Ellie’s cheeks. She took a deep breath. “You’re right. I’m being unfair. It isn’t like me. Let’s start over. Tell me why the two of you were divorcing.”

Kade clamped down on his emotions. He hated this. Hated talking about the past. “You really need to get into my personal life? Can’t you just be satisfied knowing the marriage failed?”

“I have to know as much as I can about your wife in order to find out what happened to her. You promised to give me the information I need.” She cocked one of her reddish eyebrows. “Or do you want to end this right here?”

Kade’s hand tightened around the leather armrest of his chair. He didn’t want to talk about his marriage. It had been painful eight years ago when he’d first filed the divorce papers. It was nearly as painful now.

He didn’t want to talk about it—but he wanted to catch a killer.

“You want to know what happened, but it’s not an easy question to answer. Heather and I were high school sweethearts. She was a cheerleader. I played varsity football. We were prom king and queen, that kind of thing. Heather was beautiful. When we met, I was a senior, and she was a sophomore. The first time I saw her, I fell a little in love.”

“You were the star quarterback, right? Most popular guy in school? Or am I jumping to conclusions again?”