“No, she hasn’t,” Dolan said flatly.

“Why not?” Jerebko asked.

“Because she was murdered.”

CHAPTER NINE

Jessie knew it was coming.

The way Dolan set it up, she could tell ahead of time that he was about to drop the bomb. She wondered if he’d done that deliberately so that she could prepare herself to watch the couple’s reactions. If so, it worked. When the words came out of his mouth, her eyes were fixed on the Jerebkos.

Both of them looked legitimately stunned. But there was more. In Milton’s case, she saw the wheels turn almost immediately, as he processed the fact that he was almost certainly a suspect. Gayle’s shock seemed intermingled with something close to satisfaction, perhaps at the fact that the woman who had upended her life was no longer drawing breath. Both reactions were unflattering. But neither necessarily indicated any guilt.

“How?” Milton finally managed to gasp.

“For obvious reasons, we can’t really get into the details at this time,” Dolan said. “But we are going to need statements from both of you regarding your whereabouts last night.”

“You’re suggesting we had a hand in this?” Gayle asked, her back growing stiff.

“It’s not an outrageous possibility,” Dolan said. “Especially in light of what you’ve told us…and what you haven’t.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Milton spat, his charm fading fast.

“Well, Councilman, you neglected to mention your threat toward Ms. Stanton over a dating app.”

“Dating app?” Gayle repeated, perplexed. “You met this woman on an app?”

Milton’s expression went from self-righteous to sheepish in an instant.

“Whoa, it looks like you two still have a bit to discuss,” Dolan said, chuckling to himself before turning suddenly serious. “In the meantime, care to address the threat, sir?”

“What threat?”

“The threat to ‘end her’ if she went public about your indiscretion.”

“Oh, Jesus,” Jerebko groaned. “That’s not what it seems like. I meant end her financially. My lawyers were going to sue her into the ground—defamation, fraud, anything they could come up with. I’d never actually hurt someone physically.”

“Do you have any proof that this was a legal and not a physical threat?” Jessie asked.

“I talked to my lawyers the same day she messaged me. I’ll waive attorney-client privilege if it will help prove that.”

“One doesn’t preclude the other,” Dolan said.

“What?”

“Threatening her legally doesn’t preclude you from going after her physically,” he said.

“Oh my god,” Jerebko said, looking truly flustered.

“Where were you last night, Mr. Jerebko?” Jessie asked, hoping to get a more honest answer now, when he was less composed.

“I was in San Diego. I just drove back this morning.”

“We’ll have to verify that,” Jessie said before turning to Gayle. “Where were you, ma’am?”

“I was here,” she said, still looking somewhat dazed at the sudden turn of events. “I played board games with my kids, then went to bed.”

“You play board games with your kids?” Murph asked, speaking for the first time. Dolan shot him an annoyed look.