Val thought of Jennifer Ballard, another pretty blonde. Did she fit in here as well? But how to mention it to Gavin that she had spoken to the Ballards and been in Gabrielle’s house so that he wouldn’t blow a gasket? Honestly, he’d only blow a gasket if he knew Jack had been with her. Sometimes the best way to get something out in the open is to simply come clean.

“I met the Ballards last night,” she said bluntly, purposely leaving Jack out of the story. “I got a lead, so did some digging.”

“You did?” Gavin raised his eyebrows. Val could see that he was trying to read into this, and she held her breath. “What did you think of them? The Ballards.”

She exhaled, relieved he didn’t press further on why she would do this. “I got the feeling the husband knew Gabrielle more than he’s saying. He might have been having an affair with her.” Val stretched the truth here by omitting that this was Jack’s assumption.

“What made you think that?” He set down his next wing and wiped his hands on his napkin.

Val explained about Ron Ballard’s reaction to the questions and also about the detached wooden slats in the back fence. “I have an odd feeling about Jennifer Ballard, too.”

“In what way?”

“She’s the only witness that saw Gabrielle the morning she disappeared.” Val went further into the discussion, maybe out on a limb, when she finally disclosed how all of Gabrielle’s friends were pretty blondes and Jennifer could have easily fit into this group. Val expected Gavin to laugh at her for such a wild assumption, but he pulled a small notebook out of his coat pocket and jotted something down. Val saw that it said Jennifer Ballard. Gavin drew a circle around her name.

“I’ll run a background check on Jennifer. Maiden name, where she attended high school, college and so forth.” Gavin still had his head down, writing notes on his pad.

“There’s more.” Now how to tell Gavin about the key she found in Gabrielle’s house? Sometimes it’s just best to keep coming clean. Or as clean as you can.

Gavin stopped mid scrawl.

“I took a look in Gabrielle Morgan’s house too.”

Gavin held his gaze on Val’s. “Why?”

Here it comes. He let the Ballards why slip by but not this one. At this moment Val wished she had a stiff drink to take refuge in. The rest of the conversation was going to be painful.

Gavin raised his eyebrows even further, cocked his head, and then pursed his lips. “Val…”

“I know. I know. What I did was wrong. But I had a tip that I wanted to follow.”

“How did you come by this tip? After the lead. Both of which you decided not to share with me.”