“I sell cars. High-end resales at Exclusive Auto. BMWs, Audis, Mercedes.” Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. “Call me if you’re ever in the market.” Val took the card and glanced at the front before politely putting it in her pocket. A high-end auto was not on her shopping list.

Once outside Jack said, “He was without his wife three evenings out of the week. Confirmed.”

“You think Gabrielle and Ron were having an affair? Why?”

“Why do I think so? Isn’t it obvious?” Jack lingered on the words like a dare.

“I mean why Ron?”

13

Val sighed. “Plus, what would they have done with the kids? How would Toby not have at least mentioned to his mother that his father was having a friend over. Plus, how did they get from one person’s house to the other without someone seeing. The neighbor commented only on Gabrielle Morgan’s lights being on, not witnessing one of them traipsing over to the other’s house, Jack. Though Ron seems to know more about Gabrielle than he’s letting on, the logistics of an affair don’t make sense.”

“Toby’s six and Adam was eight. They would have been in bed somewhere between eight and 9pm at the latest. If Gabrielle and Ron hooked up then, that’s plenty of time before Jennifer Ballard gets home from work,” Jack said. “Getting back to your question of why Ron, let’s try this; Ron Ballard knew something about Gabrielle, and he was blackmailing her. The payment was sex, because what else could she really give him, especially if he thought she was a poor, single mother living in the house next door. Then he finds out she was a bajillionaire and kicks himself in the ass for wanting sex and not money. You could see it on his face, Val, he knew about the money. Too late for him, though.” Jack laughed. “The man’s a damn salesman. He convinces people to spend more cash on a car than they probably can afford. And couldn’t manage to put a penny in his own pocket with Gabrielle, but he probably did manage to put his—”

Val held her hand up in the air. “Okay. Enough.” She stood still and let out a breath in the frigid night air, a cloud of condensation forming around her. “Jack, I think your mind works in devious ways.”

He put his arm around Val’s shoulder. “My dear Val, you have to think like a deviant to catch one. That’s why I’m so successful.”

“Ha! What about Jennifer, then. What are your thoughts on her?”

“Did she know her husband was possibly shagging the neighbor, is that the question?” Jack stopped and put his hands in his pockets. “If Gabrielle Morgan didn’t take her own life, then someone she knew very well killed her. By all accounts, Jennifer barely knew her at all.”