Chapter Fourteen
When Logan had arrived at Mary’s house he’d pulled his sister-in-law aside to speak to her about what he and Drake had found out today. Blessedly Bruce had retreated to the living room to watch television and Carol was in the kitchen organizing the massive amounts of food that had been dropped off during the day. At the rate it was appearing, they were all going to have to take some home and put it in their own refrigerators before it went bad.
He’d tried to be delicate when bringing up the subject, but this was Mary. She immediately became defensive and then accused him of deliberately trying to find evidence against her and ignoring all the other suspects.
It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. He didn’t want to look but he couldn’t drag his gaze away at the carnage.
“I’m not trying to find evidence against you,” Logan explained patiently, shutting the den door behind him so no one else could hear. “If anything, I’m trying to clear you, but the problem is there are no other suspects. Every person that I speak with says what a great guy Lyle was and how he had no enemies. The only human being on the planet he fought with was you. Now I find out that you knew Lyle was having an affair and you didn’t mention it to me.”
“Because it was humiliating.” Mary’s eyes sparkled with tears. “I didn’t want the whole town knowing that Lyle messed around with some bimbo. I want to have some dignity, or are you planning to take that away, too? You’ve taken everything else from the Bryson family.”
He was getting fucking tired of everyone blaming him. He hadn’t come back to town to be Mary’s whipping boy.
“If your marriage had problems, then you need to look into a mirror. Sadly, I’m not powerful enough to affect your relationship. But if you’re looking for your dignity, you might want to speak with Wade. He’s the one that went around killing people for fun. I just stopped him.”
Red faced, Mary whirled on her heel to face him. “How dare you speak to me like that. Who do you think you are?”
For Ava’s sake, Logan had always tried to keep the peace but he was rapidly losing the will to live here. Lyle was a fucking saint to have put up with Mary all these years.
But that doesn’t mean she’s a killer. She’s just a pain in the ass.
“I think I’m the man that’s investigating your husband’s murder. You do want his killer brought to justice, don’t you? Well…don’t you? Or are you too worried about your secrets and dignity? Because you may not be able to have both.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she lifted her chin in defiance. “How do you know she didn’t kill him? Maybe she was angry that he and I were reconciling.”
A woman scorned. It wasn’t all that far-fetched, and he’d planned to look into it. He needed to speak with Natalie Denning, preferably soon. Girlfriends often knew the secrets that were kept from the wife.
“I will be questioning her but right now I’m talking to you. How long did you know about Lyle and Natalie?”
Mary rolled her eyes and snorted. “Is that her name? Natalie? Does it end with an ‘i’ that she dots with a little heart? Jesus, she even sounds immature. Lyle saw her a few times and then he ended it. Case closed.”
Apparently, Mary knew the other woman was young. And she didn’t like it one bit. Not that Mary was old. She was…around forty, maybe?
Taking a deep breath, Logan held onto his temper. Anger would get him nowhere.
“How long did you know about Lyle and Natalie?” he repeated.
“Six months ago.” Mary shrugged and sat down in the brown leather wing backed chair. It looked like one of the same ones that had sat in the library in the Bryson estate. “He told me and then said he was going to end it. He did end it. We were working on our marriage.”
“And the night you chased him out of the house with a gun? Was that when he told you?”
Mary’s mouth fell open and her face turned a particularly bright shade of purple. Obviously she hadn’t expected him to know about that incident.
“We had an argument. All couples do.”
Her voice trembled and her hands were at her side, held in tight fists. She probably wanted to smack him.
“You know…Ava and I have had a few fights in our time together but not once have either one of us waved a firearm at the other. What could make a person that angry?”
“He told me about her.”
“And you were mad?”
She stood and walked toward the windows, avoiding his gaze. “Who wouldn’t be?”
“But he came back?”
“And we worked it out. End of story. It’s not nearly as dramatic as you make it sound.”
She wasn’t getting what was happening here and he was going to have to be the poor bastard that broke it to her.
“I’m not the one making this sound dramatic. Your friends and neighbors are, Mary. They’re the ones telling me the stories and if we don’t find a way to clear your name, they will be the ones testifying against you at your murder trial. Are you listening to me? Right now, you are the one and only suspect in the shooting of your husband and things are looking bad. You need to start being honest with me or I can’t help you.”
Shit, now she was crying. He hadn’t meant to be hard on her, but she needed to wake the hell up and start seeing the reality of her situation. Nothing was going to protect her. Not the Bryson name and certainly not the reputation she had in Corville. No one would be shocked if she was arrested.
“Do you want to help me?”
“I do,” Logan confirmed. “But you better start being more honest with me. Now…is there anything else you haven’t told me about your relationship with Lyle? And for fuck’s sake, is there anyone else that might have had a motive to kill him?”
Mary slumped against the window frame, more tears dampening her cheeks. “We really were reconciling. I swear it. But things have been rough, especially financially. There never seems to be enough money.”
“Now we’re making some progress.” Logan exhaled slowly, the tension between them lessening, but there would always be some there. She didn’t like him. “How about we start at the beginning? When you and Lyle moved away from Corville. Tell me about that.”
Maybe the shooter was someone from Lyle’s past. Logan had to look at every angle if he was going to clear Mary, but she was going to have to tell him the truth. No more surprises.