‘Sleeping with Nathan Skinner sounds like a reaction,’ Stride said.
‘I suppose you’re right.’
‘You also cut off Jay’s credit cards without telling him last July. That sounds like a reaction, too.’
‘Okay, yes, I was being a bitch.’
‘You turned the money back on not long after. Why?’
‘I decided it was childish. We were playing tit-for-tat games. That wasn’t a way to solve our problems. The way to resolve it was to end our relationship.’ She added quickly: ‘By divorce.’
‘Jay’s brother Clyde says Jay didn’t want a divorce.’
‘Originally, yes, that’s true,’ Janine acknowledged. ‘Jay enjoyed playing the game. Frankly, I think he liked making me miserable. But eventually, he got tired of all the fighting. He wanted out, too.’
‘If the two of you divorced, Jay would have gotten nothing. Wasn’t it in his interest to stay married to you?’
Janine shook her head firmly. ‘Prenup or not, we would have come to a financial arrangement. I wasn’t trying to starve him, Lieutenant. I bought him a new Hummer when he lost his truck on the ice. We both wanted an amicable end.’
‘You’re saying Jay was willing to grant you a divorce. Despite what Clyde told me.’
‘Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying,’ Janine insisted. ‘He consulted a divorce attorney. A woman named Tamara Fellowes.’
‘We know about his call to Ms. Fellowes. She wouldn’t tell us what she and Jay discussed, which I’m sure you know.’
‘Well, I’m telling you myself. Jay wanted to talk about divorce.’
‘Ms. Fellowes practices with the Stanhope law firm. They’re suing you, aren’t they, over the death of one of your patients? Ira Rose.’
‘Yes, that’s true. So?’
‘It’s an interesting coincidence,’ Stride said.
‘Not really. Jay and Tamara were college classmates.’
‘What’s the status of Mrs. Rose’s lawsuit against you?’ Stride asked.
Janine shrugged. ‘I have no idea. I have my own attorneys who handle those things. I felt awful about what happened to Ira Rose. Unfortunately, cardiac surgery is inherently risky. It’s become so commonplace that patients don’t always think through the seriousness of it. Much as I would like to guarantee a positive outcome every time, I’m just a human being, not a god. I don’t resent Esther for suing. It comes with the territory. Lawsuits are an unfortunate reality of the medical profession these days. My insurer will settle, and all of our health premiums will go up. That’s life without tort reform.’
Stride stared at this woman and tried to understand her. She was smart. Calm. Beautiful. Sexual. She had an answer for everything. That was what bothered him. Murder was messy, and yet she could explain away all of the questions as if they didn’t matter at all.
He didn’t believe her. Not for a minute.
‘Let’s talk about guns,’ Stride said.
‘Excuse me?’ She didn’t expect him to say that. Archie Gale leaned forward, looking concerned.
‘Guns,’ Stride said. ‘You said Jay didn’t own a gun.’
‘That’s right.’
He dug in a folder and pulled out a copy of the photograph that Clyde Ferris had given him. ‘Except here’s a photograph of Jay with a gun, Dr. Snow. The photo was taken just a few months ago.’
The color evaporated from Janine’s beautiful face.
‘Jay must have lied,’ she murmured. Her expression turned severe. ‘He didn’t get rid of the gun when I asked him to. Or he bought another without telling me. I didn’t know he had it.’
‘The bullet we pulled out of your husband’s head is consistent with the ammunition used in the revolver Jay is carrying.’
‘I don’t know anything about that,’ she said.
‘Where is the gun in this photograph?’ Stride asked.
‘I have no idea.’
‘That’s odd, don’t you think? Jay owned a gun, he was killed with a gun — but you don’t have any idea where that gun is. It’s not in the house. It’s not in his car. It just vanishes.’ Stride spread his arms. ‘Poof.’
Gale stood up. ‘This interview is over, Lieutenant. Dr. Snow was very forthcoming about an embarrassing personal matter. We don’t have any more to say right now. Frankly, if you’re so interested in guns, the person you should be talking to is Nathan Skinner. Now there’s a man who’s extremely fond of guns. And there’s one other thing you should know with regard to your ex-employee.’
‘What’s that?’ Stride asked calmly.
Gale nodded at Janine. She took a breath, and she looked in control again. As if she were about to gain the upper hand.
‘One time, Nathan and I did it in my house,’ she said. She leaned forward and stared directly at Stride, emphasizing each word for his benefit. ‘We fucked in my house. Jay was away. I think it was a turn-on for Nathan. It was part of his revenge fantasy.’
‘And yours?’ Stride asked.
Janine smiled and didn’t answer directly. ‘The thing is, I undressed for him, Lieutenant. I did a strip-tease. I took off my jewelry for him. Do you understand? He saw exactly where I kept my valuables in my bedroom. If he wanted to steal something after shooting Jay — if he wanted to make the murder look like a robbery — he knew exactly where to go.’
13
Howard Marlowe unzipped his heavy winter coat. The warm air inside Miller Hill Mall made him sweat. He dropped heavy shopping bags from Gap, Sam Goody, and Maurice’s on the tiled floor at his feet. It was Saturday, and the mall was jammed, but he and Carol were on their own. His wife had insisted on a no-kid weekend, so Annie was staying with his mother-in-law.
‘An affair,’ Carol announced loudly, as they sat on a bench outside the mall’s Barnes & Noble store. ‘That figures.’
Howard looked at her. ‘What are you talking about?’
She pointed at an older man reading the Duluth News-Tribune. The headline screamed about Janine Snow’s relationship with Nathan Skinner.
‘Dr. Perfect was cheating,’ Carol said, shaking her head.
‘Having an affair doesn’t mean she killed her husband,’ Howard replied.
Carol’s mouth looked as if she were eating a sour candy. ‘Wow, do you have a crush on this rich bitch, or what? You can take her side all you want, but I don’t have any more sympathy for her.’
‘You didn’t have much to begin with,’ he pointed out.
Carol didn’t answer, but she shot him a resentful stare. Things had been cold between the two of them since the break-in, as if somehow the robbery had been his own fault. Bad moods generally didn’t last long with Carol, but when she was in one, it was best to leave her alone. Or let her run up a big credit card bill.
She hadn’t changed her mind about getting a gun for the house. He’d filed for a purchase permit at the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office. He had no idea what kind of gun to get, but he figured a store owner could help him. Then he needed to think about training for both of them. Maintenance. Practice at the range. He didn’t want to admit to Carol that he was terrified about the idea of actually owning a handgun.
Too often, people with guns snapped. They shot someone else, or they shot themselves. Jay Ferris owned a handgun. Without that gun in the house, would Ferris still be alive?
‘There’s a children’s author signing books at Barnes & Noble,’ his wife informed him. ‘I’m going to get a copy for Annie.’
‘Do you want me to go with you?’ he asked.