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Alex listened as Grace Holloway continued to describe the crime scene she had supposedly come upon unexpectedly last night to find her former husband lying in a tub full of blood with his naked mistress lying dead on the floor beside him.
“I told you before,” Grace protested, “I tried to call Phillip earlier to tell him I was coming over to the house. You can check my cell phone.”
The old sheriff, Pepper Stokes, rubbed his temples as he looked out the window at the palm fronds hanging down. “And you were going there to ask for money?”
Charleston detective Nate Beatty jumped in. “Miss Holloway, we’ve been through all that and we are already checking your phone calls. What I want to know again is why you didn’t call the police or Emergency when you found them lying there. One or both of them might have still been alive.”
Alex watched as Grace grimaced and shook her head. She looked a mess after a long night in a jail cell and all she had been through the previous night. They had been interrogating the woman for close to an hour, and she was clearly being evasive about what had actually happened at the Holloway home.
“I must have gone into shock or something... I’ve never seen anything more gruesome. There was so much blood. And then I thought, what if this killer is still in the house? I ran out
the front door and my first thought was to go to my old friend, Hanna Walsh. There’s no one else I can turn to. That’s how I ended up down there on Pawleys Island.”
“So, you thought you needed a lawyer, not an emergency team for the two victims?” Beatty pressed.
She started to cry, and Beatty stood in frustration. “We’re not getting anywhere here. Let’s get her transferred down to Charleston, where we can continue this.”
“Are you arresting me?” Grace cried out in desperation.
Stokes said, “Ma’am, you’re facing charges here for drunk driving. Your blood alcohol level was off the charts when we brought you in. We won’t hold you, but we will be following up.”
Beatty said, “We need to continue this down in Charleston. There are a lot of unanswered questions. Before we go, let me ask again, did you know your former husband was having this affair with this woman?”
Grace pulled another tissue from the box on the table and wiped at her dripping nose. “I’ve told you, Phillip always had someone on the side. I’ve known about it for years, but I didn’t know about this woman specifically. I’ve never met her either.”
Alex watched as Beatty shook his head impatiently. “You really don’t think I killed them!” Grace pleaded.
“God, I would never do that! I’m not a killer! I don't even own a gun.”
“Your husband did own guns, though. Isn’t that correct?” Stokes asked.
Grace nodded and continued to try to hold back her sobbing.
“We will find out if one of those guns was a 45 caliber,” Stokes continued.
“Alright, we’re done here,” Beatty said, heading for the door. “I need to get back to Charleston. Sheriff, you’re making arrangements to have her transferred?”
“We’ll have her down there later this afternoon, as soon as I can get one of my deputies freed up.”
“Thank you, I’d take her myself, but I have a couple of other stops.” Beatty said, turning to Alex. “Anything else?”
Alex had been thinking since this interrogation began that from what he knew previously from his interactions with Grace Holloway, there was no way she was capable of such wanton violence, even if she did find her former husband with another woman. Clearly, she hadn’t been particularly concerned about his affairs in the past. Hanna had even told him that Grace had confessed to her about knowing about Holloway’s dalliances but laughing it off and telling her at least it kept him away from coming after her for sex. She had dangled the keys to her big Mercedes in front of Hanna. Hazard pay, she had called it.
Alex looked up at Beatty. “One more thing,” he said before returning his gaze to Grace Holloway. “Why did you think Hanna would even consider helping you after all you’ve done to her?”
Grace frowned and looked away, then said, “As you can imagine, I don’t have many friends left and I certainly don’t have money anymore.”
“Hanna is not a friend!” Alex said curtly.
“I thought...” she began, then hesitated. “I have some information that I think Hanna would want to know about her husband, about Ben.”
Alex looked back in surprise. “So.... you were going to bribe her with whatever this information is to get her to help you?”
It wasn't going to be a bribe,” Grace pleaded.
Alex shook his head, then said very directly, “Leave Hanna out of this!”