Frank parked at the curb in front of the four-story brick-faced apartment building on South Indiana Avenue. After exiting the car, I shielded my eyes from the sun, looked up, and saw a woman staring down at the street from the top-floor window. It could have been Lorilee, but I wasn’t sure. As soon as she realized I’d seen her, she ducked out of view. No matter what, Lorilee had to realize that sooner or later, news of the affair would get out and law enforcement would come calling. I reminded myself that Elizabeth would need a second interview now that her husband’s infidelity had come to light, and that was better done at the precinct, where it could be recorded.
I glanced at the sheet of paper with the address on it. Lorilee lived on the fourth floor, and I assumed the woman I had seen was her.
Inside the vestibule, I pressed the buzzer for her apartment. It took a minute, but she finally answered the intercom.
“Hello, who’s there?”
“Is this Lorilee Saunders?”
“Yes, who’s asking?”
“Ms. Saunders, we’re detectives from the police department and have questions about Brice Guthrie for you. We’d like to come up and talk to you. It shouldn’t take more than thirty minutes of your time.”
“Um, why would you want to speak with me?”
“We’re well aware of the relationship you had with Brice from all the text messages between you two.” I was sure I heard a gasp through the intercom. “The question is, would you rather speak to us in the comfort of your own home or in our interrogation room at the station? Either way, we need to talk to you now. Refusing would be considered suspect on your part.”
Her tone changed into what sounded like irritation mixed with fear. “Fine. I’m on the top floor.”
We waited until she pressed the buzzer and released the security door. Frank pulled it toward him, and we passed through. We entered the elevator that was directly to our left, and seconds later, we exited on the fourth floor. Lorilee’s apartment was the third one on the right. I knocked twice, and when she opened the door, it was confirmed—she was the woman who’d been staring out the window. It made me wonder whether she’d actually been expecting us.
“Lorilee?”
“That’s me.” She tipped her head toward the kitchen. “We can talk in there.”
She walked ahead of us and took a seat. Frank and I stood.
“Go ahead and sit down. I’m not that much of a jerk.”
I thanked her, and we sat.
Lorilee looked from Frank to me. “Now, what do you want to know?”
“Given the steamy texts between you and Brice, it leads us to believe that you two had a romantic relationship. Would that be a fair assumption?”
She seemed to be considering a response that would best suit her needs, but since we had proof via the text messages, she didn’t have much of a leg to stand on.
“We were close.”
“Romantically close?” Frank asked.
She gave him a snarky look. “Why does that matter to you? It isn’t like I killed him.” A tear glistened in her eye then slid down her cheek.
“Here’s how we see it. Either there’s somebody who had a beef with Brice, his wife knew about the relationship and had someone take him out, or he refused to leave his wife and you killed him out of anger or had someone do it for you.”
“No, no, and no. None of those scenarios fit. Affairs don’t always lead to ultimatums, you know, because I’m not the marrying type. I never gave Brice an ultimatum. We were just having fun, and I knew it wouldn’t last forever. Hell, he was fifteen years older than me. We were living in the moment—romantic dinners, hotel room hookups, and last-minute getaways, plus he was very generous.” She spun an emerald-and-diamond ring around her finger.
“A gift from Brice?” I asked.
She nodded. “He paid for my car too—a Miata.”
“And his wife never caught on?”
Lorilee shrugged. “No idea. We never talked about her. It was like he wasn’t married at all.”
“Funny. We didn’t get that impression from Elizabeth Guthrie. That’s his wife’s name in case you were curious.”
She sneered. “I’m well aware, but like I said, I wasn’t looking to get married, so the relationship he had with his wife doesn’t matter to me.”
“Tough one, aren’t you?” Frank asked.
She kept quiet.
“Did you talk to Brice before he left work Monday night?” I asked.
“I did, but it wasn’t like we had plans for later. He just said goodbye, discreetly kissed me, and walked out. I didn’t know anything about the shooting until I was leaving at nine o’clock and was stopped at the exit.”
“Did you ever see Brice in a confrontation with anyone?”
“Brice was the supervisor for all the casino dealers, not the hostesses or servers. We didn’t cross paths regularly, so I couldn’t tell you.”
“And he never mentioned a problem with a guest or employee?”
“Nope, he never did.”
I watched her body language and expressions. “You don’t seem overly upset that Brice is dead.”
Her face went red, and I could see I was getting on her nerves.
“Excuse me? How would you know how I feel or what I think? You’ve been here all of, what, ten minutes? I mourn privately, if you must know, and to be honest, I can barely believe he’s gone.”
“I apologize, Lorilee. After all, like you said, you weren’t in a deep, loving relationship, and you certainly weren’t married to him for twenty-five years like Elizabeth was.” I stood. “One last question. Have you ever heard somebody call Brice an enabler?”
“No, I never have.”
“Lorilee, I’m going to need an honest answer from you since we’ll find out, anyway. Do you own any guns?”
“Actually, I do. A twenty-two revolver that was given to me by my dad. That’s the only gun I have.”
“May we see it?”
“I guess so. It’s in my bedroom under the bed.”
“Do you keep it loaded?”
She shook her head. “No, I keep the ammunition in the nightstand drawer.”
We took a look at the revolver and ammo that went with it, and nothing seemed amiss.
With a thank-you nod, I knew it was time to go. We didn’t have anything else for her. “Okay, we appreciate your time.” I left my card on the table, then Frank and I walked out.
After climbing into the cruiser, I gave Frank a side-eyed glance. “What’s your take on her?”
He answered with a shrug. “She was at work when Brice was killed, so she has a solid alibi. The gun seemed legit. Honestly, I don’t want to spend too much time focusing on Lorilee since I don’t believe she had anything to do with it.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right, but no matter what, we have to check out everyone.”