“How’s Grace?” I asked.
The senator sat on a chair, considering my question. “All right, I suppose. She’s emotional. Missing her mother. She knows what happened, but she’s confused about it. When she thinks back to that night, she says it all feels like a dream. She wakes up sometimes in the middle of the night and calls out for Caroline. Sleep makes her forget Caroline isn’t around anymore.”
“I can’t imagine how hard it must be for her to make sense of it all,” I said.
“In some ways, I suppose I’m in denial too. Even after the funeral, and even though I know my sister’s gone, I’m struggling to accept it. I guess it’s because I don’t want it to be true. I want to look up from my desk and see her sweet smile and hear her voice as she tells me she’s stopped by my office to bring me a coffee or to take me to lunch.”
I had experienced the same pain he was feeling now, so I knew what he was going through. I also knew he was bound to feel worse before he felt better. My thoughts turned to Grace.
“Will you be keeping your niece, or will she be going to live with someone else in the family?” I asked.
“I have an older sister and a younger brother who have both offered to take her, but I’m keeping Grace with me. I’m closer to her than they are. It’s better this way, especially since she has Down syndrome. I understand what she needs better than they do.”
He turned, staring out the window at nothing, and for a moment, we sat in silence, listening to the sound of bats shrieking in the distance.
A couple minutes went by before he spoke again.
“Grace keeps asking to go to the house,” he said.
“Why?”
“She says it’s to get more of her things, but I believe it’s because the house reminds her of Caroline, and because it’s home. The only home she’s ever known.”
“Why haven’t you taken her?”
“In my opinion, it would have a negative effect on her. It’s not my intention to deny her what she needs, but right now, my focus is on helping her get her life back to whatever kind of normal it can be, even though I expect it to be a process, one that takes some time.”
“Is there anything I can do for her while I’m here?”
“You can help solve her mother’s murder so we can put all this behind us and move on.”
When he spoke of the murders, his focus was solely on Caroline. It was almost as if Hugh hadn’t died along with her. I understood why his sister was his primary concern, but it seemed odd how dismissive he was about Hugh. It was possible they hadn’t had a good relationship. Or maybe I was making something out of nothing, and James hadn’t said much about him because he knew once we found the killer, both murders would be solved.
“What was your relationship with Hugh?” I asked.
He stared at me like I had asked a trick question. “Why do you ask?”
“I still don’t know much about him.”
“There’s not much to say. We weren’t close. I didn’t know him well. I never thought Hugh was a good fit for my sister. Caroline was well aware of my feelings, but she didn’t agree, and after I voiced my concerns about their relationship, she made it clear she wasn’t interested in hearing what I thought of him. After that, he wasn’t a topic we discussed.”
“What didn’t you like about him?”
“My disdain wasn’t about one specific thing as much as it was about how different they were as people. Hugh was a laborer. He worked in construction. Caroline was a psychologist. One of the best in the country.”
“Are you saying you had a problem with him because he wasn’t in the same working class?”
He nodded. “People say opposites attract, and who knows, maybe they do in some situations. I just didn’t see her with him long-term. He didn’t fit into our world.”
I wondered what world he thought I fit into and whether he considered me to be on a much lower level than himself.
“Did Hugh know how you felt about him?”
“I’m sure he did. I’ve never been one to hide the way I feel. I don’t see the point. The last time I saw him was at a barbecue for Grace’s birthday. I spoke to him just like I’d speak to anyone else. Even though I wasn’t fond of him, I was always polite whenever the two of us were together.”
I switched topics. “I know Grace is going through a difficult time, but I’d like to talk to her. I’d be careful to keep things simple. What do you think?”
He leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees. “Grace is too fragile right now, Sloane. I’ll help you in any way I can, but she has been through enough in recent weeks. I don’t want her answering any more questions about what happened that night. Not unless she absolutely has to do it.”
It was the response I expected, and I understood his desire to protect her. But in order to get the full story, I needed to hear the details of that night from her perspective, instead of hearing it second-hand through everyone else. For now, I would have to wait.
“Did you know Victoria found bruises on Caroline’s body during the autopsy?”
“I did.”
“Any idea where they came from?”
He crossed one leg over the other and sighed, which seemed to answer my question. He didn’t know, and it bothered him.
“She didn’t say anything to me about the bruises,” he said. “I wasn’t made aware until Victoria showed them to me.”
“Victoria said one of the bruises looks like it’s in the shape of a thumbprint. If that’s true, it would lead me to suspect Caroline had an altercation with someone before she died.”
“Speculating it’s a thumbprint and proving it are two different things. Victoria hasn’t been able to prove it yet.”
“Let’s say it is. Could Hugh have done it?”
“I would like to think if he had, she would have told me.”
I disagreed. Caroline knew her brother didn’t like Hugh. If Hugh was capable of inflicting the bruises, there’s a chance she would have kept it secret, out of fear of what would happen if she revealed it, or out of not wanting to disappoint her brother even further than she already had. She may have even been ashamed.
“What was their relationship like right before she died?”
“Grace told me Caroline planned on ending things with Hugh.”
“Did Grace know when Caroline was going to do it?” I asked.
“The night Caroline was murdered, she planned on asking Hugh to give back the house key and ending the relationship as soon as he arrived. She knew Hugh had a temper and wasn’t sure how he’d take the news, so she told Grace if she overheard them arguing not to worry and to just stay in bed.”
But Caroline had screamed, which made Grace too worried to stay in bed.
He stuck a hand inside his pocket, pulled out a set of keys, and set them on the table next to me. “The yellow-ringed key is to my sister’s house at 111 Providence Road. The blue key will get you into the room in the office she works at on the corner of Lake and Sheridan. Detectives have been through both places and have removed anything they felt was relevant to the case, but I’d like you to poke around to see if there’s anything of interest they may have missed.”
“Have you gone through her house and her office already?”
He nodded. “I didn’t see anything of note. But I’ve been to both places many times in the past. Maybe it’s too familiar to me. You might be drawn to something I wouldn’t notice. When you came here before, searching for the murderer of your friend’s wife, you put things together in a way no one else did. I’m hoping you’ll do the same for me.”
I hoped so too.
“I’d also like to ask you for a favor,” he said.
“What is it?”
“I stopped by the house and brought over some of Grace’s clothes a couple of weeks ago, but a lot of her personal items are still in the house. Would you pack up what’s left inside her closet and bring it over? I’d ask my dad, but he hasn’t gone to Caroline’s place since she was murdered, and I’m not sure he can handle being there yet. I’d do it myself, but I figure since you’re going to be there ... well, it would really help me out.”
“It’s no problem, Senator Ashby. I’d be happy to help.”
“One more thing. Call me James, all right?”
I nodded.
He glanced at his watch, a Rolex, with a silver and gold band and a shiny blue dial that looked like it was about ten times out of my price range.
“I have to go.” He stood and walked to the door. “I’m heading home. Dad’s with Grace now, but she’ll be wondering why I’m not there yet. She’s easily worried these days. What happened to Caroline has her worried it could happen to any of us next. It doesn’t matter what I say or how much I comfort her. She doesn’t feel safe.”