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Kelly swallowed the feeling of validation at finding out that Reid had been shot in the heart. It seemed her suspicion about him—and the other victims—being targeted for their cheating ways was spot-on. Still, she told herself not to get attached and lose all objectivity. The investigation was still young.
Jack’s phone rang, and he answered without putting the call on speaker. His face turned to granite, and his gaze hardened as he listened to his caller. Whatever he was hearing obviously wasn’t pleasing him.
“We’re still here.” With that, he pocketed his phone and looked over at Kelly. “That was Paige. Apparently, Bert Pryce owns a condo at Wilson Place.”
Another rush of vindication tore through her. She’d been right: Arlene was hiding something.
Jack knocked on the door with the subtlety of someone notifying homeowners their house was on fire.
Riley got the door. “Too soon to ask again if you caught my dad’s killer?”
Sarcasm, Kelly noted. One surefire way of hedging grief.
“We need to speak with your grandfather,” Jack told him.
“Grandpa,” Riley shouted over a shoulder and took off down the hall, leaving the door open.
Kelly and Jack stepped inside but didn’t leave the front entry.
Bert came toward them, scowling. His energy had hardened with a protective demeanor that would require a chisel to penetrate.
“We need to speak to you,” Jack said, “somewhere private.”
Kelly never took her eyes off Bert. She was curious why he’d never mentioned owning a condo in the building where his son-in-law was shot. Were both father and daughter hiding their knowledge of Wilson Place for a reason?
“This is not a good time,” Bert stonewalled.
“Mr. Pryce, it’s either we speak here or down at the Arlington police station. Your choice.”
Bert’s gaze traced over Jack as if assessing whether his threat held merit. Kelly, on the other hand, didn’t even need to glance at Jack to know that it did.
Bert waved for her and Jack to follow him.
“We’d also like for Mrs. Reid to join us,” Jack requested.
Bert stuck his head into the sitting room and motioned for his daughter to get up and come with them. Arlene cocked her head, pressed her eyebrows down, but relented.
This time, Bert took them to a study lined with bookshelves full of law tomes. A mahogany desk took up residence in the room, along with a deep-green leather couch and two matching pub chairs. Bert sat in one of those; Arlene on one end of the couch. Kelly parked next to her, and Jack took the other chair.
“Why didn’t you tell us that you own one of the condos at Wilson Place?” Jack said, his gaze on Bert.
Way to just come out with it, Jack!
Bert clenched his jaw and crossed his legs, running a hand down his slacks as he did so. Arlene was watching her father. Neither of them said a word.
“It’s come to our attention that you own unit 1035 under your company’s name,” Jack laid out.
Bert’s face flushed.
Jack turned his attention to Arlene. “Did you know about that?”
“I…” Arlene faced her father. Her hands were trembling in her lap.
“Just leave my daughter out of this.” Bert’s tone had heat. “I don’t know where you think you’re going with this, but whether or not I own a condo in that building has nothing to do with Darrell’s death.”
That was the second time he’d referred to Darrell’s murder as a death. The first time was to his grandson. Was it an intentional downplay or an indication there was no love lost between father- and son-in-law?
“Are you sure about that?” Jack countered.
Bert’s nostrils flared. “You come in here and accuse me of—”
“No one’s accusing anybody, but we do need some answers. Some straightforward ones.”
Neither father nor daughter made a move to speak.
“It might help us to know why Darrell was there this morning,” Kelly put out there, aligning herself as an ally, “and why he frequently went to the building.”
Arlene turned to face Kelly. “He—” She stopped there and rubbed her throat.
Kelly put her focus on Bert. “Did Darrell have a reason to go to your condo?”
“I bought that condo mainly for business purposes.”
“That still doesn’t answer Agent Marsh’s question,” Jack said.
Bert glanced at his daughter, then back to Jack. “If Darrell was there, I have no idea why. And you said ‘frequently’? I am at a loss.” Bert was breathing heavier than before and kneading the back of his neck.
Jack leaned back in his chair. “We’ve found out that Darrell had been going to Wilson Place on a regular basis for years. Unless he visited someone else in the building…”
Arlene flushed.
“He had to have been going to my condo,” Bert jumped in. “Not sure why he’d be going there. Not even sure how he’d have gotten in. It’s not like I gave him a key. The only people who have one are Arlene and my wife. Oh, and Jeff… That’s Arlene’s brother, whom you’ve met already.”
Arlene was picking at her pants.
“Did you ever go there with Darrell?” Kelly asked her. “Or give him your key, perhaps?”
Arlene slowly looked up and shook her head. “I never gave him the key. I promise Daddy.”
Bert clenched his jaw.
“I’d go sometimes—but by myself—to check on things if Dad asked me to,” Arlene continued. “I might have taken Darrell there once. If I did, it was a long time ago.”
“So, you still have your key?” Jack asked Arlene.
“Yes, of course.”
“Can you check that for us? We’ll wait.”
Fire glinted across Bert’s eyes in response to Jack’s request. Arlene wetted her lips and headed for the door.
“I’ll be right back,” she said.
The door shut behind her, and Bert leaned forward.
“Do you think that son of a bitch got into my condo and—” His voice quivered with rage, and his face was bright red. He wasn’t that stupid, after all.
“We’re here trying to get some answers,” Jack said.
“It seems to me you’re looking at me to provide ’em, and I can’t.”
“Did you and your son-in-law get along?” Kelly tried to present the question in an upbeat manner to slice through the tension.
“He made my daughter happy; that’s what mattered to me.”
Classic diversion…
“Did he make you happy?” Kelly asked more pointedly.
Bert met her eyes. “Suppose he really didn’t have to, did he? But if you wonder if I’m happy he’s dead or think Arlene’s better without him, you’ll never hear me say that. And a boy needs his father. Riley will recover, but it will take time.”
He’d made a similar comment when they’d arrived before. “You lose your father as a young boy?”
“I did, and I ended up just fine.”
Arlene came back into the room and extended a key ring toward Kelly, with one key pinched between her fingers. “That’s the one for Dad’s condo,” she declared proudly, her chin tilted up and out.
Kelly nodded, but the fact she still had her key didn’t prove that Reid had never used it. And it was possible Reid had a copy made. Kelly would point that out to Jack when they left. There was one thing Kelly needed a little clarification on. “You said you have the condo for business?”
“I do.”
So, if Darrell went regularly, he had to have known when the place would be available unless— “Did you make often use of the condo? For you and clients?”
“A few times a year, if that. But it’s a legitimate business write-off.”
If Darrell had availed himself of his father-in-law’s condo, he would likely have known that it was rarely used. But they still didn’t know for sure that Darrell had been going to Bert’s condo. “Would we have your permission to look around your condo, Mr. Pryce?”
“I don’t know what you expect to find, but I don’t see why not. As long as I can come with you.”
Kelly looked at Jack, who nodded.
“Do you think you’re going to find proof Darrell was there?” Bert asked.
Arlene’s hands were shaking, and she dropped the key ring to the floor. Kelly picked it up for her.
“I think we should take a look. Even if it’s to rule out that Darrell hadn’t gone there,” Kelly said.
“Very well. Let’s head over there right now and get this over with.” Bert stood, and Arlene followed.
“It might be best if you stayed here, Mrs. Reid,” Kelly suggested.
“Actually, she’s welcome to come if she wants to,” Jack said, overriding Kelly. She felt her cheeks flush at her stupidity. Of course they’d want Arlene present when they searched the condo.
A few minutes later, in the warming SUV, Jack turned to Kelly in the passenger seat.
“Do you know why we want Mrs. Reid to come with us?”
“I do. I slipped up in there. If we find proof of Reid’s infidelity in that condo, we want to see her reaction.”
Jack smiled at her. “You got it.”
“There’s something else. I mean, you probably thought of it, but Reid could have made a copy of his wife’s key to the condo.”
“Yes, I thought of that.”
He had a way of lifting her up one second and deflating her the next. She was going to stay humble on Jack’s team.