Lin stood. “Can we leave now?”
“Hold on,” Quinn said. “I have a few more questions.”
“We’ve been here over an hour already. This work stuff will have to wait until tomorrow. I got kids.”
“What I need to ask—it isn’t about work.”
Lin placed a hand on her hip. “What then?”
“Rumors have circulated around town about Roman being guilty of Evie’s murder. None of the allegations were ever proven. What I’m saying is—he’s innocent.”
“Ahh ... yeah,” Lin retorted. “Tell us something we don’t know.”
Head nods followed throughout the group.
“You all spent a lot of time with Evie,” Quinn said. “Any guesses or opinions about what happened?”
“We don’t know. It sure as hell wasn’t any of us. Evie was our family. So if you’re trying to suggest one of us did it, you’re wrong.”
“I wasn’t. My intention in asking was to get some insight, not to point blame.”
“You must have someone in mind,” Lin said. “Who do you think did it?”
“What about Roy?”
“Roy’s a sorry sap,” Lin said. “My money wouldn’t be on him though.”
“Why not?”
“Gut feeling. He looks a lot tougher than he is.”
Quinn glanced around. “Felicity, Axel, Carl, Ian—what do you think?”
Felicity shrugged, and Axel, Carl, and Ian looked at each other like they wanted to play rock, paper, scissors to see who’d be forced to speak first.
“I don’t know,” Axel said. “I never knew the guy. It’s not like we were part of her personal life.”
“I agree,” Ian added. “He hasn’t been in town long. We barely know him.”
Carl nodded.
They were all holding back. Perhaps not by much, and perhaps because the question was asked too soon. They didn’t know her well enough to share their suspicions. One step forward, two steps back. It was how things had gone all day.
“I have to go,” Lin said. “I told my husband I wouldn’t be too late. He’s not much for tending kids without me.”
Quinn nodded and everyone filed out. All except for Felicity.
“You can go too,” Quinn said.
“Is there anything you need from me first?”
Quinn winked, “A glass of wine, or five glasses?”
Felicity smiled. “You shouldn’t worry. They’ll stick around. Everyone who works here—they’re all good people. Hard workers. A bit rough around the edges at first, but every single one of them was devoted to Evie. Well, all except for Gage. He’s new. Only been here a couple weeks.”
“What’s his story?”
“Evie hired Gage to help Rowdy, to do his grunt work. The two of them fought almost every day since he started.”
“Evie and Gage?”
“Gage and Rowdy.”
“Why?”
“Gage seemed to have a problem with everything Rowdy asked him to do. I knew he wouldn’t last long. And he hasn’t shown up to work for a few days, so I assumed he got a job somewhere else. And you should know, Rowdy’s not such a bad guy either. He would have done anything for Evie. Once you get to know him, he’s hysterical when he wants to be.”
“I’ll handle Rowdy.”
“And Marissa?”
“We met this morning at the cemetery,” Quinn said.
“Yeah, we’ve been taking turns, leaving flowers and plants every day. Suppose it will all come to an end one day. Hope not. Evie was the best boss I’ve ever had.”
“Marissa knew about the meeting. She was with me when we spoke on the phone earlier. Any idea why she wasn’t here?”
“I called everyone an hour before, just as a reminder. Gage didn’t answer, but Marissa did. She said she’d just left her house. She was walking.”
“Walking? She must not live very far from here.”
“About a mile or so.”
It didn’t make sense. Why would Marissa lie?
“I’d like Marissa’s address and phone number.”
Felicity walked over to a desk located near the front entrance, grabbed a green file folder, and handed it to Quinn. “I can do even better. I made a folder today. It lists all of Evie’s employees and their contact information, and I also copied the last few months of appointments and all of our future jobs through the end of the year.”
“I appreciate everything you’ve done to help me, Felicity.”
“If there’s anything else I can do, just let me know.”