Amanda didn’t care for Roy Archer. The second she’d laid eyes on him, she’d had the sense he was a predator—controlling, abusive, and chauvinistic. He hadn’t defended himself when Trent brought up the bruising on his wife’s body or clearly explain the reason for his scuffed knuckles. But she’d leave that line of inquiry for now. “We will need Jill’s number and the name of the service provider to review her communications. Was she on your plan?”
“Yep. And that’s fine. Whatever it takes.”
For someone who had just lost his wife and daughter, he was rather blasé. It might be an emotional defense mechanism playing a cruel trick on him, blinding him to acceptance. But Amanda had been in his place, losing her family in one swoop, and it had her reeling from the moment she found out. Roy seemed to take the news of his family’s deaths in stride. Was it simply shock? He’d admitted to problems existing in the marriage. Had he been the one stepping out on his wife? “Were you seeing anyone else, Officer Archer?” she asked Roy.
“Absolutely not. Jill was enough work.” He puffed his cheeks and blew out a breath.
A vibration under her feet picked up more speed. It was caused by Trent bouncing his leg on the floor, from the other side of the table.
“What do you mean she was work?” she rushed out before her partner said something he might live to regret. He was a ticking time bomb around this man.
“Please, Detective. Girls, women, you can be high-maintenance. Not that I didn’t love my wife and daughter. I did. I do.”
Even with the declaration, Amanda was seeing little to support the claim. “There was a stuffed elephant in the grave with them. Was that your daughter’s?”
Roy’s brow pinched. “I don’t think she had one of those. Unless Jill bought it without my knowledge.”
Amanda bristled again. It would seem Roy kept his wife on a short leash. He probably watched her every move—or at least most—which meant he’d be familiar with the toys she bought the girl. But if the elephant hadn’t been Charlotte’s, who did it belong to? And what might that mean for the case? “We’ll get a picture to you for verification.”
“I’m telling you. She didn’t have a stuffed elephant.”
“There’s no need to become defensive, Officer,” Trent chimed in. “Unless you—”
Roy flailed an arm toward Trent. “Really? Well, newsflash. I. Didn’t. Kill. Them. That means you’ll have to pick your ass up and do some work.”
Shadows passed across Trent’s face, his cheeks flushed, and his lips curled into a scowl.
“Detective Stenson,” Amanda punched out quick. “Could we talk in the hall for a minute?”
Trent slowly pried his eyes from Roy, met Amanda’s gaze and got up.
She closed the door behind them.
He rushed out, “Don’t even think about telling me to back off. He—”
She held up her hand. “Not going to. Just thought you needed a break from the guy.”
“You got me there.” He shot daggers at the door.
She moved down the hall and continued speaking. “He’s got no emotion about them being dead. Not one tear or clear sign of remorse.” Those words tripped her up; the way their bodies were posed suggested just that. “He’s quick to point elsewhere, defensive, vague, dismissive. You notice any of that?”
“Not lost on me.”
“But he knows nothing about the elephant.”
Trent smirked. “Means nothing. Jill bought it without him finding out. So what? The guy’s a wonderful actor and knows how to cover his tracks. He’s used to hiding the fact he’s been abusing his wife—something he hasn’t denied. He tosses in the elephant to throw off the investigation, ditches the wife’s car somewhere…”
She eventually nodded, feeling the need to concede to the possibility Roy had killed his family. “Here’s how we’re going to proceed. We request Jill’s phone records, see if there’s anything in her communications that’s helpful.”
“Which ideally will reveal her last steps,” Trent inserted.
“Yes. We’ll also speak with her friends and parents, see what they might have to say about her and her marriage.”
“Still following.”
“If Roy Archer did this to his family, we’ll get him, but we need to build a case against him. We can’t just go accusing another officer of the law of murder.”
“Not that he deserves the badge if he’s abusive.”
If only that was grounds for dismissal… “Won’t argue that, but we need to back off on the allegations. You with me?”
He scanned her eyes, the energy coming from him hesitant. “Yeah.”
“All right. Let’s do this.”
“Oh, one more thing. We might want to find out where the Archer family lived before Dumfries. He wasn’t here when I was, and I’m thinking he transferred from another department. The people there might have things to tell us about Roy.”
“Yep, good idea. We still need to speak to the person who reported the fire, even if for due diligence.” Amanda glanced down the hall, toward the closed door, back at Trent. “You ready to go back in?”
He took a deep breath, shook his arms, and stretched his neck side to side. “Yep, let’s do this.”
Amanda and Trent rejoined Roy, who they found staring into space. His eyes were glazed over. Still no fallen tears for his lost family.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Amanda offered. “Since there were no IDs with their bodies, you’ll need to make the formal identification. As you know, this is just procedure. Hans Rideout is assigned to their autopsies.” She figured he’d know the name.
“How did they die?”
It took Roy long enough to ask. “Rideout hasn’t yet concluded, but he suspects their necks were broken.”
Roy sniffled, showing his first sign of emotion.
“You brought up the fact there were some problems in your marriage. Had there always been?” Amanda wanted to get a better feel for the relationship.
“We can both be strong-willed and don’t always agree.”
Not exactly an answer to Amanda’s question, but it passed close to one. “Things any better or worse, recently?”
“I dunno. I know the move was rough on her.”
“Where did you transfer from?” Amanda asked.
“The Anne Arundel County Police Department in Edgewater, Maryland. It’s less than an hour and a half from here.”
Trent leaned forward. “When did you move?”
“About nine months ago.”
“What made you think she wasn’t happy with the move?” Amanda asked.
“Didn’t really need to think it. She told me more than once.”
“She missed family and friends… coworkers?” Amanda was grasping, as she didn’t know where Jill’s family lived, and really a ninety-minute drive wasn’t far for visits. “She have a job there she loved?”
“Being a wife and mother kept her too busy for that.”
It was the way he’d said it, as if he’d made that decision on his wife’s behalf. “Those jobs are most certainly full time.” Amanda tacked on a smile hoping to dampen the judgment rising within her toward Roy. “And her friends, family… are they back in Edgewater?”
“Yep. Well, her parents. Jill didn’t have any siblings. She never had a relationship with her cousins, aunts, or uncles. No idea where they live.”
“And names of her friends?” Amanda asked.
“Don’t know of any.”
Tingles spread down Amanda’s arms. Had Roy controlled Jill to the point she wasn’t allowed to have friends outside the home?
“No friends?” This from Trent, bordering on a snarl.
“Nope.”
“Well, we’ll need a number for her parents,” Amanda interjected.
“Ah, yeah.” Roy pulled out a cell phone and prattled off a number. Trent scribbled in his notepad.
“Before we leave, we’ll also need Jill’s cell number and the name of your service provider.”
“Sure. If you think it will help.” Roy informed him of those things, and Trent recorded them on paper.
“Okay, well, you hang tight.” Amanda paused at hearing her own words. Hang tight? As if there hadn’t been a tragedy. She tried to redeem herself. “Detective Stenson and I will do all we can to find out what happened to your family. Once we know more, we’ll get back to you.”
“All right.” He watched her, scanning her eyes, as if trying to pry her mind.
“We’re sorry for your loss and appreciate this must come as quite a shock.” Amanda extended Roy the courtesy, but seeing the man so unmoved was difficult to reconcile. Then again, people wore their grief differently, and shock enforced dark blinders.
“Thank you.”
Amanda and Trent left and ran into Becky Tulson in the station’s parking lot. Becky was an officer with Dumfries PD, but also Amanda’s best friend since kindergarten.
“Hey, what are you guys doing here? Thought you’d pay me a visit?” Becky grinned, but it faded fast upon seeing Amanda’s and Trent’s serious expressions. “Uh-oh, what is it?”
Amanda put up a hand, wanting to quash any worries that might have crept up for her friend. “We were here to speak with Roy Archer.”
“Oh. About his wife and daughter?”
Amanda nodded.
“Not good news if you’re here.”
“I’m afraid not. They were murdered and discovered in a shallow grave out in Prince Park.” It didn’t matter how many times Amanda imparted this news, the intensity was almost crippling.
“Oh. That’s… Well, there are hardly words.”
“What do you know about Roy?” Trent cut in, possibly without the emotional capacity to wallow in the tragedy of what happened, more focused on getting whoever did it held accountable.
Becky’s eyes widened. “Do you think Roy did this?” She flicked a finger toward the station.
“Yep.”
Amanda shook her head at Trent and amended. “It’s only one possibility. We’re still investigating.”
“If you ask me, I wouldn’t be surprised if he killed them.” Becky crossed her arms. “He’s got a temper, is aggressive as hell. He merely tolerates women. But honestly, I don’t know a lot about his home life, and I think anyone within the Dumfries PD would tell you the same thing. We just were aware he had a wife and daughter— Ah, her too. It’s just sinking in.” Becky processed for a few seconds. “How did they die?”
“It appears their necks were broken,” Amanda said.
“Son of a bitch.” Becky clenched her jaw and shook her head. “Whoever did this needs to be locked away.”
“Understatement. We’re going to do all we can to make sure that happens.” A promise if Amanda could at all help it.
“Call me if you need anything.”
“Thanks, Beck. Will do.”
Becky left them and entered the station.
“I know we’re supposed to remain objective here, but I’m having a hard time. No friends? He moves her away from her parents. Roy isolated Jill from the rest of the world. He’s controlling and abusive.”
“I know, Trent. I heard everything too. Let’s just keep our heads about us and check off all the boxes. If he did this, I want the charges against him to stick like hot tar.”