Sharp Edges (20 page)

“Alrig
ht,” I sighed. “So, what has Scott done?”

“Why do you think Scott’s done something?” asked Parker
.

“Well, then why are you here?” I asked, getting
more frustrated by the minute. They were stalling and it was starting to really piss me off.

“Please sit down, Mrs. Shepard,
” said Parker, pointing towards my kitchen table.

“
Call me Lindsey,” I replied, sitting down.

Parker sat across from me while the ot
her detective leaned back against the center island, watching us.

“Lindsey
,” said Parker, rubbing a hand over his chin. “Look, there’s no easy way to break this to you, but your husband, Scott Shepard, was found murdered earlier this morning.”

I felt like
someone had kicked me in the stomach. I stared at him in horror as he studied my reaction.

“What
did you say?” I asked in a strangled voice.

Parker
sighed and took out his notepad again. “He was found in his car, a bullet wound to the back of the head.”

“Oh
, my God,” I choked, tears flooding my eyes, making him a blur of blue and gray. I shook my head. “No – I just can’t believe that!”

The other detective grabbed a paper towel
from the counter and handed it to me as the tears ran down my cheeks. “I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s true. We’ll need you to come down to the morgue and verify that it’s him.”

“Maybe it isn’t,” I squeaked
, my eyes darting from one to the other. “I just can’t believe someone would kill him. Are you certain?”

Parker nodded. “
We believe it is. His wallet was left on him, containing his driver’s license. But, obviously, we’ll still need you to I.D. him.”

“
Why would someone kill him?” I asked, wiping my tears with the coarse paper towel.

Parker sighed.
“That’s what we’re trying to find out, Mrs. Shepard. They didn’t take his wallet, so we can rule out burglary. He had over one hundred dollars and a bunch of credit cards.”

“Not
even a robbery?” I mumbled.

“No, it could have been just a random killing or som
ething more. Did your husband use drugs?” asked Parker.

I shook my head.
“Not that I know of.”

“We talked with his secretary,” said Detective Franklin
. “She mentioned that you two had recently separated?”

“
Yes, just a couple of weeks ago, actually.”

Parker nodded. “So, you weren’t getting along?”

I narrowed my eyes. “We were getting along fine,” I snapped, realizing where this might be heading.

“Take it easy,” said Parker with a little smile. “We aren’t accusing you of anything. We
have to eliminate you as a suspect and to do that, we have to do some digging. I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable.”

I stared at the paper towel and nodded
. “Okay. I guess I understand that.”

“It’s just procedure,” said Franklin.

Parker glanced at Franklin and then back to me. “So, if you were getting along fine, why did you separate?”

I sighed
. “Because he cheated on me.”

“
Cheated? Well, that must have made you angry,” said Franklin.

I nodded. “It was
very painful. I walked in on him with two other women. He claimed that he was ‘coerced’ into it.”

The look on Parker’s face
was a mixture of shock and amusement. “He actually said he was
coerced
?”

“I know…right?” I said, managing a bitter smile. “I thought it was a
pretty pathetic excuse as well.”

“It’s definitely an imaginative
excuse. One I haven’t personally heard before,” said Franklin, shaking his head.

“
Here’s an idea, why don’t you question the women he was screwing around with?”  I mumbled. “Maybe they have husbands who found out and weren’t too happy. One of them may have flipped out and killed him.”

“Well, we’ll definitely look into that,” said Parker, writing
more notes onto his notepad.

“So, where was he kille
d?” I asked, blinking back more tears as the reality of what had happened was starting to really sink in. I still couldn’t believe he was dead. The man I’d been married to and had loved at one time with all of my heart was gone forever. Even after everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks, I still cared about him. And now he was gone and there was nothing for us to work out.

What
in the name of God would I tell our children?

“
He was found in the parking ramp at his place of employment,” said Parker.

I nodded. “Well, h
e
was
always at the office.”

“
So, what’s going on with you and your neighbor?” asked Franklin.

My eyes shot over to him and I could tell by the
smug look on his face, he definitely suspected something illicit.

“We’re friends.”

“Both of you looked a little disheveled when we showed up,” he replied, “like we interrupted more than just lunch.”

“He’s a
good neighbor and friend who invited me to lunch,” I retorted, glaring at him.

“Calm down,” said
Parker. “So, you’re friends. It’s good to have friends.”

“
Damn right, it is,” I agreed.

“
Mrs. Shepard, did you kill your husband?” asked Franklin, staring at me like a cat would a canary.

I knew the question would come but I was still unprepared for the way it affected me. “No!” I choked
, staring at him in horror. “I loved Scott and would never hurt him, let alone kill him!”

Parker nodded
slowly. “Okay. Can you tell us where you were from around nine o’clock last night until around seven o’clock this morning?”

“I was h
ere, sleeping in my bed.”

“Are there witnesses?” asked Franklin.

I stared at Franklin with something close to loathing. “My children can verify that I was home.”

“What about when they were sleeping? Can anyone
else verify that you were around?” asked Franklin.

“No, I guess not
,” I said, my lips trembling. “But let me tell
you
something, Detective Franklin, I
loved
my husband, even after he cheated on me. I loved him and would never have done anything to harm him. I’m not a violent person, you can ask anyone.”

Franklin and Parker exchanged a look and I fought
hard to control my rage. Somehow, I knew I was still a suspect.

Parker stood up. “Well, I think that’s enough for now.
We’ll need access to his home computer and then check his office and interview his co-workers.”

“You can take his
computer, as far as I’m concerned. I have my own and couldn’t care less about Scott’s.”

Parker nodded.
“That would be very helpful. We’ll return it after we’ve gone through it, though.”

“
Fine.”

“
Would you like a ride to the morgue, Mrs. Shepard?” asked Parker.

The thought of spending any more time with them left a sour taste in my mouth.
“No. I’ll find a ride, thank you.”

“We’ll definitely keep in touch,” said Franklin, still studying me. “Don’t leave town.”

“Of course not,” I replied, coldly. “
I want to make sure you catch the person responsible for murdering Scott, even more than you do.”

“
We’ll try our best to put that person behind bars. It was nice meeting you,” said Parker, holding out his hand. “Sorry it was under such horrible circumstances.”

I nodded and shook his
hand, avoiding Franklin’s outstretched one, as if by accident. The thought of touching him made my skin crawl.

“We’re going next door to talk with your
good
neighbor, see if he saw your husband leaving last night or noticed anything unusual,” said Franklin.

“Be my guest
,” I said, walking them to the door.

“If you remember anything unusual, call us,” said Parker, handing me his business card.

“I certainly will, Detective.”

Parker raised his finger.
“Oh, and you’ll probably start getting bombarded by the media. Just tell them ‘no comment’ when they start hounding you. Eventually, they’ll go away.”

I sighed.
“Wonderful. I didn’t even think about that.”

Once they left, I sat down in a
recliner and erupted into fresh wave of tears, crying for Scott, our children, and all of the precious memories we’d had before everything went to hell. I also scolded myself for messing around with Jake and wondered if Scott would still be alive if I would have only let him back into our home. 

As I thought about all of the “what ifs”
, my phone began to ring. I grabbed it and stared at the unknown number, almost afraid to answer it. I could barely talk as it was, and I didn’t want to answer any more questions about Scott. But, I also knew there were a lot of people that I had to contact, including his parents, my mother, and our friends. I took a deep breath and answered.

“Lindsey,” sobbed Molly.

I closed my eyes. “You’ve heard.”

“Yes, oh God
– my son is dead. I just don’t know what to do,” she moaned.

I sighed.
“Molly, is Henry there with you?”

“Yes, he’s on the other phone trying to call the investiga
tors who are handling the case.”

“
Well, two of them just left here,” I said.

“
Oh. Lindsey, do the children know yet?” she asked.

“No.
” I shuddered at the thought of telling them. “They’re still at school.”

“Those poor children!
I just can’t believe it,” she sobbed. “It sounds so ridiculous, someone murdered him? He was a good man, I just don’t understand…”

“I know,” I said
. “Molly, I have to get ready to go to the morgue.”

Molly started wailing at the mention of the morgue.

“I’m sorry, Molly,” I said through her sobs. “I really have to go.”

“
Wait – we can give you a ride,” she said, blowing her nose. “I want to make sure it’s really Scott.”

Although I loved Scott’s parents, I wasn’t prepared to deal with Molly. She was
a very high-strung woman and the thought of being near her now was just too exhausting.

“I’ll
just meet you out there,” I said. “I have a ride.”

“Okay,
honey,” she said, blowing her nose. “What Henry? Oh – Henry says we should be there around three.”

“Well
, I guess I’ll see you then,” I said.

After I hung up with her I called Darcy and left her a voicemail. Then I called my mother.

“What? Oh, my Lord, Lindsey! Somebody actually shot him?” she cried.

I sighed. “Yes, that’s what they’re telling me.”

“Well,” she said. “I’m taking the first flight out. Don’t even think about arguing this one with me.”

I ran a hand through my hair and nodded.
“Okay. Let me know when your flight arrives and I’ll pick you up.”

“No, I’ll
just rent a car. I’m not going to be an inconvenience and I’ll need one to use when I’m out there anyway. Besides, you have too much to deal with right now.”

I closed my eyes.
Yes, I’m now a widow.

“
Mom,” I cried softly. “I just can’t believe it. I keep thinking it’s a nightmare and I’m going to wake up any minute.”

She sighed.
“Honey, I’m so sorry for the pain you must be feeling. I know how much you loved Scott. Even with everything that was going on.”

I nodded. “I
guess part of me still did.”

“Everything will work out,” she said. “I’m going to book a flight and I’ll let
you know when I’ll be arriving.”

“Okay.”

“I love you, honey.”

“I love you
, too, mom.”

I hun
g up with her and less than two minutes later, Darcy returned my call.

“Oh, my God, Lindsey, are you okay?”

“I’m still in shock,” I mumbled. “I just can’t believe it. Who would kill Scott?”

“I hate to say this,” she said. “But he may have kept a lot more from you than
just his affairs. Didn’t you say he was behind on the bills as well? Maybe he owed someone money and they were tired of waiting…”