it.”
“If they were being so secretive, how did you find out?”
Rob shrugged. “It was purely by accident. I couldn’t sleep one night last week, so I decided to take a walk around town. Joanne was sitting by herself on a park bench, and I was about to greet her when I heard a man’s voice nearby. I recognized it as Greg’s immediately. He’s got a distinctive way of talking, and there’s no doubt in my mind it was him. What surprised me was the intensity of their conversation. That’s putting it mildly. They weren’t chatting; they were arguing about something, and he wasn’t happy when he left.”
“Did either one of them see you?”
Rob looked sheepish as he admitted, “I was a little embarrassed about eavesdropping on them, so I stepped back into a doorway so I’d be out of their line of sight. I thought about asking Greg what it was all about as he neared me, but he stormed past me before I could say a word.”
That was interesting news. “Were you able to hear anything specifically that either one of them said?”
Reluctantly, Rob said, “I wasn’t trying to listen in on their private conversation, but I couldn’t help hearing the last thing he said to her. Knowing what I know now, it really sends a chill down my spine whenever I think about it.”
“What did he say?”
“He told her, ‘You’ll live to regret it. I can promise you that.’ You know Greg; he’s usually full of harmless bluster, but he didn’t sound harmless that night. It might bear looking into.”
“Sounds good. I’ll talk to him first,” I said.
“Hang on a second, Savannah. I’m not sending you out into the world with this information to confront someone who might be a killer. You need to tell your husband and let him handle it.”
“I can question Greg myself,” I said. Sometimes Rob had the idea that women were delicate flowers, and I did everything in my power to dissuade him of that belief whenever I could. I was a grown woman, perfectly capable of handling just about anything that came my way.
“At least take him with you,” my friend insisted. “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you because of what I said.”
“Rob, are we going to have to have that conversation again?”
“Woman, I’m not kidding here,” he said, his face screwed into a frown. “If Greg did get rid of Joanne, facing him alone would be the worst thing in the world that you could do. If you won’t ask your husband to speak with him, or even go with you, then I’m begging you to at least take me. Between the two of us, we might be able to handle him if things go wrong.”
I was tired of being sheltered. It was time to deflect Rob’s attention to something else. “He wasn’t even in Asheville today,” I said.
“That you know of. The very least we need to do is get an alibi for the man. If we can cross him off the list, so much the better.”
I bit my upper lip. “I see your point, but we can’t exactly walk up to him and ask him, can we?”
Rob smiled. “We can do just that, if we handle it properly. In the meantime, let’s get back to the list.”
I studied the last name he’d written there. “What could Hannah Reed have against Joanne? I’ve never even heard the woman raise her voice in public, so it’s hard for me to wrap my mind around the idea that she could possibly commit murder.”
“From the books I’ve read on the subject, there are times when the least likely suspect is the one guilty of the crime.”
“Are we talking fiction or nonfiction?” I asked. “I’m not sure mysteries should count as true research on how the criminal mind works.”
“And why not? Many of the novels I’ve read are closer to the way the world actually works than the best true crime books.”
I wasn’t about to argue the point with him. “Okay, but that still doesn’t give Hannah a reason to kill Joanne.”
“There is a good one. I just haven’t told you what it is yet.”
I waited for
“If they were being so secretive, how did you find out?”
Rob shrugged. “It was purely by accident. I couldn’t sleep one night last week, so I decided to take a walk around town. Joanne was sitting by herself on a park bench, and I was about to greet her when I heard a man’s voice nearby. I recognized it as Greg’s immediately. He’s got a distinctive way of talking, and there’s no doubt in my mind it was him. What surprised me was the intensity of their conversation. That’s putting it mildly. They weren’t chatting; they were arguing about something, and he wasn’t happy when he left.”
“Did either one of them see you?”
Rob looked sheepish as he admitted, “I was a little embarrassed about eavesdropping on them, so I stepped back into a doorway so I’d be out of their line of sight. I thought about asking Greg what it was all about as he neared me, but he stormed past me before I could say a word.”
That was interesting news. “Were you able to hear anything specifically that either one of them said?”
Reluctantly, Rob said, “I wasn’t trying to listen in on their private conversation, but I couldn’t help hearing the last thing he said to her. Knowing what I know now, it really sends a chill down my spine whenever I think about it.”
“What did he say?”
“He told her, ‘You’ll live to regret it. I can promise you that.’ You know Greg; he’s usually full of harmless bluster, but he didn’t sound harmless that night. It might bear looking into.”
“Sounds good. I’ll talk to him first,” I said.
“Hang on a second, Savannah. I’m not sending you out into the world with this information to confront someone who might be a killer. You need to tell your husband and let him handle it.”
“I can question Greg myself,” I said. Sometimes Rob had the idea that women were delicate flowers, and I did everything in my power to dissuade him of that belief whenever I could. I was a grown woman, perfectly capable of handling just about anything that came my way.
“At least take him with you,” my friend insisted. “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you because of what I said.”
“Rob, are we going to have to have that conversation again?”
“Woman, I’m not kidding here,” he said, his face screwed into a frown. “If Greg did get rid of Joanne, facing him alone would be the worst thing in the world that you could do. If you won’t ask your husband to speak with him, or even go with you, then I’m begging you to at least take me. Between the two of us, we might be able to handle him if things go wrong.”
I was tired of being sheltered. It was time to deflect Rob’s attention to something else. “He wasn’t even in Asheville today,” I said.
“That you know of. The very least we need to do is get an alibi for the man. If we can cross him off the list, so much the better.”
I bit my upper lip. “I see your point, but we can’t exactly walk up to him and ask him, can we?”
Rob smiled. “We can do just that, if we handle it properly. In the meantime, let’s get back to the list.”
I studied the last name he’d written there. “What could Hannah Reed have against Joanne? I’ve never even heard the woman raise her voice in public, so it’s hard for me to wrap my mind around the idea that she could possibly commit murder.”
“From the books I’ve read on the subject, there are times when the least likely suspect is the one guilty of the crime.”
“Are we talking fiction or nonfiction?” I asked. “I’m not sure mysteries should count as true research on how the criminal mind works.”
“And why not? Many of the novels I’ve read are closer to the way the world actually works than the best true crime books.”
I wasn’t about to argue the point with him. “Okay, but that still doesn’t give Hannah a reason to kill Joanne.”
“There is a good one. I just haven’t told you what it is yet.”
I waited for
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