29. Claire
CHAPTER 29
Claire
S now swirled outside the window. Ozzie’s truck was covered, and the tracks he and Ellis left when they dashed off after the man in the side yard were rapidly disappearing.
I clutched Pebbles and wondered if I should call for help.
But Ozzie hadn’t asked me to, and I didn’t want to create a fuss if it was nothing. Maybe it was some teenager out walking. People did that around here.
Though they didn’t usually cut between houses. Everyone around here was armed—me included—and didn’t take kindly to trespassers.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. If they weren’t back in another five or ten minutes, maybe I would call. Ozzie had his phone, though. So did Ellis. Surely, one of them would call for help if they needed it.
Right?
Exhaling a breath through my nose, I stepped away from the window. They wouldn’t magically appear while I stood there and wished for it. If anything, it would take longer. Like a watched pot.
I put Pebbles down and went into the kitchen. There were dishes in the sink. I had a load of laundry that needed moved to the dryer too.
Pebbles’s bark and subsequent skittering of her nails on the floor as she ran toward the front door made me jump. Hand on my chest, I followed her.
Spinning in circles by the door, the dog continued to bark. I went to the front windows and peered out. Three figures, obscured by the falling snow, came down the sidewalk.
I squinted. Two of them were large, and the other it was hard to tell. It looked like he was hunched over.
They passed under the streetlight and I recognized Ozzie’s jacket.
My heart thumped. They’d caught the guy.
Hurrying to the door, I unlocked it, picked up Pebbles, and flung it open, eager to see who’d been harassing me.
The three of them turned and came up the driveway, but the man kept his head down. Ozzie and Ellis marched him straight up to the porch, where he finally lifted his head.
A sharp gasp left my lips. “Warren? You’re the one who’s been harassing me? Why would you burn down my office?”
His eyes widened. “What? No! That wasn’t me, I swear.”
“Let’s discuss it inside.” Ozzie put a hand in his pocket and took out his truck keys, then tossed them to Ellis before pushing Warren toward the door.
I stepped back and let them in, frowning as Ellis jogged toward Ozzie’s vehicle. “What’s he doing?”
“Getting my handcuffs.”
“Oh.” I closed the door to stop letting the cold air in, but didn’t lock it.
“Do you have a first-aid kit?” Ozzie asked.
It was then I noticed the scrape on Warren’s face.
“Oh. Yes.” I turned and ran upstairs, retrieving several first-aid items from the cabinet in my bathroom.
When I returned to the main living space, Warren was on the couch, his hands handcuffed in front of him. Ozzie sat next to him, and Ellis stood to the side holding Pebbles. The little dog saw me and wagged her tail, then looked at Warren and growled.
Surprised that she’d let Ellis pick her up, my eyebrows rose for a quick second. It usually took her a few visits before she warmed up to new people enough to let them do more than give her a quick scratch.
Moving into the room, I sat next to Ozzie on the couch. “Here. I hope this works. I can get a washcloth if you need it.” I piled the supplies in my lap and let him pick what he wanted.
He took a couple of gauze pads and the hydrogen peroxide. “This should work. I just want to clean him up enough I can put some bandages over the worst of the cuts to stop the bleeding.” Tearing open the gauze, he wet it, then dabbed at Warren’s face.
“You want to tell us what you were doing out there now?” Ozzie asked as he worked. “Since you decided to pretend you’re mute after we caught you.” Quickly, he read him his rights.
Muscles in Warren’s jaw worked as he acknowledged that he understood.
But it wasn’t obstinance I saw in his eyes. It was sorrow.
“Please tell us what you know Warren,” I pleaded softly. “I found Marie. She didn’t deserve to die like that, and I don’t think you did it.”
His gaze met mine, bleakness shining bright. “I didn’t.”
“Then who did?” Ozzie lowered his hand to look Warren in the face.
“Her lover.”
I shared a look with Ellis, surprised at that. “Marie had a lover?”
Warren nodded.
“Who?” Ozzie asked.
“I don’t know.”
I watched Ozzie’s eyebrows knit into a deep frown. “Then how do you know he did it?”
“Who else would? Marie was sweet. She didn’t have any enemies.” Warren pressed his lips together glancing away. “Look, I know things weren’t the best between us, and I wasn’t the best husband. She wasn’t happy and never really wanted to move here, but I convinced her it would be the best thing for us. I was trying to save our marriage.” He speared Ozzie with a look. “This wasn’t the first time she cheated on me.”
“Why did you stay with her, then?” I asked.
“I loved her. You met her. She’s beautiful. Kind. Smart. What man wouldn’t want her for his wife?”
Ozzie frowned, returning to doctoring Warren’s face. “Okay. How about you start at the beginning? What did you see? And why are you here tonight?”
Warren’s mouth pressed flat for a moment. “We were supposed to fly to Boston to house hunt, but Marie said last minute that she couldn’t go. Something about being too far behind on grading.” He rolled his eyes. “I knew that was a lie. If she had grading to do, she could have brought it along and done it on the plane. She has before. I didn’t press the issue, though. This move was for her. I like it here. I may not look it, but the outdoors soothes me. It’s why I have that cabin near Hoonah.”
He flapped one hand dangling between his knees. “Anyway, I hoped—foolishly, perhaps—that moving her closer to her family would once again save our marriage. I think it was her escape plan, though.” His brows pinched, then he winced as the movement pulled at the scrapes on his face.
“That explains why she didn’t go to Boston, but why didn’t you?” Ozzie put the gauze down and reached for the box of butterfly strips.
Warren’s hands clenched into fists. “Because, as much as I loved her and wanted to save our marriage, I was tired of being cast aside. So, I stayed behind, determined to catch her cheating. If I had hard proof to take to a lawyer, I was hopeful I could get out of paying alimony.” Fine lines appeared around his mouth as his features tightened. “Not that she ever wanted my money, anyway.”
“Is that why she drove an outdated car and the two of you lived in a modest house?” I asked.
He nodded. “She wanted to save it all. For what, I don’t know. She said retirement, but I made more than enough for us to live a more lavish lifestyle and still save plenty for retirement.”
“That’s interesting,” Ozzie muttered, peeling a butterfly strip from the paper. “Several of Marie’s colleagues said the opposite. That it was you who wouldn’t let her spend the money.”
A genuine frown formed on Warren’s face? “What? No.” His frown smoothed out and anger darkened his expression. “Let me guess—Grace and Kaya? Those two didn’t like me.”
“Probably with good reason. They said you treated your wife like garbage. Especially when you’d been drinking.” Ozzie laid a butterfly strip over one of the deeper cuts on Warren’s face.
A flush tinged Warren’s cheeks. “I admit, I probably… imbibe a little too much scotch, and it can make me mean. But that still doesn’t mean I murdered Marie.”
“No. Tell me, Warren, were you drunk the night you decided to catch her cheating?”
Oh my . Could he have done it in a drunken rage and then blocked it out, I wondered.
Warren’s eyes turned flinty. “It doesn’t matter if I had anything to drink. I didn’t kill her.”
Ozzie let out a soft grunt, then took another butterfly strip off the paper backing. “Okay, so maybe you were drinking, maybe you weren’t. But you’re saying Marie’s friends were wrong about how you treated her?”
“Yes. Things were tense between us. I suspected she was cheating—had for a while—and I wasn’t handling it the best. I know I was probably just pushing her further away, but I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t know how to make things better. As for the money, that was all her. I don’t know why she would tell her friends that I controlled the purse strings. She had access to it all and chose not to spend it.”
But why would she lie about it? It was a simple enough thing to tell people you wanted to save for retirement. Why would she tell her friends he wouldn’t spend any of his wealth on her? I couldn’t wrap my brain around the idea. Warren seemed sincere, though. I had no reason not to believe him. His story made as much sense as Marie’s—maybe more.
“So what happened after you decided to stay behind?” Ozzie asked.
“I left like I was going to the airport, but I just went into Juneau and wandered around until I thought her lover might be there. By then, it was dark. I didn’t want to tip them off by pulling into the driveway, so I parked on the street several houses down and walked. I even went through the back, because the slider is quieter than the front door.”
Some of the blood drained from his face, giving him a ghostly pallor. His Adam’s apple bobbed.
“You found her first, didn’t you?” I said softly.
He met my gaze, tears shimmering in his eyes. “Yes.” The singular word came out on a rough whisper. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath before continuing. “The slider was open. Not just unlocked, but open. And the house was quiet. Dark too. At least, downstairs. I know I should have called the police as soon as I saw the open door, but part of me hoped that her lover had come in that way and just didn’t get the door all the way closed.” He lifted a shoulder before continuing.
“Anyway, I went inside and straight upstairs. The only light on was in the master bedroom.”
“Did you hear anything?” Ozzie asked.
“No. My first thought was that they were sleeping, but who falls asleep with the light on?” He rubbed his palms on his thighs, his gaze shifting around the room. “She wasn’t sleeping,” he whispered.
My heart broke for him.
Clenching my fists, I swallowed around the lump in my throat and looked away, blinking several times to clear my eyes. How horrible that must have been for him.
Warren lifted a hand, swiping at his cheek. “She was still warm.” Voice thick, he stared at the floor.
Lord, have mercy. I cleared my throat and changed the subject. “Warren, your car. Why was it in the woods?”
He looked up. It took him a moment to process my question. “Um, I wasn’t sure if the person who killed her saw me. No one else was in the house, but I didn’t want to take any chances, so I decided to disappear.”
Ozzie’s brows knit together. “If the house was empty, what made you think someone might have thought you saw them?”
“Because there was a car. When I got there. It passed me right before I got out of mine.”
“Did it come from your house?” Ellis asked, breaking into the conversation for the first time.
Warren looked over. “I don’t know. It came from that direction. I was so focused on the house I didn’t pay attention to the street. It could have been parked out front. But it wasn’t in the driveway, that I know.”
“What kind of car?” Ozzie asked.
“A black SUV of some sort. I can’t tell you what make or model.”
“We found blood in your car that wasn’t a match to your wife,” Ozzie said. “It had soaked through the leather and penetrated the pad underneath. Where did that come from?”
“I slipped on the ice in my haste to get away from the house. I fell into a bush.” He leaned to the side and lifted the edge of his shirt, showing off the healing gash, complete with stitches, on the bottom of his ribcage below his left arm.
“After I went to the clinic in Juneau and got stitched up, I cleaned the car. I had Marie’s”—he paused and swallowed hard—“blood on me, so I figured it was on the seat and steering wheel. Plus all of my blood. I just—” he stopped and shook his head.
“Why didn’t you go to the police after you found your wife?” Ellis crossed his arms, a curious frown on his face.
Warren scoffed. “She was cheating on me. Her blood was on my clothes. I lied about leaving town. And I”—his eyes turned toward the floor—“might have had a drink or two.” He raised his gaze. “You do the math.” He turned to Ozzie. “I’m sorry I didn’t come forward. I just… I just needed time to figure out what to do.” With a look of sorrow, he swung to me. “And I’m sorry you had to find Marie like that. I—I wasn’t sure who would find her or how, but I never thought it would be you.”
I tipped my head, studying him. He seemed sincere. “Why did you come here? Are you the one who’s been stalking me? And the one who burned my office down?”
“No!” He slashed his bound hands through the air, making the handcuffs rattle. “No. I admit, I’ve been hanging around you for the last few days, but not to do you any harm. I—I was hoping you could help me.”
“You should have come to the police.” A fierce frown settled on Ozzie’s face. “I’m the one who can help you, not her.” With a quick gesture, he pointed to me.
“No offense, but I didn’t want to get locked up. I didn’t murder my wife, Detective. I knew if I turned myself in, you’d spend all your time trying to find evidence that I did.”
“First of all, I don’t make assumptions. You might look guilty as hell for it, but you’re still innocent until proven guilty. I would have looked at any and all evidence, whether it supported your guilt or exonerated you. I’m not in the business of pinning murders on innocent people. If you’d come forward, I could have been doing more to track down your wife’s lover. Instead, I’ve been spinning my wheels trying to find you .”
Sensing that Warren was about to argue, I decided to sidetrack him again. The two of them arguing about what could have been wouldn’t help anything now. “Why did you think I could help?”
“Well, for one, I heard you found Marie, so I thought maybe you’d found other evidence or knew of other evidence the police found. Something that might tell me who she was seeing. You also know people and could ask questions without being out of place. You’re always everywhere. And you’re kind.” His expression softened as he looked at me. “I know you could tell things weren’t great between me and Marie, but you never said anything. You treated us with nothing but kindness and professionalism. I appreciated that.”
While I was happy to know my demeanor made him comfortable, it didn’t mean I was glad he felt like I was the only one he could trust. That was a lot to put on one person’s shoulders and it left him straying into stalker territory. Desperate people could do desperate things. “Thank you for saying that, Warren. But while I’m glad you felt comfortable enough with me to think I could help you find Marie’s killer, you really should have gone to the police. They’ve wasted a lot of time and resources attempting to locate you that would have been better spent looking for Marie’s lover.” Not to mention the physical pain I had endured by trying to help find him. But I wasn’t going to heap that on him now. He was already hurting and had been chastised enough.
Warren hung his head, nodding.
“Okay, so if that’s why you came here tonight, I think it’s time we talk more about Marie’s boyfriend.” Ozzie lightly smacked his thighs. “I know you don’t know who he is, but is there anything you can tell us about him? I mean, how do you know she was cheating? How did you know the first time?”
“Her friends told me the first time. They saw her out with some guy while I was away on business. This was back when we lived in St. Louis. Rather than confront her, I applied for a transfer. My boss had already been making noise about the position up here, that I should consider it. No one wanted to go, but he hinted that if someone took on the role it could lead to bigger and better things down the line.” He lifted a shoulder. “It seemed like perfect timing, so I said I’d do it.”
“So, you never said anything to her about her cheating?” Ellis raised an eyebrow, disbelief written all over his face.
“No. I figured she’d either own up to it and leave me so she could stay with him, or she wouldn’t. When she agreed to come with me, it gave me some hope that we weren’t over and that we could fix things. And for a while, things weren’t bad. But then she started to distance herself again.” Once more, he hung his head. “I can’t say I’m not to blame for it. She came home late from work one day. It was our anniversary. I’d had a couple of drinks and was upset, and I said some things I shouldn’t have. Stuff spiraled from there. She wouldn’t talk to me, and it irritated me to no end when she gave me the silent treatment. I’m not proud of how I handled those instances.”
“You belittled her,” Ozzie said.
Warren’s head bobbed. “And drank more.”
“But you still loved your wife?”
“Yes.”
“They have counselors for all those things, you know,” Ellis quipped.
Ozzie shot a quick glare at him. “Not helpful, El.” He turned back to Warren. “The current lover—what do you know?”
“Nothing. It’s just a feeling. She’d say she was going out with friends and then come home smelling of a man’s cologne. Our sex life was practically non-existent, and if you knew Marie, you’d know that’s not like her. When our marriage was good, we were together several times a week. The same thing happened when she had the affair in St. Louis. She stopped sleeping with me.”
I fought to keep the disgust off my face. I did not need to know that.
A thoughtful frown appeared on his face. “Her friends might know more. Grace. And Kaya. They’d never say anything to me, but they might talk to you.”
Ozzie tipped his head. “You think she’d tell them about the affair?”
Warren nodded. “Especially Grace. That woman was forever up in our business. Every time I went to a school function with Marie, she’d make some comment about something I said or did. Just to make it clear she still thought I was a dirtbag and didn’t deserve her friend.”
Considering that for a moment, Ozzie nodded. “All right. What about the things that have been happening with Claire? You said you’ve been watching her. Have you seen anyone hanging around?”
“Just you.”
I sat forward, leaning in a bit. “You’re sure? No cars that keep driving by that don’t belong in the neighborhood, or people out running?”
“Running? In the weather we’ve had? No. And I don’t recall any strange cars. Your street is pretty quiet. But I’ve only been watching for a few days, like I said.”
“Where were you before that? Not your cabin, because we checked,” Ozzie said.
“With a friend. His wife and kids were out of town visiting family, so he let me stay with him. She came back, though, so I had to leave. I’ve been squatting in an RV at a campground. That’s when I decided to ask you for help.” He nodded at me. “I couldn’t really ask questions anywhere to find out who she’d been seeing, and the few times I tried to eavesdrop on her friends I almost got caught. I couldn’t stay in the RV forever. When I heard you found my car, I figured you might be my best bet to solving my problem.”
“Well, you’re right about one thing.” Ozzie crumpled the first-aid trash into one hand. “You can’t stay in the RV. But I’ve got a nice warm place for you.”
Warren’s shoulders fell. “Jail. I figured that would be where you took me. I won’t fight you, Detective. I just want this to be over.”
“Good.” Ozzie stood. “I need to make a couple phone calls. Thank you for telling me what you know.”
“You believe me, don’t you? I didn’t kill her.” Head tipped back, he stared up at Ozzie.
“I promise I’ll do everything I can to bring her killer to justice.”
I blinked. That didn’t sound like he believed Warren’s story.
“Ellis, keep an eye on him for a few minutes, would you?” Ozzie asked.
Ellis, arms still crossed, nodded once, and Ozzie walked away.
Giving Warren a quick, reassuring smile, I gathered the first-aid supplies in my lap and hopped up, following Ozzie into the kitchen. “You believe him, don’t you?” I unloaded my armful of items onto the counter.
“I’m not sure.” He pulled out the trashcan drawer and dropped the bandage packaging and gauze into it. “He could be spinning a yarn to take the focus off himself. Getting caught outside your house wasn’t part of his plan. I’m inclined to say he didn’t do it, but I can’t rule him out until I get proof someone else did.” Moving to the sink, he turned on the water.
“What are you going to do? Besides put him in jail.”
“Talk to Marie’s friends again, for one. And the friend he said he stayed with. I need to get a warrant for his medical records too. Make sure that gash is really from a branch and not a knife.”
My eyes widened. I hadn’t even considered that. “You think someone—maybe Marie—slashed him before he stabbed her?”
Ozzie shrugged. “It’s possible.” He squirted some soap in his palm and lathered his hands. “I’m glad we have him, but this isn’t over. Not by a long shot. And you’re still in danger. I do believe him when he says he wasn’t the one who torched your office or broke in here. His surprise seemed genuine.” He rinsed his hands. “I’m going to ask Ellis to stay with you, if that’s okay? Now that we have Warren, if he’s not the killer, whoever is might get bolder. They still haven’t gotten the evidence they think you have.”
While I would rather have Ozzie here than Ellis, I understood why it had to be that way. Ozzie had a job to do. “That’s fine. Just catch him. I don’t like thinking there’s a murderer walking around. It’s creepy.”
Drying off his hands with the towel I kept draped over the bar on the oven door, he came around the counter. “I’ll find this person, Claire.”
Lifting a hand, I touched his chest. “I know.”
Ozzie lowered his head and kissed me softly. I curled my fingers into his shirt, wishing he didn’t need to leave. I couldn’t help but hope Warren’s presence sparked something. I wanted Ozzie all to myself and without the threat of danger lurking overhead.