Chapter 4 #2
The community room was the second door on the left.
Two women were sitting next to each other at a long mahogany table that could have seated twelve.
The room had been designed for private dining and small gatherings—built-in cabinetry along one wall with a wine refrigerator and a coffee station, framed architectural prints, recessed lighting on a dimmer that someone had left at about half.
It smelled like leather and fresh flowers.
A small arrangement of white peonies sat in a low vase at the center of the table.
One of the women had both hands wrapped around a paper cup and her eyes down. The other sat with her hands flat on the table, watching the door.
I looked at the one with the paper cup and it took me a second to realize I knew her.
“Becca?” I said.
She looked up. She had thick dark hair, dark eyes, a square jaw, and Tom Daly’s coloring. She was beautiful considering how much she looked like her father. It had been a couple of years since I’d last seen her. The last I’d heard she’d gone out of state to college.
“Dr. Graves.” Her voice was steady.
“Does your dad know you’re here?” Jack asked.
“Yes, I called him.” She set the cup down. “He’s worried, but I told him I’m okay. Finding a dead body wasn’t really on my summer vacation list.”
The woman next to her made a small noise, and Becca winced, rubbing her shoulder in support. “I’m sorry, Paige. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know,” the woman whispered.
Becca was a pretty woman, there was no doubt about that, but sitting next to Paige Marsh made her almost invisible. Paige was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen, even with red eyes and tearstained cheeks.
Jack pulled out a chair and sat across from Paige. “I’m Sheriff Lawson. What’s your name?”
“Paige,” she said as I took the seat next to Jack. “Paige Marsh.”
“You’re looking pretty pale, Paige. You doing okay?”
“I threw up in the trash can,” she said. “I feel better now, but I’d like to go to bed soon.”
I could smell the lingering scent of vomit and alcohol on her breath.
“Have you been drinking this morning?” I asked her.
“Mostly all night,” she said, color coming into her cheek. “A little this morning. It’s been a rough couple of days.”
“We just need to ask you a few questions about what happened upstairs,” Jack said smoothly.
“Wade broke up with me a couple of days ago,” Paige said, her voice breaking.
“Just like that. Out of the blue. Told me to find another place to live.” She shrugged.
“I was shocked. And embarrassed. All I could think about was getting out as fast as I could. So I walked out and went straight to Becca’s.
Called in sick to work. I didn’t even bring a change of clothes with me. I felt so stupid.”
A tear escaped and slid down her cheek.
“Then what?” I asked.
“We spent the last couple of days trashing men and drinking too much and eating takeout,” Becca chimed in. “You know, typical breakup ritual stuff.”
“You living close by?” I asked her.
She grimaced. “In the garage apartment behind Dad’s house. I finished grad school in May and moved back to look for a job. Haven’t had any luck so far.”
“Okay,” I said, noticing that Jack had let me take the lead as another female. “So y’all hung out at your place for a couple days. Did you go anywhere? Maybe out to a bar or to get more ice cream?”
“No,” Becca said. “I raided Dad’s liquor cabinet, and we ordered takeout when we were hungry. I didn’t know Bloody Mary did food deliveries now.”
“One step closer to progress,” I said, making her smile slightly.
“I had to borrow some of Becca’s clothes,” Paige said. “That’s when I knew I had to come back.”
“I told her I would help while Wade was at work,” Becca said.
“I couldn’t face him again.” Tears streaked faster down her cheeks and she wiped them away angrily.
“So you guys were up most of the night drinking—”
“All night drinking,” Becca clarified. “And watching John Hughes movies.”
“Right,” I said. “What time did you leave to come here?”
“Around eight, I guess,” Becca said.
“We took my car,” Paige said.
“How’d you get into the building?”
“I’ve still got my fob and my key,” she said. “I’d Venmo’d Wade my July rent right before he broke up with me. And he kept it.”
“He was a jerk,” Becca said automatically, and then grabbed Paige’s hand. “You can’t pretend he wasn’t just because he’s dead.”
I wasn’t sure if Paige had the fortitude to agree with Becca about the sentiment.
“Did you see anyone in the parking lot?” I asked. “Or pass anyone getting on or off the elevator?”
“I don’t think so,” she said. “I wasn’t really paying attention. And the people here don’t really talk to me anyway because I’m not considered a real resident.” She rolled her eyes. “They’re pretty self-important around here.”
“What about the concierge?” I asked. “Did you see him?”
“Oh, yeah,” Paige said. “I forgot about that. I think he said hello. I wasn’t really thinking straight.” She shook her head as if to clear it. “Becca and I went straight up to the condo.”
“Did you notice anything when you went inside?”
“Just that it felt wrong,” she said. “Wade is a creature of habit. And he’s a neat freak.
OCD really. I thought it was endearing when we first met, but it was really annoying to live with.
I have all of my stuff in storage. He wouldn’t let me bring any of it with me.
And most of my clothes too. He only gave me a small space in the closet for my things, and only clothing he approved as worthy of being in his space. ” She rolled her eyes.
“What felt wrong about it?” I asked, trying to keep her on track.
“Something just didn’t feel right,” she said.
“You know when you go in a space and it feels like someone else is there? Like the air was heavy or something. But it was other things too. The lights were on in the kitchen. He never left lights on. He was obsessed about it. But then I saw the underwear on the floor, and I just saw red for a minute. I figured the woman was still there. Who leaves their underwear on the floor like that?”
Jack looked at me and I arched a brow in response.
“I was so angry,” she continued. “I didn’t have a plan. I just wanted to confront him. I walked to the bedroom and pushed open the door.” She faltered for a minute and looked down at her hands. “He was on the floor. And there was so much blood.” She inhaled a shaky breath.
“Did either of you touch anything? Touch him?” Jack asked.
“No,” Becca said, shaking her head. “Definitely not. I grabbed her and pulled her back into the hall. Then I called 911.”
“What do you do for work, Paige?” Jack asked, changing the course of the conversation.
“I’m an aesthetic nurse,” she said. “At Vitalia. It’s a medical spa a couple of blocks from here. I do injectables, fillers, laser treatments, facial reconstruction. I’ve been there a little over a year.”
“How’d you meet Wade?” he asked.
“The way everyone meets Wade,” she said, with a laugh, but there was no humor in it.
“I joined his Pilates studio. I took early morning classes almost every day before I went to work. He was hot and I was attracted.” She shrugged.
“It seemed mutual and he gave me information on his private sessions. One thing led to another and we ended up living together.”
“Did you do the private sessions here in his condo?” he asked.
“Yeah, me and every other woman.”
“Did Wade have any enemies? Anyone who’d threatened him or who’d want to hurt him?”
She thought about it for a moment before she answered.
“There was a husband of one of the women at the studio,” she said, her words slow and thoughtful.
“I don’t know her name. But the guy came in and confronted Wade in person.
Made a big scene. Wade told me about it and laughed.
He thought it was funny. He said the wife still came to class, and that her husband’s jealousy was good for their sex life.
” She pressed her fingers to her temple.
“He liked being the center of attention. Liked knowing that women were attracted to him or would fight over him.”
Jack passed a card across the table. “That’s all for now. But give me a call if you remember anything else.”
“I don’t guess I can get my stuff from the condo?” she asked hopefully.
“You can go up with one of the officers and pack a bag,” he said. “Get your personal things.”
“Is Wade still…up there?” she asked.
There was a knock on the door and Lily appeared. “Sorry to interrupt. We’re headed back to the station.”
“Good timing,” Jack said and then looked at Paige. “No, he’s not there.”
We sent Paige up with Plank while Becca called her father to fill him in on the details.
“Go ahead and put him on ice,” I told Lily. “We’re going to be a little while. We’ve still got the studio to look through.”
“Don’t forget to eat lunch,” she said on the way out. “The baby needs something besides donuts.”
I didn’t ask her how she knew about the donuts. Lily was wise beyond her years.
I looked at Jack.
“Ready to check out Form and Flow Pilates?” he asked.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I said. “Maybe he’ll have a list of scorned lovers and this will be an open-and-shut case.”
“From your mouth to God’s ears,” he said.