“But that doesn’t help me,” she murmured. “They didn’t kill themselves.”
“No,” he agreed, “I don’t imagine that would be possible, given the scenario.” He thought about it and added, “I wonder if there was another friend trying to get in on the action that they were keeping out.”
“Why would anybody want to?” she murmured, with a headshake.
“I don’t know.” Simon shrugged. “We’re back to that thing where a certain person draws a certain audience. In this case, they seem to have had a pretty major audience all to themselves,with the rest of the world just watching, not really in shock though.”
“More like disgust, if you ask me,” she replied immediately.
He nodded. “That could very well be true. Maybe people were fed up with it. Maybe the husbands were fed up with it and wanted the wives to break up.”
“It is a relationship of the sort that would require a breakup, isn’t it?” she murmured.
He nodded. “I would think so. I know it sounds strange, but, when you think about it, there was nothing healthy about their friendship. So, if anybody tried to interfere, it might have made them even tighter and closer together.”
“I can see that more than a breakup,” she murmured. “I don’t think breaking up was part of their psychological pattern.”
“Maybe not yet, but you can see that long-term it would have been very hard to maintain that intense competition over time. I mean, if the one would trip her husband on a rocky downgrade to keep him from winning, what else was she capable of?”
“Agreed.” Kate took another bite of steak. “God, this is good.”
“Glad to hear it. I do actually know how to cook. I just rarely do it.”
“Time,” she said dismissively.
“Yes and no,” he replied. “Sometimes I think that’s just an excuse.”
“Effort?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, that’s probably true too,” he agreed. “Yet today I was just thinking about it and looking for something different. I passed the butcher shop, saw the steaks, and that was it. I was in.”
She laughed. “Well, I’m glad because I’m definitely reaping the benefits.”
“Well, some days it’s just perfect,” he noted, “but other days? It doesn’t work out so well.”
“Which is why you have awesome places to go and get food from,” she noted, “like Mama’s.”
“Indeed.”
She continued to eat, then looked over at him. “Maybe we could do the beach again sometime.”
He nodded. “Pick a day,” he said instantly.
She thought about it. “Today is Thursday. How about Saturday?”
“You’ll get the weekend off?”
She nodded. “If I don’t have anything else to chase down, then yes. That’s exactly what I’m hoping for.”
“Sounds good to me,” Simon declared. “So, late afternoon, early afternoon, or do you want to make a whole day of it?”
She stared at him in delight. “You know the bulk of the day sounds awesome. Would that not be absolutely perfect?” Then she nodded and said, “I think that would be ideal. Noon it is.”
Chapter 14
Friday Morning
The next morningfound Kate driving once again up to the site of the double murders. She stood at the edge of the parking lot, watching as vehicles came and went. A couple she vaguely remembered, but most of them were different. She checked her watch. It was similar to a time she’d been here on other days, but there was just enough time variance today that it could bring about different results. A lot of people were here. It was also way later than the time frame for the previous murders, according to the coroner.