Turning back to Harry, he said, “Mr. Malroney, we need to see the video feed to that house. Detective Stowe will give you the dates.”

  Harry opened his mouth, then snapped it shut, his gaze assessing. Narrowing his eyes, he stepped toward them. “You’re on to something.”

  Aaron glanced at Harry’s expression, begrudgingly acknowledging that Harry was as intelligent as he was belligerent.

  Harry pushed, “If something is going on with the people renting our place, I want to know about it.”

  Sam jumped in. “At this point in our investigation, Mr. Malroney, there’s nothing you need to know other than that our investigation requires your security camera data. We don’t have a warrant, but we can get one. That will undoubtedly waste time that could be vital to our investigation.”

  Harry sucked in a deep breath through his nose, his lips pinched. Ruthanne looked up and said, “We have nothing to hide, and I have a feeling this has something to do with Bill Gaston.”

  “Yes, ma’am, it does.”

  At that, Harry nodded and stepped back. “I have it on my phone and can feed the video to my TV.”

  “Follow us, Detectives,” Ruthanne invited, her smile still in place but no longer reaching her eyes. She led the way to the comfortable, large family room with a wide-screen TV.

  Harry spent a few minutes using his phone with Brad, talking him through the needed dates. Soon, the front view of the beautiful house on the beach came into focus. Fast-forwarding, they saw what they suspected.

  Ruthanne sucked in a gasp. “Bill went there instead of here. Oh, my… he must have used our former address.”

  Brad then had Harry move the video feed to one from the back of the house. Aaron twisted his head around. “Mrs. Malroney, I think you should wait in another room.”

  She blinked at him, her head tilted slightly in a silent question. Aaron shot a gaze at Harry, who immediately nodded. He looked at his wife and said in a voice so soft Aaron was surprised.

  “My dear, perhaps the detective is right. Why don’t you wait in the kitchen, and I’ll let you know when we are finished.”

  An anguished expression crossed Ruthanne’s face, and she blinked back tears. “Oh, Harry. Do you think it will show⁠—”

  Harry stepped closer to her and leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead. “I think that I don’t want you to see or hear anything that would be upsetting. I promise to let you know what the detectives are dealing with when it’s over.”

  She held his gaze for a long moment, then slowly swept her gaze to the four detectives before forcing another polite smile onto her face. Inclining her head, she said, “Detectives, I will leave you to your work. But know it is with great appreciation for what you do in your chosen career.” With that, she turned and walked out of the room.

  Harry watched her go until she disappeared from sight. Then heaving a great sigh, he turned back to the room. “Let’s get this over with.”

  It didn’t take long for them to fast-forward, seeing what they now suspected. Turning, Aaron nodded toward Hunter, who stepped forward.

  “Mr. Malroney, I need you to send a copy of everything we just watched to my phone. I’m afraid I’ll have to ask for it now so that we don’t take a chance on losing it.”

  The ire seemed to have leached from Harry, and he simply nodded. Tapping on his phone, Hunter finally nodded and said, “Thank you.”

  As the detectives turned to leave, Aaron looked back at the hound dog expression on Harry’s face. Walking back over, he held the older man’s gaze. “I’m sorry for the loss of someone that you knew. And I’m sorry for the difficulty your wife will face in dealing with this. But know that I have a woman I love who was shot during the course of this investigation, and what you’ve given us will help me protect her. I think that’s a trait we both have in common.” Aaron reached out his hand to shake, having no idea if Harry would reciprocate.

  For the first time since he met the man months ago, Harry didn’t glare nor fire off a pointed verbal barb. Instead, he simply nodded and shook Aaron’s hand.

  “I assume you want me to hang onto this?” Harry asked, looking down at his phone.

  “Yes. We have what we need for now, but I’m sure the county prosecutor will want all of it.”

  Harry nodded, then said, “I’ll let you see yourselves out, detectives. I want to see to my wife.” With that, he turned and walked out of the room.

  41

  “Jon Matherson, you are under arrest for the murder of William Gaston.”

  “You must be crazy! My attorneys will make you wish you’d never considered me as a suspect, much less arrest me!”

  Aaron stood to the side, tension palpable in the air, as Hunter read Jon Matherson his rights and a deputy handcuffed the man. Jon had been upstairs packing a suitcase when the detectives rang the doorbell, announced themselves as deputies, and surrounded the home. He’d only answered the door when they threatened to kick it in.

  Jon’s indignant outbursts filled the room. “This is absurd!” His face contorted with anger as he railed against the injustice.

  “Where is your wife?” Aaron asked, his gaze fixed on Jon. Each protestation from Jon only served to fuel Aaron’s resolve to force the truth out of him.

  “She’s not here. She’s out shopping.”

  “Where is she shopping?”

  Jon sputtered, scoffing. “I have no idea where my wife shops in this backwater place. Our stay here has been nothing but miserable, and as soon as my lawyer has me out of your clutches, my wife and I are leaving. And I can assure you, we will never come back.”

  Hunter's calm demeanor contrasted sharply with Jon’s escalating agitation and Aaron’s fury. The deputies escorted Jon outside. Once he was placed in the cruiser, Hunter and Brad followed as they headed to the station.

  Aaron was antsy, wanting to watch the interview, but he knew it would take a while for Jon to be processed once they were at the station. He and Sam spent several minutes with Colby, Sheila, and the deputies searching the house.

  “Document everything,” Sheila reminded the deputies. “We want no loopholes to let these people get away.”

  Colby walked over. “I’ve put a BOLO on Eileen’s vehicle. You two should head back. I know you want in on the interview. I promise Sheila and I will be here with the deputies. We won’t leave anything to chance.”

  Thanking them, he and Sam climbed back into their SUV. Once they were at the station, Hunter and Brad had just taken Jon into the interrogation room, and Aaron, Sam, and Colt watched the proceedings.

  At first, Jon protested, saying he would wait on his lawyer before answering any questions.

  Hunter nodded and said, “That’s your right. You’ll be held in a cell until your lawyer arrives.”

  Jon loudly shouted, claiming his lawyer couldn’t get there on such short notice.

  Hunter continued to nod. “That’s fine, Mr. Matherson. You’ll be held in a cell until he comes.”

  A look of panic crossed Jon’s face. “I’ll have you sued for false arrest.”

  “That would be difficult to do, considering your landlord has the front, back, and downstairs security cameras on your rental.”

  The room crackled with the intensity of Jon’s facade crumbling under the weight of the evidence. His mouth dropped open, and his eyes bugged. He tried to speak, but words didn’t come out.

  “If you would like to continue this interview, we can do so,” Hunter said, “Or you can go back into a cell and wait until your attorney gets here. It’s your choice, Mr. Matherson.”

  Jon violently shook his head. “It wasn’t me. It wasn’t my idea! None of it was! It was all her!”

  “Are we to assume that, based on your statement, you want to continue the interview without your attorney present?”

  Conflict etched across Jon’s face, but he nodded as he placed his elbows on the table and dropped his head into his hands. “If you saw the video, you know this wasn’t on me.”

  “What we saw was a man show up at your house, met by your wife, and then, when you came in, a fight ensued. In the process of that fight between you and your wife, a gun was discharged, killing William Gaston. Then you had someone come down to assist you in disposing of the body. That someone also attempted to kill Belinda Crowder.”

  Jon’s head jerked up, swinging back and forth. “No! I mean, yes. But it wasn’t like that. I didn’t want any of that!”

  “Then why don’t you tell us what happened?”

  His face scrunched, and Aaron watched as emotions collided.

  “My wife has a habit of… collecting… affairs.”

  “Collecting affairs?” Brad asked.

  “She’s obsessed. Obsessed with always trying to look younger. Obsessed with her own sex appeal. I’ve never understood it, and no matter how much I tried, she always uses other men to make herself feel better. Her liaisons are never very long.” He scoffed, his eyes staring at the detectives as he glared, and his voice hardened. “I admit, she’s very picky about the men she chooses. She would never consider going for the pool guy, for example. Oh no—my wife’s affairs usually involve men of status, some only one-time flings.” He winced, his face contorting. “The crazy thing is that she doesn’t do it to make me jealous. She never does anything untoward in my presence. She simply engages in short affairs to feed her ego and then comes back to me.”

  Behind the glass, Aaron shook his head and then glanced at Sam, finding his partner to respond with the same expression.

  “That is so fucked up,” Sam said.

  Agreeing, Aaron nodded, and their attention turned back to the beleaguered man sitting at the table on the other side of the glass.

  “So what happened on the day in question?” Hunter proceeded.

  “I wanted a vacation. Away from everyone and everything. During our stay, we had met no one that my wife would’ve even considered enticing. I had gone out for the day, planning to drive to Virginia Beach to go to a boutique pet store that carried the food we wanted for Hercules and Aphrodite. I found the shop with no problem and finished earlier than I thought. Since there was nothing else there I wanted to do, I came straight home. Imagine my surprise when I walked into the house, didn’t see Eileen, and then looked out the back door. There she was, standing on the beach in her skimpy bathing suit with a man I’d never seen before.”

  “What were they doing?”

  “Just talking, but I could see Eileen was moving closer.” He looked at Hunter. “Believe me, Detective, I had no doubt she was making a move. She laughed and tossed her hair over her shoulder. She leaned in, touching his arm. I knew it was only a matter of time before the two would return to the house, not expecting me, planning on heading to the bedroom. And I snapped. For the first time, I really snapped.” His brow furrowed as though his words surprised him.

  “When you say you snapped, what did you do?” Brad asked.

  “I walked upstairs, where we kept a small pistol for personal protection. Then I walked back down the stairs, out the door, and toward the beach. She was so into her seduction that she never heard me coming. I had no intentions of shooting anyone.” As soon as those words left his mouth, he visibly startled, his eyes flying open wide. “I just wanted to scare them! Scare her.”

  “And then?”

  “Eileen turned and saw me, and she reached out, grabbing my hand that held the gun. The other man threw his hands up and started to back away. Eileen screamed that he’d come to the wrong house, and she was just showing him the beach. As she grabbed my hands, we wrestled for just a few seconds with the gun… and then… God, it went off. I was horrified that maybe I’d shot Eileen, but she simply stood there, with her eyes wide but no blood appearing. Her head jerked over to the man as he fell onto the sand.”

  Jon’s gaze dropped to his hands now clasped so tightly as they lay upon the table that his knuckles were white. He slowly shook his head, almost in disbelief. “I just meant to scare them. Scare her. I never meant… I never meant for that to happen.”

  “Maybe not, but you didn’t exactly call 911, did you?” Brad prodded.

  Jon stared at the detectives, his face scrunching as tears filled his eyes. Then he shook his head slowly. “No. I… I had no idea what to do. Then like so many times in our marriage, I listened to my wife. And things became… tangled.”

  “Explain tangled, Mr. Matherson,” Hunter said.

  Looking back down at his hands, he sighed. “Eileen comes from a… family with particular abilities to make problems… disappear. She immediately thought of them while I was still standing in shock, just staring down at the man on the beach. He sucked in a deep breath and then let it out. “A man I didn’t even know.”

  “Did your wife explain who William Gaston was?”

  His brow furrowed as lines deepened into ridges, appearing to etch permanently on his face. “Not right then. She later said that he came to the house looking for Harry Malroney. She invited him in to wait.” He scoffed out a rude curse. “To wait? I suppose being out here in the middle of nowhere, my wife’s need for attention was rearing its head again. She said she was just showing him the view of the beach.”

  He looked up in the mirror, staring at his reflection, but Aaron always wondered if the person being interviewed realized they were being watched.

  Jon continued, “Looking back, I don’t think the man was even entertaining a seduction by Eileen. His body language was more rejection, but he had no way of knowing that would just make her more desperate.”

  “So what did you do?”

  Jon winced, his hands twisting together. “There were kayaks and small row boats at the rental house. We dragged the body to the dune and hid him underneath an overturned boat. Eileen grabbed a rake from the house and raked the blood from the beach.” His brow furrowed again. “Funny, but there wasn’t much.”

  “Did you even check to see if he was dead?” Brad asked, his voice barely containing his anger.

  Jon blinked as though the thought had never occurred to him.

  Hunter shook his head in disgust. “Tell us about your wife’s family and how they became involved.”

  A look of distaste filled his face. “I married beneath me. But I foolishly fell for the same need that she shows others. I thought I was her Prince Charming when, in reality, I was just one in a long line.”

  Jon’s statement hung in the air, and Aaron leaned closer to the glass, wondering what was coming next.

  “Her family comes from Baltimore. I didn’t meet her extended family until the wedding, and it was like serving expensive champagne to a group of people who’d only ever drank bargain wine. We never had much to do with them, but she kept in touch with a few of her cousins.” He heaved another sigh, then seemed to warm to the subject and continued.

  “She called her cousin James, saying that he was a man who could make a problem go away. It took hours for him to get to us. We just sat and waited. And argued… more than we ever have before. When James arrived, Eileen told him the bare minimum of what happened. He said we needed to take the body out into the bay, weigh it down, and drop it into the water. He said by the time anybody discovered it, there would be little left of any evidence pointing to us.” Jon licked his lips, then took a sip from the water bottle provided.

  The air rushed from Aaron’s lungs, hearing the confessions tumble from Jonathan’s mouth. “He’s giving it all up, isn’t he? And no one has mentioned a plea deal for him… he’s just giving it all up.”

  “Maybe, if it’s like he said and his wife was calling the shots, he just wants to purge it all,” Colt said.

  Nodding, he turned his focus back to the interview room.

  “I must’ve gone into automatic mode,” Jon said. “James told us what to do, and I just followed. He searched the man’s pockets. By this time, it was dark, and we didn’t know the area, so we decided to go out at the first light of dawn. James had some rope and had taken a couple of large weights from the indoor gym of the rental. I didn’t want to go, but he said Eileen wouldn’t be strong enough. So he and I went out in the small boat and rowed south. We came to an area with huge breakers in the water that looked like a row of ships, and we went behind them to stay out of sight. The light was just coming over the trees on the dunes when we got the rope tied to the man’s ankle. We weren’t paying attention to where the boat was when we dumped the man overboard. Then suddenly, James looked up and started cursing. I started to look behind me, and he told me to be still. He said there was a woman on the beach taking pictures. We headed away from the breakers and made it back to the house. He jumped in his car and drove away. I had no idea what he was doing. I was just glad he was gone. But then, after a while, he returned, and I realized he was staying for a bit. After he told us that he had seen the woman get back into a car with a man. He followed as she dropped him off and then to an apartment that seemed to be above some shops. He and Eileen began planning how to get rid of the witness.”

  “And what did you do during this?” Hunter asked.

  “I went upstairs, took a shower, and crawled into bed. I knew that James was going to plan whatever he wanted to do, and I just wanted to forget it all. I figured he would slink back to Baltimore and leave us alone.”

  “So you just wanted to forget that this man had a family waiting for him to come home? He had a wife and kids, and coworkers. His parents would want to know what was happening with their son. And you just went to bed while your wife and her cousin planned to do something to a young woman who wanted nothing more than to walk on the beach and take pictures. So you’re saying you didn’t care about any of that?” Brad growled.

  Jon’s brow dipped as though trying to understand the question. Shaking his head slightly, he said, “I didn’t let myself think of that. I just wanted to get clean and sleep.” Then he looked up at them and shook his head. “What are the odds that the corpse would float back to us a day later? Not exactly on our doorstep, but close enough that we couldn’t ignore it.” Assuming an indignant expression, he said, “It’s like this god-forsaken place has it in for me! Seriously? What are the odds?”