Her family had been crushed and it had been terrible to witness their heartbreak. Grief, guilt, and confusion had submerged him. In that haze, one thing had been clear.
He did not think she’d jumped. He suspected that the man she’d been having an affair with had stolen Alexis’s life.
Jeremiah had wrapped up his final season of racing, fulfilled his contract, and retired. Once the demands and adrenaline of that were behind him, he'd holed up in Monaco for months, reclusive, hiding from everyone and from his sorrow, trying to find his footing.
In time, he’d realized he wouldn’t be able to move on from his troubled marriage until her killer had been brought to justice. He’d loved Alexis once, so much that he’d married her. He owed her justice. Once he had that for her, she’d be free, and he’d be free. That was why he’d continued to wear his wedding ring. It hadn’t been a symbol of his love for her. Instead, it had been a symbol of his obligation to her.
He’d yet to learn the identity of her lover. Aware that he had an unknown enemy, he’d left his files in the secret room behind the liquor shelf prior to his boat trip.
He’d spent weeks before that trip and since assembling notes and hunting for clues—any clue—that would shed light on Alexis's death.
He’d come up empty.
Then one ordinary day on Islehaven . . . he finally hit on something.
This might be nothing, he told himself. Yet it struck him as strange enough to call his brother.
“Hey,” Jude said, picking up right away as usual.
“Hey. I’ve been looking through the social media feeds of everyone in Alexis’s calendar and also everyone connected to me. In each case, I’ve gone back to a few months before Alexis died. Then I’ve scanned over everything they’ve posted up to the present.”
“Smart.”
“You remember me telling you who Gigi is?”
“Yeah. The woman you were dating.”
“Right. Before Alexis died, Gigi had wavy blond hair. She didn’t wear much makeup and her clothing was simpler. Less sexy.”
“Women change their style all the time.”
“Except in Gigi’s case, it’s creepy because after Alexis died, her hair became long, straight, and brown. She started doing her makeup like Alexis. She started dressing like Alexis.”
Jude gave a thoughtful, “Hmm.”
“Do you think it’s weird that Gigi entered my life soon after making herself look as similar as possible to my dead wife?”
“I do think it’s weird, yes. Though the similarity of Gigi’s new look to Alexis’s look could be a coincidence.”
“I checked to see if Gigi followed Alexis on Instagram and she did.”
“Alexis was an influencer. Thousands of women copied her clothing, hair, and makeup. Perhaps Gigi was one of them.”
A few moments of silence passed.
“What’s your theory?” Jude asked. “That Gigi became what she believed was your type in order to snag you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe?”
“It’s worth looking into further. If she was in love with you from a distance, or obsessed with you, that gives her motive to kill Alexis.”
Jeremiah’s suspicions had gone in that same direction. “When I spoke with Gigi, she did not strike me as dangerous.”
“Some of the most dangerous people don't strike others as dangerous.”
Jeremiah went into motion, walking up and down the hallway of Leigh’s house. “If Gigi killed Alexis so that she could have me, why would she then try to killmeshortly after she and I started dating?”
“Good question. That doesn’t fit. Hang on a minute. I’m going to run Gigi’s arrest record. What’s her last name?”
