Carter lifted her chin. “I did. Yes. He apologized and said that he would speak with her.”
“Did anything change?” Bent glanced at Vera as he asked the follow-up.
Vera knew what he was thinking—it probably hadn’t changed one thing. The power Alicia held over her new husband was likely not related to her less-than-award-winning personality.
“Actually”—Carter shook her head—“it made things worse. Alicia became more careful about her digs. She even warned me that if I said anything to him again, she would see that I paid dearly. So I let it go. I love my work. I didn’t want to get fired because she wanted to be—excuse my French—a total bitch.”
“Did you ever see any behavior or overhear any conversations that suggested to you Alicia was hiding things or activities fromMr. Wilton?” At this point Vera didn’t see any reason to beat around the bush. This woman was in the house every day, all day long. She surely heard many things.
“If you’re asking,” Carter said pointedly, “if she was fooling around behind his back, I’d say yes. She was always having these little private chats. If any one of us happened to pass the open door of wherever she was, she’d slam it shut. She was very secretive.”
Bent considered this news for a moment before moving on to his next question. “Do you know if Mr. Wilton became aware of whatever Alicia may have been doing behind his back?”
Vera imagined the answer would be yes, considering the tension Erwin had mentioned. Surely others in the household were aware of the discontent.
“I can’t be certain,” Carter admitted. “I suspected he knew. There was a sort of odd distance between them in recent weeks.” She looked from Bent to Vera. “And I noticed the way he blew her off. You know like when she’d try to kiss his cheek, and he’d turn away. Or take his hand, and he’d move out of reach. He was not happy about something. You couldn’t help but notice the signs of trouble.”
Vera’s instincts sharpened. One witness’s statement prompted curiosity in an investigation, but when a second witness confirmed the same, the game changed. The accusations were far more likely to be fact than innuendo.
“Did any of the other members of staff notice?” Vera asked.
“We all did. Ask Renata, the housekeeper. Since she’s really quiet and rarely speaks anything other than Spanish, Alicia talked more openly in front of her. Renata told me Mrs. Wilton was up to something.”
“When was this?” Bent’s shift in posture announced that his own interest in the scenario had spiked.
“Early last week. Then we all ...” Carter’s breath caught, and she swiped at the tears overflowing now. “I’m sorry, Sheriff.”
“No need to apologize. Take your time.”
When she’d regathered her composure, she began again. “We all talked—the three of us, I mean. Renata, Jose, and me. It was after I heard about the murders, I went to their house. We all agreed that we should have realized something bad was coming.”
“Renata and Jose are together?” Vera shifted to the next page in the folder of info Bent had given her. The two employees had different last names. Renata Hernandez and Jose Martinez.
“They aren’t married, but they are together. They rent a house from me. It was my mother’s. A few months ago they were having difficulty finding a place, and the house was just sitting there empty since my mother passed.”
Vera nodded her understanding. The arrangement was obviously beneficial to all involved.
“Beyond giving them the news about Mr. Wilton, what else did you talk about?” Bent asked.
Carter drew in a deep breath. “As I said, all of us felt we should have seen something like this coming. We made the decision that we weren’t saying anything unless we were questioned and had no choice. Mr. Wilton is dead. It sounded as if Alicia would probably die, too, so what was the point of allowing his name to be dragged through the mud? He wouldn’t want his private business to become public gossip.”
Vera could, on some level, see her point. From all appearances, these people had great respect and admiration for Wilton. “I completely understand how you might feel that way, but if what you three know can help us, then Mr. Wilton’s killer won’t get away with these unthinkable crimes. Even if Alicia was part of it, chances are she didn’t pull this off alone. We need all the help we can get to find the person or persons responsible for what happened at that cabin.”
Carter nodded. “I can see that now. I think we were all just so upset that we weren’t thinking clearly. I can tell you that we all firmly believe Alicia was up to something. We talked about it on several occasions. She would sneak away and stay gone for hours, then tell Mr. Wilton thatshe’d been home all day and was bored just so he’d take her somewhere for dinner or whatever. She’s conniving like that.”
“You have no idea where she went when she left the house on these occasions?” Bent pressed.
“Jose did follow her once. She drove to a small house in Park City. The next day I drove to the place, but no one was there. When I looked into it, I found out it’s one of those Airbnb places. I can give you the info I found online. The discovery didn’t tell me what Alicia was doing there, and I realized it was pointless to try and track down the owner. Privacy issues or whatever protect the identities of guests. But, given what’s happened, that person might talk to you since you’re the sheriff.”
“Jose didn’t see anyone else or any other vehicles?” Vera wasn’t sure the follow-up would give them much of anything unless the person who rented it used their real name. If it was Alicia, the question would be why. If it was someone else, they might be the answer. The issue with these types of rental was that, in all likelihood, the owner or agency that listed the place probably never actually saw or met the person who rented it. It was all generally executed online.
“No.” Carter shook her head. “Jose said it was just her car. Maybe someone came later or was already there and had parked the vehicle they used elsewhere.”
Vera looked to Bent before asking the question pounding in her aching brain. “Ms. Carter, were you aware of any trouble with any business associates of Mr. Wilton’s? Any professional dealings gone the wrong way?” She’d been employed by the man for eight years. If he’d ever had trouble, she may have heard the talk.
Carter’s head moved firmly from side to side. “Mr. Wilton did not do bad business. No underhanded activities. No slighting the IRS. Nothing like that. He was an honest man. He didn’t have to do bad business.” She looked from Vera to Bent and back. “He made a huge fortune. He invested wisely and had several more big successes in recent years. He didn’t need to find ways to make money. He was set. In fact, he gave away—donated—more money every year than mostbig businessmen make in their lifetimes. That’s the worst misfortune of all in this. He was a truly good person who didn’t deserve such a tragic ending.”
The other two interviews went exactly the same way. Both confirmed Carter’s story about Alicia’s behavior and seemingly secret rendezvous. All three insisted they were at their respective homes all weekend, catching up on chores.
