“So what. We went on a hunting trip that we didn’t want others knowing about.” Wallace shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Adrian began, “why did you deny it when Detective Wyatt mentioned it?”
“I do mind, actually,” Wallace replied with a sneer. “But I’ll tell you anyway. The town thinks that Rocky and I don’t get along. In fact, I’ve ran against him for mayor the past few elections. It wouldn’t look good to the people who are encouraging me to run again if they knew that Rocky and I were friends.”
“Really good friends, I’d say.” I laughed derisively about the confused look that crossed Wallace’s face. “You don’t recall the kiss that you and Rocky shared at the gas pump? Did you not hear me when I said we had video footage of the two of you or did you not think I was serious?”
“I-I-I…”
I pinned him with a menacing glare and didn’t bother waiting for him to stammer out an excuse. “I can tell you that I’m very serious when it comes to solving murders.”
“M-murder?” Wallace asked in disbelief. “What… are you implying thatIkilled Georgia Beaumont?”
“Or hired your cousin to do it,” I answered.
“You must have some seriously big balls to accuse me of something so heinous.” Wallace was either a good actor or innocent, but I wasn’t letting up.
“They’re pretty damn big,” I replied, causing Adrian to snort from beside me. “Look, let’s go over some facts. You are having an affair with Rocky Beaumont who, like you, is married and not interested in outing the affair. Rocky was also having an affair with his first wife for the past six months leading up to her death. After Georgia was murdered, someone broke into her house and ransacked the upstairs looking for something but didn’t steal any of her expensive jewelry. I find that really odd. Do you find it odd, Detective Goode?”
“I find it very odd,” he replied. “Here’s where we go from hard facts to supposition,” Adrian told Wallace. Some of his good cop façade was starting to slip. “It makes me wonder if Georgia had something in her possession that could hurt someone or even multiple people and they wanted to silence her before it got out.”
“Rocky was fucking Georgia?” Wallace asked. “After all this time, he went back to her bed?” He sounded angry and disgusted at the thought. “Look,” he threw his hands up in the air, “I had nothing to do with Georgia’s murder. Nothing,” he reiterated. “There was no love lost between us and I was glad when Rocky divorced her, even if it was for Nadine, but that doesn’t mean I wanted her dead. She was nothing to Rocky anymore.”
“She was everything to Rocky,” I countered. “He never got over her.”
“Lies,” Wallace countered.
“Or you’re lying to us right now. Suppose Georgia approached you about your affair with Rocky and threatened to go public with it. Perhaps she even said she had evidence to prove it. You have connections to a cousin with a less than savory past – one who’s been arrested for murder but never convicted because something bad seems to always happen to a witness or they recanted their statements. It seems to me that Andrew Morningside would be the right guy to hire to take care of a nuisance like Georgia.”
“I didn’t,” Wallace denied emphatically. “I wouldn’t.” He swallowed hard and looked away from me for a few seconds before he returned his eyes to mine. “I was willing to tell my wife about Rocky. I was willing to live openly with him. I told Georgia that when she came to my office and threatened me.”
So we were right. “How long did this meeting take place before she was killed?” Adrian asked.
“A week, maybe two.” He shook his head. “A part of me wanted her to out us so we could end all of the lies. Sure, I knew people would be hurt, but I also knew they’d get over it after enough time passed. Georgia was going to do me a favor so I wouldn’t have killed her. I haven’t talked to Andrew in probably ten years or more.”
“Did Rocky feel the same?”
I knew what his answer was by the way his body seemed to deflate right there in his chair. “No,” he admitted after a long silence.
“Did Georgia tell you what kind of proof she had of your affair?” I asked.
Wallace raised his head slowly and looked into my eyes. “Rocky and I got careless about a month before she died. My wife and kids went to her folks’ house for a long weekend and he came over. We had always gone out of town for sex, so I was surprised when Rocky called and asked if he could come over. Georgia must’ve followed him or something. She showed me the photos that she’d taken of us through my bedroom window.”
“Does Rocky know about Georgia’s visit?” Adrian asked.
Wallace shook his head vigorously. “Not from me. I worried that he’d break off our relationship if he found out. He doesn’t know about the photos unless Georgia told him.”
“One last question,” I said, earning a nod from a defeated Wallace. “Was your trip to Tennessee with him planned or spur of the moment?”
“It was sudden. Rocky said he couldn’t take all the stares and whispering after Georgia was killed and needed to get away. My wife thought I went to Columbus to have a weekend with my fraternity brothers. It’s something we do several times a year and sometimes plans are made at the last minute, so I knew she wouldn’t question it.”
“Thank you for your time,” Adrian said, staying with his good cop routine.
“Not like I had a frigging choice,” Wallace said beneath his breath, earning a scowl from me.
Adrian and I showed ourselves out and kept silent until we got in my car. “He looked and sounded pretty sincere, but I’ve seen the same from cold, hard killers with no conscience.” I looked over at Adrian and said, “Say we give him the benefit of the doubt. He didn’t know Rocky was back in Georgia’s bed and he was actually hoping to get outed, which I find hard to believe. Say he didn’t hire Andrew to kill Georgia…”
“But there are two other people who might have,” Adrian completed, as if reading my mind.
