I consider telling him to talk to my lawyer, but that sounds like something a guilty person would say. You’re innocent, I think. Act like it. “Sure. Come on in.”
I walk him into the parlor without thinking. He frowns at the thick path of dust and the fallen vent screen that I still haven’t screwed back into the wall.
“Ignore that. Haven’t had a chance to fix it.” I take a seat in the lion’s-head rocker and gesture toward the couch.
He sits. “Tell me about your relationship with Tony.”
I huff. That doesn’t sound like covering his bases. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”
“How long were you married?”
“Two years.”
“But you recently filed for divorce.”
“No. He filed. But I’d recently left him after he hit me.”
Agent Fuller shifts in his seat. “He hit you?”
“Yes. Tony was physically abusive. I moved out to escape the abuse, and he filed for divorce when I wouldn’t move back in with him. It was his way of punishing me.”
“But the divorce was never finalized.”
“No.” I tuck my hair behind my ears. “My lawyer told me they found him dead on a boat with some other men. That’s how I found out.” I shake my head.
“What does Gold Weaver mean to you?”
I shrug, adding a few blank blinks. “Nothing.”
“Genesis Corp?”
I shake my head. “Never heard of it.” I’ve never enjoyed lying, but I’m capable of it. It saved my life with Tony.
“Hmm.” He pulls out a small notebook and jots something down. “Are you aware that Tony was involved in a money-laundering operation?”
I don’t have to feign surprise. It comes naturally at his bluntness about the crime. “No! What kind of money laundering?”
“Strange you weren’t aware considering a key part of his operation happened under this house.”
My jaw drops. And now I’m regretting not calling Maeve before letting this guy inside. “Under my house?” I laugh in a way that sounds a little unhinged. “You’re mistaken. I’ll take you down to the basement right now, Agent Fuller. There’s nothing down there but old furniture and canning jars.”
He sits up straighter. “Not in your basement, Ms. Harcourt. Under the house.”
We stare at each other for a beat. I make my face as blank as possible.
“Are you aware that there are caverns under your home?” he asks, sounding a bit frustrated now.
I shrug a shoulder. “There are caverns everywhere in these cliffs. I can only assume.”
“Do you know they are accessible from the river?”
“I wasn’t aware.”
“Did you have anything to do with Tony’s death?”
I snort. The secret to a good lie is believing, however momentarily, that what you’re saying is true. My mind flashes back to my mom’s sculpture. Technically, I was not the thing that caused his death. “No. I didn’t kill Tony. Why would I? We were separated. I was days away from a divorce settlement. I didn’t want Tony dead. I just wanted my life back.”
“Hmm.” He toys with the edge of his cuff. “Can you explain why you were the named beneficiary on the operational accounts of Gold Weaver, Inc.?”
