“Thank you for seeing us, Mrs. Carver.” She showed her badge again while Anthony did the same. “I’m Detective Neveah Charles with the DC Metropolitan Police Department, and this is Detective Anthony with the Spokane police.”
“You came all this way from DC?”
“I did.”
“Have you found the person who murdered my husband?”
“Not yet, ma’am, but we’re following a number of leads. Could we have a seat and talk with you and your sister for a minute?”
“Um, I guess. I’m not sure what we can do to help.”
“We have a few routine questions for you,” Neveah said.
“Okay.”
“Why do you need to talk to me?” Mercy asked.
“Have a seat,” Neveah said, hoping to convey the message that she wasn’t asking.
The two women sat together on the sofa while Neveah and Anthony sat in upholstered chairs that faced the sofa.
“Sorry for the mess,” Trisha said. “I haven’t been cleaning up after the kids the way I normally do.”
“Are your older children at home?”
“No, they’re at the sitter’s house. I needed a little break. It’s been…” She teared up. “I still can’t believe this has happened to Dale.”
“I was wondering why your social media post didn’t indicate that he was murdered. Rather, you made it sound like he died due to a drug overdose.”
“I didn’t make it sound like that.”
“You did, ma’am. It seemed like an effort to ensure that’s what people would think when, in fact, he was stabbed in the chest.”
“Is this really necessary?” Mercy asked. “My sister just lost her husband. She has three young children and isn’t thinking clearly. Would you be after that happened to you?”
“I hope I never find out what that is like,” Neveah said, “but it strikes me as odd that after he fought such a valiant battle with addiction that you’d want him to be remembered for dying from an overdose.”
“A valiant battle,” Trisha said with a huff of sarcasm. “Is that what it was? To me, it was more of a never-ending nightmare that took over my entire life and left me constantly wondering when something like this would happen.”
“Something like him being stabbed in the chest?”
“Something! It could’ve been anything with the way he was living!”
“How was he living?”
“He was back to all his old habits. Disappearing for days at a time. Coming home looking like a skid-row bum and smelling like death.” Her chin wobbled. “After the last trip to rehab, he promised me he was done with all of it. He talked me into having another baby to celebrate that we’d survived. We’d won. It was all lies. He built a house of cards under us, and I’m left to pick up the pieces. I knew it was only a matter of time before someone killed him.”
“At least you’ll have the insurance money. That’ll make a big difference for you and your kids.”
The comment obviously shocked them. They hadn’t expected her to know about that.
“Wh-what insurance money?”
“The two-point-five-million-dollar policy your father gave you as a wedding gift. Surely you remember that. If I check, will I find that you’ve already reached out about the payout?”
Trisha’s grief-stricken expression shifted to something much harder in a flash. “What’re you implying?”
“I’m asking you if you’ve already taken steps to redeem your husband’s hefty life insurance policy. The one you just said you didn’t know about.”
