I rang the video doorbell, but nobody answered. I peered through the glass in the door and saw into the living room. I cringed and groaned, "Oh shit."
"What is it?”
A body lay on the floor in the living room. The upper torso was just visible through the archway. The tangled raven hair told me it was most likely Tess Fallon.
I put a heavy shoe against the door. It rumbled and shook, then the jam finally splintered. The door flung wide.
I drew my pistol and advanced through the foyer, clearing the corners, moving into the living room.
Tess lay on the floor in a pool of blood that soaked into the dark hardwoods. Shafts of light spilled in through the French doors that opened to the patio.
I knelt down and checked for a pulse. Her cold skin told me she'd been dead at least a few hours. By the looks of things, she’d been stabbed in the belly a few times.
Bloody shoe prints around the body stained the hardwoods. They trailed off toward the back door, fading away.
"Call the sheriff," I said to Jack.
JD and I cleared the rest of the home, looking for signs of forced entry.
There were none. The back door was unlocked.
It didn't take long for first responders to arrive. Camera flashes filled the living room as Dietrich snapped photos. Forensic investigators chronicled the scene. Brenda snapped on her gloves and went to work.
The sheriff looked on with a grim face. "What's the story here?"
I gave him the overview.
"You need to find the jilted husband ASAP."
We were all of the same mind.
Amara wasn’t even on my radar. Isabella had confirmed she was in LA.
With all the squad cars out front, it had drawn a curious crowd. Paris Delaney and her news crew arrived. They hopped out of the van, and the cameraman shouldered his weapon of choice and started soaking up footage.
We started interviewing bystanders, but nobody recalled seeing anything unusual at the house.
I asked the woman who lived next door, Tammy, if she had seen Bobby recently.
She had short red hair, a round face, and a portly figure. Her gorgeous eyes sparkled with intrigue. "I haven't seen Bobby in a few weeks now." She leaned in and spoke in a hushed tone. "To tell you the truth, I think they were having problems."
"That's what I hear.”
Tammy looked excited to trade stories. "I heard she was having an affair with a coworker. What did you hear?"
"Who did you hear this from?”
"People talk. I think Bobby told Sally Jo. Sally Jo can’t keep her mouth shut. She told everybody. I think the whole block knew. Wait till she gets a load of this,” she said with a grin.
It was easy to see Tammy didn't approve of Tess's extramarital activities. She didn't seem disturbed in the least that her neighbor had met an untimely demise. "How did she die?"
"I can't disclose those details.”
"I'm sure you suspect Bobby. Spouses are always suspects, aren't they?”
"Spouses usually have the strongest motive.”
She sighed. "Well, Bobby had good reason.“
