A man came from the back of the home. “Detectives? My wife says this is about Christine Lane?”
“It is,” Amanda said. “Is there somewhere we could sit and talk?”
“Yeah, in here.” Melanie gestured toward a side room. There was a television in there, but Amanda suspected it was a secondary location as the furniture style and layout spoke more to encouraging conversation than getting cozy and watching TV.
Amanda sat on one end of a powder-blue fabric couch, and Trent sat on the other. The Schaefers each took a chair across from them.
“Did something happen to Christine?” Melanie asked. “We were supposed to meet her Friday night at a house, but she never showed up, and well… now you’re here.”
“Well, we thought it was her vehicle in the driveway,” Kent put in, correcting part of what his wife said.
The calls on Christine’s phone with Melanie went back two weeks, so it seemed logical they’d be able to identify her Lexus. “How long were you working with Christine?” She just wanted to verify.
Melanie narrowed her eyes, seemingly noticing that Amanda hadn’t answered her question. “For a couple weeks. She showed us a few houses, but when the one on Charmed Court came up for sale, my heart leaped.”
“Is that why you wanted a late-night showing? You couldn’t wait?” Trent asked, pulling out his notepad and pen.
Melanie shook her head and gestured for her husband to answer.
“I had a conference that took me out of town for the weekend,” Kent said. “Melanie fell in love with the pictures. She was confident we’d be putting in an offer onFriday night.”
“The house just spoke to me,” Melanie weighed in.
Amanda glanced at Trent and shook her head. They hadn’t been here long, but there wasn’t one thing suspicious about this couple. And what would be their motive for killing Christine? The only anomaly was their financial situation. “It is a beautiful house. Well out of my price range.” Amanda hoped it would entice the Schaefers to open up. If not, she’d go at it from a more direct route.
“It was just time,” Melanie said.
“For what?” Amanda volleyed back.
“Kent?” Melanie said to her husband, and he nodded. “My husband is a wonderful man and an excellent chiropractor. I admire him and what he’s built.” She returned her husband’s smile. “He has his own office and loves what he does, but it’s not a huge moneymaker. He helps people though, and one can’t put a price tag on that.”
Amanda agreed that a chiropractor’s work was honest and needed. She’d follow up and see if Malone called hers. She wasn’t yet sure why Melanie had said what she did, but she had a feeling she was building up to the point.
Melanie went on. “It was just time for me to get my dream home. You see, I come from family money. I just never wanted Kent to feel I was stepping on his toes.”
And there it is…
Kent reached for his wife’s hand and squeezed it before retracting his arm again.
Amanda’s curiosity was satisfied, and the Schaefers were safely off the suspect list. That didn’t mean they still couldn’t be useful though. “When was the last time you saw Christine?”
The couple looked at each other, and after a few seconds, Kent said, “She showed us another house on Tuesday last week.”
“It was nice but not what we had in mind. You never answered my earlier question. Did something happen to Christine?”Melanie drew her gaze back and forth between Amanda and Trent.
“Unfortunately, Christine was found murdered this morning.” Since there was no more putting it off, Amanda set that out there as delicately as possible.
Melanie’s eyes widened. “Oh my goodness, that’s horrible. That poor woman, but why are you here talking to us about this?”
“Christine was found in the house on Charmed Court,” Amanda said. “And your call came in within the timeframe of her death.”
“Were we there when…?” Melanie’s eyes welled with tears.
“It’s likely she was killed in the moments prior to your arrival.” Amanda wasn’t sure how much that soothed the Schaefers, but added, “Your voicemail mentioned you didn’t understand why there was no answer at the door. Did anything stand out when you were there? Maybe you saw someone hanging around?”
Melanie snapped her head toward her husband. “Kent.” The woman blanched.
“Mel thought she saw someone inside,” Kent said.
