I felt the blood rush from my face. I hadn’t expected Lizzie Martins to be part of this conversation. “Um ... yes.”
“And how do you know her?”
“Well, I don’tknow her, know her.” I swallowed hard. “I met her briefly once.”
“I see,” Detective Lloyd said. “How would you describe the nature of your relationship?”
I looked at Nasser, suddenly very grateful that he’d insisted on being present. He nodded almost imperceptibly.
“I don’t have a relationship with her.”
“So not friends,” Detective Fox finally spoke up. “Enemies, then?”
“I don’t know her well enough to like her or hate her.” I might resent her. Was a little jealous of her. But hate? “Like I said, I’ve met her once, and it was very brief.”
The detective kept her unwavering gaze on me. Her eyes were the palest green, so light you could practically see right through them. “To your knowledge, what was the nature of your husband’s relationship with Ms. Price?”
I shifted in my chair. “She was Ali’s college girlfriend.”
“I see.” Detective Fox’s brows lifted ever so slightly. “And the nature of his relationship with her at the time of his death?”
Emotion twisted in my throat. “I can’t say.”
“Can’t say or won’t say?” she persisted.
“I honestly can’t say.” I released a long breath. “Before my husband died, I would have said that there was no relationship. To my understanding, Ali hadn’t seen Lizzie ... um ... Mrs. Price in more than twenty years.”
“I see.” Detective Fox sat back in her chair. “It must have been quite a shock to learn that your husband left a house to his college girlfriend who, to your knowledge, had been out of the picture for decades.”
So they knew about Cozy Glenn Lane. I shouldn’t have been surprised. They were investigators, after all, with access to all kinds of information.
Nasser spoke up before I could. “Is there a question in there, Detective? Because I didn’t hear one.”
She gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Mrs. Abadi, how did you react when you found out your husband left a house to Mrs. Price?”
“I was shocked. And in complete and utter disbelief. Sometimes, I still think there has to be some misunderstanding.”
Detective Lloyd leaned forward. “What sort of misunderstanding?”
“I know what the facts are. That Ali left a house to Samantha Price. I know that, but I don’t understand it.”
“Do you believe your husband was having an affair with Mrs. Price?” Detective Fox asked.
The bluntness of her question took me by surprise. “I don’t know,” I snapped. “Are you here to tell me that he was?”
“Easy,” Nasser murmured under his breath while the two detectives exchanged a glance I couldn’t interpret.
“No, we’re not making any assumptions,” Fox answered. “We’re just asking questions. That’s our job.”
I forced myself to calm down. “I don’t know when Ali would have had the time to conduct an affair. He rarely traveled. He usually came home straight from the office. He was busy coaching the kids’ sports or attending their events in the evenings and on weekends. I just don’t know when Ali would have had time to run to North Carolina to see that woman.”
Both sets of eyes watched me intently as Fox asked her next question. “How would you describe the state of your marriage at the time of your husband’s death?”
“We had a good marriage. Solid, loving.” I couldn’t help the bitterness that leaked into my words. “Or so I thought.”
“What do you think now?” Fox asked.
“Beats me.” I couldn’t hide my agitation. “The man I thought I was married to would never, in a million years, cheat on me. But then how do you explain that house?”
