May wished the floor could swallow her up. No way could she explain that Molly had disclosed compromising details and then had an emotional moment and slapped Owen. Right now, she had an idea that this would not be well received. And now was not the time to spill out the information on the marital problems, which she strongly suspected Jack had no idea about. At least, not until they knew more.
This was becoming a total disaster in every possible way.
"We're simply following due process," she said in as professional a voice as she could.
The mayor frowned. "As long as you're sure you're not overstepping any protocols," he said, before checking his watch and walking swiftly on. But Jack didn't walk with him. Instead, he lingered behind, waiting to speak to May, as Owen hustled Molly into an interview room. She had her head firmly lowered and was clearly not interested in speaking to her father. Or even looking at him.
"What's going on?" Jack asked May in a soft, shocked voice after he was sure the door was closed. "Could you not have interviewed her at the neighbor's?"
May felt like a traitor. She felt utterly distraught at having to tell him this.
"There were a few complications," she muttered. "Based on new information we’ve found, we’re not acting out of line at all. We just want to ask her a few questions in . . . in a more formal setting to make sure we get the right answers."
She could feel her face burning. She was a terrible liar. She wasn't even lying here, just trying to couch the dreadful truth in some kind of acceptability until they had ruled out whether the pretty, strong-faced Molly could have killed her husband.
Jack looked at May, with an expression that she thought was as if he'd never seen her before.
"I guess you know what you're doing," he said slowly. But the look in his eyes told her that he wasn't sure anymore, and that he felt she was overstepping her authority, or maybe even defying him. She felt her stomach churning now. How she wished she could explain everything to him. But in the absence of him knowing anything about it, it would also be totally out of line.
Why, oh why, hadn’t Molly told her dad that there were serious issues in her marriage? Now, May was suffering the fallout.
As if distancing himself off from this debacle, Jack turned and walked out, heading for his car.
May walked into the interview room and closed the door.
"All right," she said to Molly, trying to sound firm and in control. "We need to get down to the facts now."
Molly stared at her apprehensively.
Once again, May realized she could kick herself for her lack of insight thus far, and she decided it was partly due to the fact she'd been so worried about poor Jack and also traumatized that a crime had happened so close to home. It had brought back thoughts of Lauren. Those thoughts had distracted her from the heart of the crime and the reality of who the prime suspect often was.
May felt like this was all going wrong. She hated that she'd been suckered in by Molly Blair.
"What was really going on between you and your husband?" she asked.
Molly looked even more wretched than before. She sat there on the edge of her seat, her fingers playing with the hem of her shirt.
"We had problems," she said. "And I really don't think it was my fault. Ed was cute when I met him in college. He was fit and sporty and a real fun guy. My dad thought he was great. Maybe I didn’t see the red flags. But when we were married, I realized he was a difficult character. He changed so much. He became cold and abusive. I found out that he had zero ambition, and not much empathy, and I felt he was a stranger. We began to fight. He hit me once or twice. Yes, I was pleading for a divorce." Molly was sobbing now. "I'm sorry, May," she said. "I never meant for it to happen."
"You never meant for it to happen?" May repeated, astounded, as she sat down in the seat opposite. "For what, exactly, to happen?"
"The affair!" Molly sobbed. "I never killed Ed! I was considering divorce. That's it!"
"Could you please tell us what happened yesterday?" she said.
"I went out for dinner, as I said," Molly said, her voice quavering. "When I came back, when I got up this morning, I was in shock. I was in complete shock to find my husband lying dead in the kitchen."
"You didn't drive home yesterday, after your work meeting, and wait for him? Because you could have."
"No, I didn't," Molly said.
"But you've been sending threatening messages," Owen said.
"Because I was hurt. And angry."
"And angry enough to kill him?" May said.
"No! Of course not!"
