"I'm sure you can," Owen said. "Let's start with the fact that you had been having an affair. At least, these texts hint at it. And some of these messages to your husband are acrimonious and downright threatening. I see you were wanting a divorce, and he was making things difficult for you?"
"A divorce?" May said, her heart sinking. "You were really having an affair?"
"Oh no," Molly said, her face falling. "I don't know what to say. I . . . I . . . my personal situation with my husband has nothing to do with this."
May was horrified. Tears were now flowing down Molly's cheeks.
"Molly, I'm sure there's an explanation," May said, desperately. "Isn't there?"
But Owen was all out of sympathy. "Tell us the truth!" he snapped, now sounding like he was fed up with this. To May's shock, after what seemed like an endless pause, Molly nodded.
"I was seeing someone I met a few months ago," she said, looking wretched. "My marriage had fallen apart. My husband had turned into a terrible, abusive person. I wanted to leave him. I was planning to tell you about it. I wanted to explain, but I thought it would get me into trouble." She looked almost pleadingly at May. But then her expression changed as she glared at Owen. She was mad at him, May realized.
"Two mornings ago," Owen said. "You called your husband a—what did you say? A controlling monster and a piece of trash? And you said you were going to file for divorce? He said he would never agree to that and would fight you the whole way to the courtroom and beyond. Did you decide to get rid of the trash?"
There was a resounding silence in the room. May felt as if time had stopped. She could not believe how bad this had gone as she waited for Molly’s response.
Then, Molly jumped up from the couch. “How dare you accuse me that way! How dare you! You have no right to do this. I’m upset and traumatized. Get out! Get the hell out of here!”
In a moment, her hand shot out, cracking over Owen’s face like a whiplash.
A moment later, she was diving for the door. May couldn’t believe it. As one, she and Owen leaped up, and May got her before she was even out of the door.
“Sit down! Now! What on earth is this?” May protested. “You know better than to do this! Seriously, Molly?”
With Molly bracketed between them, they sat her back down on the couch. May sat beside her, still holding her arm. Molly looked appalled by her own behavior. May guessed that made three of them.
This attack warranted that they booked her in for official questioning. She should really be facing charges already after slapping Owen that way. May could see the red imprint of her fingers on Owen’s cheek. She’d been emotional, but that was out of line.
May shook her head, feeling a sense of doom. "We're going to have to bring you in," she said.
Molly hung her head, now sobbing hysterically.
"Please," she said. "I didn’t mean for things to escalate this way. I’m so sorry. I was so upset. I’ve been living in hell. I'll tell you everything."
May had never dreamed the wife could be a suspect. Not in this case. But it seemed that the stage had been set for Molly Blair, Sheriff Jack's daughter, to have potentially murdered her estranged husband after having been so conveniently out of town for the night.
It was her worst nightmare made real. The sheriff’s daughter, a killer?
She was dreading what secrets this interrogation might uncover.
CHAPTER FIVE
As they headed into the Fairshore police department, May was feeling the way she used to feel often, when Kerry got better grades than she did, or when Lauren had gotten the lead role in the school play, and she’d been part of the chorus.
She'd truly fallen for Molly’s tears. She’d believed her to be devastated. She’d taken the initial picture at face value and had skipped a vital part of the investigation process. She'd been derelict in her duty and thank goodness for Owen's sharpness. This time, she deserved to be ashamed and knew she needed to up her game.
Nobody was above the law, no matter who their father was. They could be bringing in the killer, hellish as she knew this would be.
Even so, she hadn't been able to bring herself to even place a hand on Molly as they escorted her inside. Thank goodness she was now calm and compliant, and they hadn't needed to handcuff her.
May looked up and felt her stomach clench. Handcuffs or not, they were in trouble.
Sheriff Jack was walking down the corridor toward them. He was busy saying goodbye to someone that May realized, with a cold feeling, was Fairshore's mayor.
Both of them turned and looked to see who May and Owen were bringing in. Both Sheriff Jack, and the gray-haired mayor in his tailored coat, looked appalled to see Molly Blair being led in.
"What's going on here?" the mayor asked, as Owen quickly steered Molly into an interview room. "I thought your daughter had just suffered a terrible tragedy? Is this how police treat victims?"
