Fidelity (Infidelity #5)(65)

Mr. Owen looked up, first to Chelsea and then to Ralph. “Tell me, will your vocabulary now expand beyond the use of the word agreement? I believe it’s clear that your client broke said agreement.”

The light from the window made the perspiration again dotting Ralph’s lip glisten and brought a shine to his forehead. He turned from Mr. Owen to me. I was now seated at the table between Nox and Chelsea.

“Alexandria, once this is complete, I’d like to speak to you privately about your grandfather’s will.”

“No,” Nox replied.

“Mr. Demetri…”

“Ralph,” I said. “There’s nothing you can say that Lennox, Chelsea, or even Mr. Owen isn’t privy to.”

He shook his head. “You were only shown a small portion of the will. There’s much more you need to understand.”

Mr. Owen, who was still standing, removed a flash drive from his briefcase. “You’re going to need to trust us on this one. As you know, the document is lengthy.”

“What are you saying?”

“He’s saying,” I said, “that I’ve seen my grandfather’s will in its entirety. I’ve studied every line from the first to the last.”

“That’s impossible.”

Mr. Owen shrugged and turned to me. “I guess he doesn’t believe us.”

Ralph turned toward Chelsea. “Miss Moore, if you’d like to complete this interview in private, I would understand. It makes sense that some of what might be said could be embarrassing to you.”

Chelsea sat taller. “I want it over. As Alex said, everyone in here knows the score.”

Ten minutes later, glasses of ice water at each seat, cameras off, and Mr. Porter staged in front of a large legal pad and seated at the head of the table, he began.

At first Ralph asked Chelsea about Bryce’s character. That line of questioning didn’t last long. He then turned to facts. His questions were similar to the detective’s. Leaning across the table, he asked, “Just so we have our dates right, how long did you and Bryce date?”

Chelsea took a deep breath. “I met Edward Spencer for the first time in August of this year.”

Ralph made a spectacle of riffling through some papers. “Of this year?”

“Yes, sir.”

“But here, Miss Moore, I have your statement to the Evanston police stating that you and Mr. Spencer had a relationship that dated back to your freshman year of college.” He peered up from the page, looking over a pair of wire-rimmed reading glasses he’d recently donned. “You were a student at Stanford University, isn’t that correct?”

“I was a student at Stanford my freshman year, yes.”

“And Miss Collins’s roommate?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Mr. Spencer took…” He looked again at his papers. “…a total of five trips to California during your freshman year. He had the receipts to verify his travel.”

I sucked in a deep breath as a chill rattled through me. Five. Bryce had traveled to California five times and never spoken to me. Was he there watching me?

“Was that a question?” Mr. Owen asked.

“Are you now saying that you never saw or spoke to Mr. Spencer during any of his visits?”

“That’s what I’m saying: I did not.”

Ralph turned to me. “What about you, Miss Collins. Prior to your departure to Palo Alto, you and Mr. Spencer were dating.”

“You asked to question Miss Moore, not Miss Collins,” Mr. Owen reminded him.

I shook my head. “It’s fine. Bryce and I dated while I was in high school. That’s common knowledge. I broke it off after I moved away.”

“You broke it off until you agreed to marry him.”

“I didn’t—”

“Yet he visited,” Ralph interrupted. “Bryce flew to San Francisco commercial and Palo Alto private on multiple occasions. I mentioned your freshman year. His visits weren’t limited to that year; they continued for all four years. They continued even after he began dating Miss Summers. There are even records of him staying at a hotel on Stanford Avenue. You’re familiar with Stanford Avenue?”

“Yes,” I said, “I’m familiar with Stanford Avenue.”

“How far was that from your residence?”

Nox’s body tensed beside me. We weren’t touching, yet I could feel his temper growing. I wasn’t sure if it was directed at Ralph or Bryce.

“It’s a long road. I’d need a point of reference.”

Ralph went on, “How did you feel knowing your ex-boyfriend was seeing not only your roommate but also another woman? His picture was in the media with Melissa.”

I answered, “I didn’t know he was in Palo Alto. I wasn’t following his whereabouts. He wasn’t seeing my roommate. It’s true that he attempted to contact me a few times when I first moved west during my freshman year, but I blocked his number. I even blocked him from social media.”

“Why?”

“Because I broke up with him.”

“Did your dorm room or apartment have a telephone, a landline?”

I tried to recall. “Yes, our first dorm did.”

“Miss Moore, did you ever answer that phone?”