The Perfect Alibi (Robin Lockwood #2)(34)

“Did you talk to him after that conversation?”

“Doug flew back from Seattle on Tuesday afternoon and called me when he got into his office. He said the case had ended better than he thought it would. He also told me that Chad Spenser, one of the associates, was getting married and there was a party for him at a restaurant. He said he had to go and I shouldn’t wait for him to eat dinner.” Marsha teared up. “He never came home.”

“Mrs. Armstrong,” Anders said, “we have no evidence that your husband has come to harm.”

“Then, where is he?”

“We’re looking for him.”

“In hospitals and the morgue? You can be honest with me, Detective. Kate told me that Frank was beaten to death and his office was wrecked. If Doug was there when that happened…” Marsha choked up and pulled out a handkerchief.

“We don’t want to jump to conclusions,” Anders said. “Can you think of someplace he might be?”

“No. This is his home. He’d come here.”

“Do you know someone who might want to harm your husband or Frank Nylander?”

Rex Kellerman came to mind immediately, but she couldn’t imagine he would murder Doug or his partner to get back at her for breaking off their affair. And she didn’t want anyone to know she’d cheated on Doug.

“I can’t think of a soul who would want to harm either of them,” Marsha said. “Unless…”

“Yes?” Dillon asked.

“There was a client who scared Doug.”

“Who?”

“Blaine Hastings, the football player who raped that girl. Doug told me that he threatened him when the case started to go bad. I think he was relieved when Hastings was denied bail.”

Norquist had also mentioned Hastings. Anders definitely wanted to know if Hastings had an alibi for the evening of Nylander’s murder.

“How did Mr. Nylander and your husband get along?” Dillon asked.

“They were the best of friends. Doug believed he owed everything to Frank.”

“Why did he feel that way?” Dillon asked.

“Doug grew up in West Virginia. He was an only child, and his family was not well off. His father worked in a coal mine and died when Doug was in high school. His mother worked in a department store and passed away before I met Doug.

“Doug went to the state university. He always wanted to be a lawyer, but he didn’t do that well in college, so he ended up at the only place that accepted him, a third-tier law school in Arkansas.

“Doug took a trip to the West Coast in the summer before his senior year in college, and he fell in love with Oregon. After he graduated from law school, he drove to Portland. He passed the bar exam, but he didn’t know a soul—and no one would hire him, because he didn’t go to a great law school.

“Doug told me that he was terribly depressed and ready to go back home when he met Frank at a bar. Frank had just opened his own office after leaving a big firm where he’d worked for several years. Frank didn’t have a lot of business, and he couldn’t afford to hire an associate at the going rate. Doug said he’d work for a secretary’s salary and a share of what he brought in. Frank took a risk when no one else would and hired him.

“Doug and Frank took court appointments and anything that came in the door. At the end of his third year, Doug won a big personal injury case, and the business started to grow. Doug always told me how grateful he was to Frank for taking a chance on him and how proud he was of being able to pay him back by helping the firm grow.”

“Is there any reason you can think of that would lead your husband to attack Mr. Nylander?” Carrie asked.

“I can’t imagine a situation where Doug would do anything to harm Frank. He owed him everything. He’s told me that more than once.”

Anders and Dillon talked to Marsha for twenty minutes more. Then Anders stood and handed Marsha her card. “If Mr. Armstrong contacts you or you think of somewhere he might be, call me anytime, day or night. Don’t worry about waking me up.

“And if you remember anything—and I mean anything—you think may help us solve Mr. Nylander’s murder, tell us, even if you think it’s silly. Let us decide. Sometimes the smallest clue can break open a case.”

“Finding your husband and bringing in Mr. Nylander’s killer is a priority with both of us,” Dillon assured her.

Marsha showed the detectives to the door.

“Let’s drive to Hastings’s house and have a talk with him,” Dillon said as they walked to their car.

“Mrs. Armstrong wanted us to believe her husband had nothing to do with Nylander’s murder. Do you think she laid it on too thick?” Dillon asked.

“I think she was being straight with us. Everyone we’ve talked to says the same thing. Have you met Armstrong or Nylander?”

“No,” Dillon said.

“I’ve never met Nylander, but Armstrong tried the Hastings case and I did some work on it. I also worked two other cases he handled. He seemed like a nice guy, very ethical. He also seemed—I don’t know—soft. I really can’t picture him bashing his best friend’s head in.”

Dillon smiled. “We don’t have time for me to go through a list of people I’ve arrested for the most heinous crimes who I had a hard time imagining committing them.”