Vendetta in Death (In Death #49)(53)

Okay, Eve thought, it’s going to be one of those.

Before she could continue, Sympathetic Peabody shifted into gear. “Marcella, we want to help. We’re here to do everything we can to find out who did this to the man you love. As hard as it must be for you, we know you want us to find those answers, so we need your help. Thaddeus needs your help.”

“Thaddeus!” Marcella wailed it.

“Stop now.” Bondita hugged her, rocked her. “Stop now, Marcella, or I’ll have to make you take a soother.”

“Nothing could make me stop feeling. How could this happen? How could this happen to Thad?”

“It’s our job to find out,” Eve told her. “There are questions we need to ask you so we can go out and do that job.”

“You talk to the police now, Marce,” Claudia insisted. “We’re here with you.”

“I’m sorry, sit down, both of you.” Bondita waved a hand. “My husband and I managed to raise a son and two daughters without ever having the police at the door. None of us are behaving well.”

“I want to know what happened to Thad.” Once again Marcella’s voice rose up, pitch by pitch. “I deserve to know!”

“Mr. Pettigrew left the residence you share with him last night at approximately nine P.M.”

“He told me he was staying in,” Marcella interrupted.

“That may be, but he left the residence at that time in the company of an as yet unknown female.”

Her slumping shoulders shot back, stiffened. “He did not!”

Eve just pushed on. “He left with said unknown female, and with her, got into what is described as a dark town car.”

“But you said— Mom, didn’t she say his—his—Thad was home when he …”

“His body was discovered by a neighbor out walking his dog early this morning, outside the house. His verified time of death was two-twenty this morning. The nine-one-one call from the neighbor logged in at three-forty-three.”

“Where was he all that time?” Marcella demanded. “Did he come back home, then someone broke in, and killed him, and left him outside?”

“Mr. Pettigrew wasn’t killed inside the residence.”

“How do you know?”

“It’s my job to know,” Eve snapped back. “He opened the door to the female because he believed she was the licensed companion he had booked for the evening.”

“That’s a lie! A lie, a terrible lie, and I won’t listen.”

To Eve’s bemusement, Marcella literally clamped her hands over her ears.

But when she started to lurch up, her mother held her in place. “Sit still, Marcella. Be quiet. Can you prove that?”

“We’ve verified it, yes. He made the booking yesterday. It appears his system had been hacked, and the booking was canceled. This individual took the place of the LC he’d hired. Subsequently, she drugged him, led him out to the waiting car. He was taken to another location.”

“I don’t believe you. I don’t believe any of this. Thad would never, never do that. He would never cheat on me.”

Really? Eve thought. Unlike the way he cheated on his wife with you?

“You’re stating you were unaware Mr. Pettigrew regularly used the services of Discretion, a company that facilitates customers who wish to hire licensed companions.”

Marcella’s eyes streamed like a toddler’s after being told she couldn’t have candy. “He never did that.”

“He used their services for at least nine years.”

The tears dried up, and a mutinous expression replaced them. “Maybe, maybe he did before we fell in love, but—”

“And has continued to use their services every few weeks up until his death.”

“You’re trying to ruin everything for me.” She bunched her fists, actually shook them. “Saying horrible things to ruin my life. I want you to go. Get out.”

“That’s enough, Marcella. Claudia, would you take Marcella back to my bedroom? She needs to lie down.”

“Of course. Come on with me, Marce.”

“She’s lying, Claudia.”

“Let’s just go lie down. You have to rest. It’s an awful day.”

She tugged Marcella up, got a firm arm around her.

“You’re a horrible person,” Marcella spat at Eve.

As Claudia pulled Marcella out, Bondita pressed her fingers to her eyes. Rozelle shifted over, stroked her mother’s arm.

“I apologize, Lieutenant.”

“I’ve been called worse.”

“Not in my home.” She dropped her hands, took her daughter’s. “She believed she loved him, believed he loved her. She’d made him the center of her world. Learning this will be nearly as shattering for her as his death.”

“Were you aware he used LCs?”

“I was not. I’ll admit I wondered if he’d stray, or simply tire of Marcella. She’s young, and naive, and, well, demanding. But he seemed genuinely devoted to her. They seemed happy together. Are you saying this woman, the one who posed as an LC, killed Thaddeus?”

“Yes.”

“It makes no sense. I can’t think of anyone who’d want to kill Thaddeus.”