A Profiler's Case for Seduction(45)
A dry, humorless laugh escaped him. “And then one day she just ended it. No explanation, so emotionless, she just told me she was tired of me and it was time for her to move on.”
“And that made you angry,” Mark replied.
Again Andrew laughed, the sound brittle and false and with a touch of genuine humor. “Actually, it shook me to my core. It made me realize I’d been a stupid fool and I went home and hugged my wife and kissed my kids and thanked God that I’d come to my senses about what was important in my life.”
“So, you felt no anger toward Melinda,” Richard said, his disbelief evident in his voice.
Andrew leaned forward in his chair, a new alertness in his eyes, his lips slashed to a thin line once again. “What’s this all about? Why are you here talking to me about all of this? I’ve had nothing to do with Melinda since our breakup.”
“We need to know where you were and what you were doing on the day that Melinda disappeared.”
Andrew’s face flushed with color. “Surely you can’t believe I had anything to do with that. I’m a respected teacher here. I’ve always been a law-abiding citizen.”
“This wouldn’t be the first time a seductive, beautiful woman shoved a man over the edge,” Richard replied coolly.
The flush on Andrew’s face deepened. “I can’t tell you where I was that day just off the top of my head. I’d have to check my day planner, reconstruct my activities, and I have a class to teach in five minutes.”
“Then we’ll be back later today to get that information from you,” Richard said as he stood. “I would recommend your full cooperation with us, Mr. Peterson. I’d hate for any of this to get out to the press.”
It was a barely veiled threat, for Mark knew that the last thing Andrew Peterson wanted was for anyone to find out about his illicit affair with the beautiful professor.
“By the way,” Mark said as they reached the office door, “where were you last night between the hours of eight o’clock and ten?”
Andrew frowned. “I taught a class at seven and then came back here to the office and spent the next couple of hours grading papers. I went right home from here. Why? What happened last night? Is Melinda okay?”
“She’s fine. Did anyone see you here when you left?”
Andrew shook his head. “Not that I know of. The building was closed by that time and I used my pass card and code to get out. I didn’t see any security as I left.”
“Somebody will be back later this afternoon for the information we’ve requested,” Mark said.
“So, what do you think?” Richard asked Mark as they stepped out of the building and began the walk back to where they’d parked their car.
“I found it interesting that he didn’t ask us how we knew about the affair.”
“Indicating he already knew that Dora had seen him and Melinda together?”
“Possibly,” Mark agreed. “I also doubt that the transition between being Melinda’s besotted lover and returning to loving husband to his wife was as smooth as he’d like us to believe.”
“What’s our next move?”
“I’d like to contact Nick Jeffries and see if one of his men can put a tail on Peterson for the next couple of days. I’m not convinced he wasn’t the perp at Dora’s window last night. His alibi seemed a little shady.” Mark frowned thoughtfully as he got into the passenger side of the car.
“If we separate the two crimes, as most of the team has already done, then potentially we have our murderer, Troy Young, behind bars now and we have Andrew Peterson with motive and opportunity to teach Melinda a lesson by kidnapping her and busting her up a bit,” Mark said.
“Feels good to me. So, why don’t you sound happy?”
“I don’t know,” Mark admitted.
“Personally, I’m smelling the end of things here in Vengeance.” Richard shot him a quick, knowing glance. “Maybe that’s why Mark isn’t a happy camper? Because he likes a certain somebody here in Vengeance and isn’t quite ready to tell her goodbye?”
Dora. Thoughts of her exploded in Mark’s head. Maybe she was the reason he was trying to make the case more difficult than it was, buying him more time here in Vengeance, time he could spend with her.
“This is the first time I’ve allowed personal feelings to get twisted up with my investigation,” Mark admitted.