Page 80 of Deception

“Unlikely . . .” Olive murmured.

“She also told them her great-grandfather was actually royalty somewhere in Europe, but he’d fled the country in order to get married. Those were the biggest stories. They went on from there.”

“Maybe she has histrionic personality disorder,” Olive suggested.

“Maybe. It could even be Munchausen’s. You’ve heard of that, right?”

“Yes. Gypsy Rose’s mother had Munchausen’s by Proxy. People with the disorder fake being sick.”

“That’s definitely a possibility. But I saved the most interesting thing I learned for last.” Nova’s eyes still sparkled.

Olive twisted her head in curiosity. “Please, don’t keep us in suspense.”

“I also got in touch with someone that Rebecca and Matt went to college with. These two aren’t as innocent as they portray themselves.” The sparkle in Nova’s eyes grew even brighter.

“What do you mean?” Jason shifted forward on the couch.

“I mean that when Rebecca met Matt, Matt wasn’tjusta student at the school. He was a graduate assistant. So the two of them dating was a no-no.”

Olive sucked in a breath. She hadn’t expected that.

“But there’s more.” Nova paused before announcing, “The other thing is . . . when Matt and Rebecca met, he was also married to someone else.”

Olive certainly hadn’t expected to hear the news that Matt had been previously married.

Had Rebecca seduced him, the handsome graduate assistant? Or had they both pursued each other?

She remembered Matt telling them his story earlier. About how he’d been afraid to talk to Rebecca and had thought she was out of his league. How they’d been put together in a study group where she’d ultimately made the first move.

There were definitely questionable parts to his story. Maybe he’d stuck with the basics, but the rest he’d glossed over the truth.

If he’d lied about that, then Olive felt as if he would lie about other things also.

After Nova finished sharing her updates, she stood. “I have some things I need to work on now, so I’ll let you two finish catching up. But tomorrow we have an interview lined up with Rebecca’s neighbor Georgina. We’ll need to check on Rebecca also, of course.”

That was right. Nova had lined up that interview in advance. Olive hoped she’d be feeling better by then. She wanted to keep that appointment so she could hear what the woman had to say.

“Hopefully, Mitzi will have an update for us also.” Olive turned to Jason. “She’s going on a date with a doctor tonight, and we think it’s the same doctor who’s treating Rebecca.”

Jason raised his brow. “That would be providential.”

“I think so too.” Olive copied his expression. “With any luck, maybe she’ll even call tonight.”

“That would be helpful,” Jason said.

Nova excused herself and left through the adjoining door, closing it tight. But Olive wasn’t ready to jump back into talking about anything personal.

In fact, maybe she really just wanted to delay any heart-to-heart talks.

Instead, she grabbed her phone. “I need to call Tevin real quick, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Jason said.

After Olive said the “if you don’t mind” part, she realized how silly the words were. She was working on a case he’d hired her to do. He should want Olive to do everything in her power to get these answers. She had to get a grip.

She dialed Tevin’s number, and his voice came across the line a moment later. “Hey, hey, hey.”

Olive turned on the phone speaker. “Hey, Tevin. It’s Olive. I’m here with Jason.”