Page 63 of Exposed

“Remember what?”

“When you drove from the entrance of the lot to his car, did you make a direct line through rows of painted lines?”

“No, I didn’t make a direct line. I drove around the perimeter to the farthest point where he parked.”

“So you took the long way instead of going straight?”

“Yes, essentially I took the two legs of the triangle, not the hypotenuse.”

Mary could visualize it, but didn’t understand his actions. “So why didn’t you just take the hypotenuse? Was it because there were cars in your way? Close your eyes and try to visualize it.”

Simon closed his eyes, then opened them again. “I think it’s force of habit, maybe I’m a creature of habit too. Either way, I drove around the perimeter of the lot. I didn’t cut through directly, like on an angle. I’m not sure if there were cars there but if there were, there weren’t many.”

Mary didn’t say what she was thinking, which was,It only takes one.“There’s something else I don’t understand. If there was nobody else in the lot, why did Todd park in the far corner? If nobody else was there, there’s no danger of anybody bumping into his Porsche.”

Simon shrugged. “I guess that’s force of habit, too. That was his space. We all know it.”

“Did he hold other meetings in the car?”

“Sometimes, like if we went for a drink and were going to talk about something confidential, we’d talk about it in the car before we went into the clubhouse.”

“So you weren’t surprised when he suggested the car, not the clubhouse.”

“Right, I wasn’t.”

“So was this well known within the company, the talking in the car thing? And where he parks?”

“Not the whole company, but the people around Todd know.”

Mary made a note on her phone. “Do you know if he told anybody that he was meeting you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did he say?”

“No.”

“If he told anybody, who would he tell? Who’s his friend at the firm, er, I mean the company?”

“Nobody, really. He’s a real glad-hander, like a typical sales guy. He has a lot of acquaintances but no good friend.”

Mary couldn’t relate. She had Judy. Or at least she used to. “What about outside the company?”

“Not that I know of, not since his divorce.”

“Is he dating anybody?”

“Not seriously, that I know of. He doesn’t have a problem getting dates. I think that might’ve been what happened between him and Cheryl but we never talked about it.”

“You think he cheated on her?”

“I suspect it.”

“Do you know with who?”

“I’ve no idea but there were one or two times when he wasn’t where he said he’d be. I had my suspicions but I never said anything to him. Or anybody else. I don’t run down my boss, no matter what anybody thinks.”

“Okay, that’s enough for now. I want to keep this short because they’re waiting.” Mary set her phone aside, meeting his worried gaze directly. “Here’s what’s going to happen next. Listen to me carefully.”