Page 8 of Ghost of You (Haunted Souls #24)

“Tell us everything you remember.” Ronan had his notebook out and his pen poised and ready to go. Fitzgibbon set his phone to record and pushed it into the center of the table.

Oliver looked to Pryce, who nodded.

“We’d just come back from Italy. It was an incredible trip, but were jet lagged and exhausted.

There was no food in the house, so I offered to pick up sandwiches and some other necessities.

We had a quiet dinner and went to bed early.

Both of us had to be back at work the next day.

Everything was normal for the next three days.

On the morning my wife went missing, I kissed her on my way out the door and told her I’d pick up Thai food on the way home.

My day at the vet clinic was booked solid and I had two walk-in emergencies.

I’d barely had time to grab a bite for lunch, and I hadn’t checked my phone all day.

There weren’t any messages from my wife, which was odd.

We usually texted a couple of times a day.

I didn’t think anything of it because I assumed she was just as busy as I’d been.

By the time I got home with the food, it was past seven.

Frankie’s car was in the driveway, but she was not home.

No lights were turned on. The only thing out of place had been her suitcase.

It had been full of dirty clothes and souvenirs when we’d gotten home.

It was missing. I didn’t think much of her not being home.

I assumed she’d gone for a quick drink with Angie to fill her in on the trip.

I texted her, waited a bit for her to come home, and I had dinner. ”

“You didn’t call the police until nearly 11 P.M. that evening. Why?” Fitz asked.

“I assumed Frankie was out with her best friend who she hadn’t seen in two weeks.

Angie and Frankie were closer than sisters.

Frankie was so busy on our trip that she didn’t really text Angie much at all while we were gone.

They had a lot to catch up on.” Oliver wore a pained look.

“If I could do things all over again, I would have called you the minute I came home to an empty house. I have to live with that guilt for the rest of my life.”

“Do you own any firearms, Oliver?” Ronan asked, his tone all business.

Oliver’s pained look was replaced with shock. He turned to Reagan, who once again nodded. “I do, a couple of handguns. They’re locked in a gun safe beside my bed.”

“How long have you had them?” Jude asked. It would be easy to search the Massachusetts gun registry to find out this information. He’d asked simply to see if Oliver would lie.

“We’d bought the guns when we first got married.

We liked going to the shooting range together.

After each trip, we’d clean and store the guns in the back of the closet.

Not the most secure place to keep them.” Oliver shrugged.

“About six months or so before Frankie went missing, we’d decided to try for a baby.

She insisted we buy a locked gun safe, which I did.

I kept it in the closet, but moved the safe beside the bed after she was gone. ”

“Why?” Ronan asked.

“After the million dollars turned up missing, I was getting death threats. Bricks were thrown through my front window on several occasions. Awful words were painted on my garage door.”

Jude had seen photos of the damage done.

It was all in the case file, along with a note from one of the officers who thought Oliver had been the one to cause the damage himself in order to get the heat off of him.

None of the vandalism reports were investigated beyond taking a police report and staying on scene until the broken windows could be boarded up.

The Salem Police Department had abandoned Oliver once again.

“Did anyone have Ring cameras or anything like that?”

“Not at the time. After I was taken in by the cops for questioning about Frankie’s disappearance, all of the neighbors got them. The police kept me for forty-eight hours before releasing me. When I came home the entire neighborhood was wired. There were no more acts of vandalism after that.”

Jude could understand why. “You mentioned trying for a baby before Frankie went missing. How was that going?”

Oliver grimaced. “Not very well. The doctors told us to be patient, that it would be time to worry if a year had passed without Frankie conceiving. We had six months to keep trying before we went back to the doctor.”

“So, you’re saying that Frankie was never pregnant?” Fitzgibbon asked.

Oliver’s eyes darkened.

“Do not answer that question!” Pryce yanked Oliver out of his seat and marched him into the living room.

Jude could hear the men whispering together. When Oliver had been speaking about trying for a baby, he’d worn a sorrowful look, which could have been because he’d never known his wife was pregnant or because he killed the baby when he killed Frankie.

“We’re terminating this interview, Captain Fitzgibbon,” Pryce said when he walked into the kitchen alone. “Do get in touch if there’s anything else my client can tell you.”

Fitzgibbon approached Pryce with his phone in his hand. “This is one of Frankie’s autopsy pictures. Can you see what that tiny thing is in the center of the photo?”

Jude knew Fitz was showing the lawyer the skeletal remains of Frankie’s child.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Pryce whispered. “Frankie was pregnant when she died?”

Fitzgibbon nodded. “We ordered the medical examiner to get a DNA profile on the child to see if Oliver is the father. Seems kind of suspicious to me that a woman could be eight weeks along and have her husband not know she was expecting.”

“Are you suggesting the child might not be Oliver’s?” Pryce’s face was bright red, he looked like he was about to go nuclear on Fitzgibbon.

“I’m not suggesting anything. I’ll wait for the facts to speak for themselves. If your client killed his wife and his unborn child, we’re charging him with two counts of first degree murder. Life with no parole times two.” Fitzgibbon headed for the door. “We’ll be in touch.”

Jude followed behind. Cope hadn’t used the code word, which made him assume Frankie’s spirit wasn’t at the house. He’d been pretty quiet during the rest of the interview and Jude needed to know why.

Had Cope uncovered a clue that would help them solve Frankie’s murder? Or was this case too hard for his husband to work?

Jude hoped it was the former and not the latter.