Page 38 of Kiss Marry Kill

I lifted my brows. “No?”

“Nope.”

“Then how did they know she drowned?” I scribbled a few notes on my pad about looking into that case later.

“Archie said so. He said they went swimming in the Kern River, in California, and that Kimora got sucked under by the current.”

“Huh.” I frowned. “They did a search and didn’t find the body?”

“That’s what Archie said to Janelle.” His gaze was intense as he continued. “Drowning would be an easy way to get rid of someone. People drown, and we just accept that. We dismiss it as a horrible accident. You could cover up a drowning murder fairly easily, don’t you think?”

“Murder in general isn’t easy to get away with.”

Looking disgruntled, Kobe muttered, “I’m telling you, Archie wasn’t a nice guy. You just never saw that side of him. I saw it, and Janelle saw it too.”

Twisting my lips, I decided to take a different route with Kobe. “Okay, let’s say Archie was a bastard who kicked puppies every chance he got. I still can’t just ignore his murder. Even if he was the vilest man in Rainy Dale, I’d have to catch his killer.”

“I know.”

“It doesn’t seem like you think he deserves justice.”

Sighing, Kobe said, “I didn’t say that.”

“You’re trying to sidetrack me from finding his killer with his first wife’s death. Plus, you’re giving me a hard time about asking you questions when all I’m trying to do is figure out who killed him.”

He scowled. “The problem I have with answering your questions is you thinkIkilled him.”

“I never said that. I’m just trying to figure out what happened. Who had the motive and opportunity to kill Archie? That’s what I care about. I don’t care that he wasn’t always a nice guy. I don’t feel his first wife’s death is relevant to this case.”

“I still think it’s weird they didn’t find his first wife’s body.”

“If she’d drowned in the swimming pool, yeah, I’d agree. But it’s a lot harder to find bodies in rivers and oceans.”

“With modern technology?” He looked doubtful.

“Even then, they don’t always locate every single body, Kobe.” I clasped my hands on top of the table, holding his frustrated gaze. “Archie is the victim here. I don’t want to get bogged down discussing what type of person the victim was. It doesn’t matter. I want to know whereyouwere and what you were doing between the time you got out of the cab and returned to the reception.”

“I still think you should look into who Archie really was. I think it matters. He was sneaky and secretive. He barely talked about himself with Janelle. He shut her out and got mad at her if she questioned him about his past too much.”

“Maybe he was just private.”

“I think it was more than that. I think he wasn’t who he said he was.”

I laughed gruffly. “Here we go again. All you want to talk about is how horrible Archie was.”

“Yeah, because I think his seedy past had something to do with his murder.” His voice was agitated. “I think he was playing a role here in Rainy Dale. I think he killed his first wife, made a run for it, and then set his sights on his next target: Janelle.”

“You said his seedy past caught up to him. How?”

“I don’t know. You’re the cop. You need to figure that part out.”

I rolled my eyes. “The most you have on Archie is he didn’t like talking about himself.”

“Yeah, but isn’t that odd in itself? What was he hiding? Was he running from something too awful to face?” Kobe leaned forward. “Like maybe the murder of his first wife?”

I wrinkled my brow. “Just because somebody doesn’t want to talk about their painful past doesn’t make them a murderer who’s on the run.”

“I know. But he was crazy secretive. Janelle said they had one discussion about Kimora, and that was all he’d stand for. I think if you’re marrying someone, you have a right to know the details of their life.”