Page 50 of Line of Sight (Second Sight #4)
“THANK YOU for agreeing to talk to us.” Gary gave Rebecca Marchant a sympathetic glance. “I know it’s been more than five years, and I’m sure this is bringing it all back, but we’ve reopened your sister’s case because we feel we can find her killer.”
Rebecca drummed her fingers on the armrests of her chair. “You’re right, of course. Ever since you called, I haven’t been able to get Heather out of my mind.” She stared at him, her face tight. “Do you have any suspects this time?”
“We have a few ideas,” Riley confirmed. “What can you tell us about Heather? She ran a charity foundation here in Boston, didn’t she?”
Gary smiled to himself. Dan was looking for a way to bring Jason into the conversation without being too obvious.
Rebecca huffed. She smoothed nonexistent creases from her cream slacks. “Indeed she did not. Heather returned to Boston on a regular basis. Not that I found it surprising she wanted time away from Maine.”
Dan frowned. “I don’t understand.”
She pressed her lips together as if to prevent the words from escaping.
He leaned forward. “Please, Mrs. Marchant. Anything you can tell us about Heather’s life would be appreciated. We need to know.” Dan kept his voice low and soothing.
Rebecca gazed at him for a moment, then gave a resigned nod.
“You have to understand something. Heather was my little sister. I looked out for her. I protected her. We always knew our father was what is commonly called nowadays a control freak . So when he announced he’d found a husband for her, we weren’t in the least bit surprised.”
“Jason Kelly?” Gary watched for her reaction.
She nodded again. “Heather told me Father liked Jason’s political ambitions. And she loved the idea of being a senator’s wife.” Rebecca frowned. “It was just unfortunate the senator would be Jason.”
Gary stilled. “You make it sound as though it was an unhappy marriage.”
Rebecca’s gaze fell on a framed photo on the table next to her. It was of her and Heather when they were in their late twenties or thirties. Both women were smiling, a lake in the background.
“I think bored would be nearer the mark. However, one always got the impression of a strained relationship. Nothing too obvious. More… under the surface, if you get my meaning. Heather wasn’t the sort of person to air her dirty laundry in public.
And once Jason announced his intentions to run for the senate, I’m sure Heather’s money came in very useful,” she declared dryly.
Her eyes sparkled. “I imagine he would have been a prime suspect but for two insurmountable obstacles. He had an alibi, and there is no reason I can think of why he’d want to rid himself of his cash cow. ”
“You considered him capable of murder?” Dan inquired.
She said nothing for a moment. “I remember how he was at the funeral. So detached. I mean, that’s understandable, isn’t it? To lose one’s wife in such a horrific manner. But he stayed that way, at least on the few occasions we met after that.”
“Maybe he never got over her death,” Riley suggested.
She arched her eyebrows but said nothing.
“Was Heather supportive of Jason’s political ambitions?” Before Rebecca could answer, Dan waved his hand. “Ignore that question. You already told us she wanted to be a senator’s wife.”
“Yes, that’s true, but….” Rebecca’s brow furrowed. “I’m trying to remember a conversation we had about six months before her death. She said something about the law of diminishing returns.”
“What do you think she meant by that?”
“I know I said she wasn’t the kind of person who would talk about her personal life, but that changed.
” She paused. “Heather had poured a lot of money into Jason’s campaign.
Of course she would have done that. If he rose, then so did she.
But she made a remark that stayed with me, if only because it was so unlike her.
She said his campaign was like a train. She kept shoveling coal into its furnace, and yet the train didn’t go anywhere.
Then one day she called me and said ‘I’ve had enough of stoking the boiler. It’s time for me to drive this train.’”
“She wanted to run his campaign?”
Another nod.
“How do you think Senator Kelly would have reacted to that?” Gary asked.
That earned him another huff. “If you want my honest opinion, I don’t think he would have liked it.
He knew better, didn’t he? He’d studied politics.
And Heather? She was only a woman who’d established and run a successful charity for years.
What did she know?” She straightened. “I wish you every success, gentlemen. And if you do find the person responsible, please inform me of his identity.” She lowered her gaze.
“Jason didn’t make her happy, but he had no reason to want her dead.
I know one always looks at the spouse first, but in this case…
.” Rebecca sighed. “He didn’t kill her. And I have no idea who did. ”
As they walked away from the elegant house, Gary glanced at Dan. “Any thoughts?”
“Only that I want to find out who Heather’s friends were and talk to them. And then let’s talk to anyone who worked in the building that housed her charity office.”
“An office that might provide you with something?”
Dan shrugged. “Perhaps. It’s been over five years.”
Gary knew what was troubling him.
“It doesn’t always work out the way it did with Jennifer Sullivan. Sometimes there’s just… nothing.”
“I did pick up on one piece of information,” Dan said as they reached the car.
“Rebecca Marchant did not like Jason, although she never came right out and said as much. And while she doesn’t believe he’s guilty of her sister’s murder—” He looked Gary in the eye.
“—I got the feeling she wants to believe it.”