Page 31 of State of Grace (First Family 2)

“Thanks, Doc.”

Sam took a deep breath and blew it out before returning to the conference room to check on the Tappens.

“We’ve made a list of the people she’s closest to,” Bob said.

“Here’s a question for you. If she was so critical to the conference she was attending, wouldn’t they have reached out to you when she didn’t show up?”

“Not necessarily. She was a sole proprietor. I’m not sure they would’ve known to contact me if she wasn’t there.”

“I’m going to be honest with you, Mr. Tappen. I find it odd that she would take off for a weekend and have absolutely no contact with her husband or three children or not have an emergency contact on file with the organizations she worked for.”

“I know it must sound strange to you, but that’s been our routine for years. She has a very intense job when she’s at the conferences, and we leave her alone to do it.”

“And you never contact her?”

“You did that once when Justin had appendicitis, and she flew home, remember, Dad?” Lucas asked.

“Yes, that was an exception, but for the most part, when she’s working, we carry on without her. It’s only a week or so out of every month, and we’ve been doing it for so long that it’s routine to us.”

“Could I have a minute alone with you, Mr. Tappen?” It would be up to him to decide how many of the details of their mother’s death he would share with his kids.

He glanced at the boys, who got up and left the room.

After the door closed behind them, Sam said, “I’m a mother, Mr. Tappen. I wouldn’t go a single day without talking to my children.”

“With all due respect, Lieutenant, I believe you’re a relatively new mother, so of course it seems strange to you not to talk to your son.”

“In forty years, I’m still going to want to talk to him every day.”

For the first time, Tappen’s expression became angry. “My wife adored her children, and they adored her. Her company provided a large chunk of our family’s annual income, and we relied upon it, thus we stepped aside and allowed her to do her job when she needed us to. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t judge us—or especially her—for the choices we made in the best interests of our family.”

“Fair enough, and I don’t mean to judge you or her. I’m asking the questions necessary to figure out who’d want to kill her.”

“We have no idea who’d want to kill her,” Tappen said.

“I need to tell you some additional details that you’re going to find difficult to hear.”

“More difficult than hearing she was found murdered?”

“Perhaps, yes.”

He seemed to brace himself.

“She died of asphyxia and hypothermia, which means she was alive when she was bound and gagged, probably on Friday, and left in the van to suffocate and freeze to death. The medical examiner has put the time of death sometime on Sunday evening.” Sam waited a beat to give him a second to process that it took two days for her to die. “This was personal. Whoever did this wanted her to suffer.”

“We don’t know of anyone who’d want her to suffer like that.” Bob seemed truly baffled as he fought tears. “She did so much for others. Our neighbor has been fighting breast cancer for the last two years. Pam made dinner for her family every week since she was diagnosed. She takes that same woman’s kids to practices and picks them up. She volunteers at a homeless shelter and does fundraising for them. She’s all about giving of herself to others, especially to our family.”

“What about through her work? Did she have problems with any clients or colleagues?”

“Not that I know of,” Bob said. “Most of her clients were longtime accounts, except for the one this week. That was a new one.”

Which gave her a thread to pull, Sam thought. “Do you have the name of the organization?”

“I can look it up in her office at home.”

“I’d like to have our people go through her office, computer and phone, if we can locate it, to see if she was having any issues with anyone that you might not have been aware of. We’ve requested a warrant, but I wanted to make you aware of what we’ll need to do.”

“Yes, of course. We’ll do whatever we can to aid in the investigation.”