Page 8 of Amazing Grace
“Molly, you say this man was your ex-boyfriend? What was his name?”
“Jeremy Prada. No relation to the fashion designer .”
“Did he have any enemies?” Maverick asked. “Anybody who might want him dead?”
Molly snorted a bit through her tears. “Just about everybody he ever met, I imagine.”
“Including you?”
“I didn’t like him, but I didn’t want him dead. I left him before things got bad enough for me to wish him harm.”
“Do you have any names for me? Of people whomayhave wished him harm?”
Molly sighed, long and heavy. She stepped away from Grace’s arms and swiped both hands over her face, wiping wetness away. She stood a little straighter, and Grace wondered if that was her brave face she was putting on for the sheriff. If so, it was a good one. “Jeremy was a con artist, Sheriff. I didn’t know it while I was dating him. I thought he was a stock trader. The truth was he was a con man who cheated people out of their money. I left as soon as I figured out he was lying and defrauding people. Then I heard he had a Ponzi scheme going for a while, and when it collapsed it left a lot of people without their life savings. I’d say there were plenty of them who would’ve wanted his head on a platter. He was under investigation by the government, last I heard.”
Maverick wrote it all down and nodded. “Anyone specific come to mind?”
“I don’t know the names of the people he cheated, but it wasn’t just the Ponzi scheme people who detested him. I came to find out that under his handsome facade was a rotten human being. He would do lots of little things that would annoy people, you know? I think he got off on getting people angry. For example, he never tipped for one thing. Ever. I always had to slip the server the tip without him seeing me, or he’d get pissed. He was rude to everybody. I don’t know what I ever saw in him except for his pretty face. She shrugged. “I was young and stupid, I guess.”
A wailing ambulance pulled into the lot just then, and a pair of EMTs jumped out. They ran to the scene carrying a box of emergency supplies.
“It’s a DOA,” Maverick told them. “Slow your roll. Don’t stomp all over my crime scene. Check him out, determine that he’s dead, and wait for the State Police. Don’t touch anything else in there.” She turned back to Molly and Grace. “We’ll check your alibis, of course. You’re free to go but don’t leave town. Until we can prove otherwise, you’re both suspects. I’m certain our detective will want to talk to you for more information.”
Chapter 4
“Leave the Blazer here. It’ll be safe enough with all the cops around. You’re coming home with me tonight,” Grace said as they approached her truck. She kept her voice low, not wanting anyone else to overhear her plans.
Was she starting to become paranoid? Maybe. But they didn’t know who’d done it, or why, or why Jeremy was even in Summit Springs to begin with. Maybe she had a right to be a little paranoid.
“Oh, Grace, I don’t know…”
“Give me some credit. No funny business, I promise. I want to make sure you aren’t alone tonight.”
“That’s not what I meant. I mean I have roommates—”
“Whom you don’t know all that well, right? How long have you known them?”
“About a month and a half…”
“That’s not long enough. One of them might have had something to do with this.”
Molly narrowed her eyes and gave Grace a sideways glance. “I’ve only knownyoua day.”
“And you probably shouldn’t trust me either, but this ismymaze, and your dead boyfriend’s in it. That means my maze won’t open on time, maybe not at all. Why would I do this to myself?”
“I don’t know. Did you invest with him?” Molly countered.
“No, Molly. I didn’t know him. I swear it.”
“I believe you. I don’t know why, but I do. I have to trust somebody, right? Look, I don’t want to put you out. You’ve done enough for me already, and anyway, it’smyfault all this crap is happening.”
Grace arched an eyebrow. “How is it your fault? You didn’t kill him.”
“No, of course not. But he’s my ex. He must’ve been in town because of me. Why else would he be in Summit Springs?”
“You didn’t call and invite him up?”
Molly shook her head. “No! That’s ridiculous. I haven’t spoken to him in a year.”