Page 83 of Little Last Words

“How did Vanessa take the news?”

“She struggled to remain calm. It was obvious she was upset about it.”

“Vanessa strikes me as the jealous type. I’m surprised she hadn’t looked up the phone records beforehand.”

“Turns out, she had been over their joint account records. Zachary has a second phone, a work phone, which he used the first time he contacted Penelope.”

“What about their alibis?” I asked.

“Both claimed they were at home the night Penelope died. They said they had dinner together and then binge-watched several episodes ofWhite Lotus. They retired to bed around eleven, where they remained all night.”

It sounded a lot like the way an average couple would spend a weekday evening, but from the tone of Foley’s voice, I could tell he wasn’t convinced they were telling the truth.

“My money’s on Vanessa,” he said. “I think she was aware of the feelings Zachary still had for Penelope before he was forced to confess them to her. When she tossed his things out of the house earlier today, ranting about wanting a divorce, it was a bit over the top for me. It almost seemed staged, like she was trying too hard to make herself look like an innocent victim.”

As far as theories went, Foley’s wasn’t a bad one. I just didn’t know if I agreed with it. Vanessa had offered a lot of information earlier. And sure, I’d done my part and coaxed her into saying more than less. The wine had also done its part. In the end, she still said more than I’d thought she would.

“Tell me about the rest of your day,” Foley said.

“I ran into my mother. She had some town gossip to share. A friend of a friend of a friend overheard someone say they saw Penelope at a diner with another man right before she died. I stopped by the Boathouse Diner earlier, and the owner confirmed one of his waitresses served Penelope.”

“Another man, huh? I had Zachary detail every interaction he’d had with Penelope since she moved back. He never mentioned a diner. What did the waitress have to say?”

“She was off work by the time I got there. I gave the owner my card and asked him to have her get in touch with me.”

“Let me know what you find out. Anything else?”

“Yeah, one thing,” I said. “Simone met with Kate and Jolie Ramsey today. They’ve been friends with Penelope since high school. Jolie met up with Penelope at a bar a few days before she died. She said Penelope was wearing a ring—not on her wedding ring finger—but it was a ring Jolie hadn’t seen her wear before.”

“What did it look like?”

“Platinum band, sapphire stone, with square-shaped diamonds on each side.”

“We didn’t find any jewelry matching that description at the house. Then again, we weren’t looking for a ring at the time.”

As I struggled to keep my eyes open, I yawned into the phone.

“Let’s talk tomorrow, okay?” I asked.

“Will do. Have a good night.”

We ended the call, and I fell asleep with renewed vigor, thinking about each suspect we’d questioned and how close we were to finding a killer.

CHAPTER33

Iwoke the next morning to a couple of text messages. The first was from Silas. He’d processed several latent prints taken from the house. None were a match to any of our suspects, and none were in CODIS, the DNA index system.

Dead end there.

The second message was from an unknown number, which turned out to be the waitress from the Boathouse Diner. She remembered the man Penelope was with the day she’d served her, and she provided me with a detailed description.

The description was not a match for Zachary.

But itwasa match for someone else.

Someone I’d met.

I threw on a pair of jogging pants, gave Luka a pat, and kissed a still-sleeping Giovanni as I rushed out the front door. I speed-walked past Aaron and Rita’s place, offering them a quick wave as they eyed me from their front porch. I crossed the lawn a couple of houses over, made my way toward the front door, and pounded on it.