Perilous Read Free Page B

the phone.
    “Mr. Riaola? Are you still there?”
    “I’m here. Do you think I had something to do with this?”
    “Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Riaola. I have a call coming in. Can you just hold on one second for me? I’ll be right back with you.” I placed him on hold.
    Any time I would get that question, I always gave the person asking a minute to think about it. His response when I came back to the phone would tell me a lot. He would do one of three things: lawyer up, toss someone under the bus, or give me everyone under the sun that could confirm where he was.
    I thought about his answers to my questions so far. His demeanor and quick responses had thrown up a red flag. When he did pause before an answer, it seemed timed for effect. Normally, when I barraged people with questions, they would interrupt, asking about their loved ones—they would stop, cry, and be hysterical. That guy was answering everything in a calm, direct manner. I needed to lay off. He was out of town, and if I pressed too hard, he would never be back. I needed this guy in a room.
    I clicked the phone off of hold. “Thanks for holding for me. To answer your question, I have no way of knowing that one way or the other right now. My job is to collect evidence and make sure everyone I’m in contact with is where they say they were. That’s going to help me find out who did this. Try not to take the questions personally. They need to be asked just to rule you out.”
    “I just… I would never do anything to hurt my wife.”
    “Completely understandable.”
    “You know, I didn’t even think about this until just now.” He paused.
    “Think about…?”
    “Um, well, about six months ago, I found out that my wife had been seeing someone. She ended it after I found out, and we were working through it. We started marriage counseling a few months back. Things were starting to get back on track with us, but I guess the guy took it hard.”
    If he’d had any thoughts that it could have been an ex-boyfriend, those would have been the first words out of his mouth. He was trying to cast suspicion away from himself.
    “Do you know the man’s name?” I asked.
    “His name is Kevin. I think his last name was Moore. I’m not a hundred percent. He was a coworker of hers, but I guess he no longer works there.”
    “Is this guy local?”
    “I believe so.”
    I wrote the name down. “We’re going to get on that right away. Have you seen this guy in person before?”
    “Once, yes.”
    “Okay, because if we pick him up, we’ll need you to identify him as the guy she was having a relationship with.”
    “I can do that.”
    “Good. So, if you’re driving back, what time do you think you’ll be able to come in tomorrow?”
    “I should be able to be there by noon.”
    “Great. It’s the police headquarters downtown on Franklin. Just ask for Lieutenant Kane at the front.”
    “I will.”
    “All right. Drive safe, Mr. Riaola.” I hung up and placed the phone back in its base. Hank knocked on the sill of my office door and walked in.
    “Updates?” he asked.
    “Yeah, I just got off the phone with the husband.”
    “And?”
    “He says he will be in to talk tomorrow at noon. I would guess he’ll be accompanied by an attorney, or no-show.”
    “Attorney or no-show? Why is that?” Hank asked.
    “Just a hunch.”
    “Do you think he’s involved?”
    “Yup. He also mentioned a possible ex-boyfriend—that was only after I asked about his whereabouts, though. I got the boyfriend’s name here. I’ll check him out either way.”
    “Boyfriend? I thought these two were married.”
    “The deceased woman had been stepping out, apparently,” I said.
    “So the plot thickens, I guess.” Hank walked in and planted himself across my desk from me.
    “I’d rather it didn’t. It would be nice to not have anything outstanding when I leave,” I said.
    “Don’t worry about it. I can take care of everything while you’re gone. So, Wisconsin and then