Who Killed My Husband? Read Free Page A

now he’d been terrified that he was going to hit a dead end with this case.
     
    “Were you involved in a relationship with Mr. Jones?” Jack asked, once Shelby’s sobs subsided. She hiccuped softly and wiped the remaining tears from her face.
     
    She stared at the floor silently before speaking.
     
    “Yes. For almost two years now.”
     
    “I’m assuming Mrs. Jones is unaware of your relationship?”
     
    “Yes! Of course,” Shelby was looking anxious again, fiddling with the hem of her shirt and looking over at the door guiltily. “Please don’t tell her.”
     
     
    “There’s no reason for me to tell Mrs. Jones anything right now,” Jack said. “If it looks like your relationship with her husband could have anything to do with his death, however, I will have to tell her.”
     
    “It has nothing to do with it!” Shelby cried, anger flaring in her eyes. “How could you suggest that!”
     
    Jack sighed and put a hand to his forehead, taking a deep breath. “I don’t mean to upset you. This is an investigation, and we have to consider all possibilities.”
     
    “Darren loved me,” she said, a stubborn light shining in her eye. “He was going to leave Rochelle so we could be together.”
     
    “When did he tell you this?” Jack asked, picking up his pen again to jot things down.
     
    “The first time was seven months ago,” Shelby answered, ducking her head. “It just hasn’t been the right time yet. He didn’t want to hurt Rochelle.” She paused. “Neither did I.”
     
    “Did you and Darren ever argue about your relationship, or about him leaving Mrs. Jones?”
     
    “Of course we did.” Talking about Darren seemed to have given Shelby a new vigor. Her eyes shone and she was eager for every question. “It’s stressful being with a married man. But I knew we would be okay in the end. Well, we should have been.”
     
    Shelby visibly deflated, brought back to the reality of the situation. “Please find out who killed him,” she murmured.
     
    Approximately fifteen minutes later, Jack had collected all the information he needed. He showed Shelby to the door, and watched from his office as she and Rochelle embraced and left together. Shaking his head in bewilderment, he returned to his desk and put pen to paper.
    Suspect: Shelby Lynn.
     
     
    ***
     
     
    A week passed, and Jack made no progress. The excitement that came with the discovery of Shelby’s affair had completely disappeared within 24 hours. All investigations on Shelby came up with dead ends.
     
    What she had told him was true. She’d lived next door to Darren and Rochelle Jones for years, and phone records indicated an increase in contact between herself and Darren over the past two years. Shelby had a solid alibi for her whereabouts during the time of Darren’s disappearance: she’d been at a local book club most of the evening and then went out for coffee with her sister. There was no evidence pointing towards Shelby having a hand in Darren’s death.
     
    If he was even dead at all.
     
    Darren couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to this case than met the eye. How could there not be anything left of the body, not even a single speck of ash?
     
    Jack switched on his desk lamp. The sun was setting, casting the sky in hues of purple and orange. He removed his glasses and rested his elbows on the desk, examining the papers strewn in front of him.
     
    A photograph of Darren Jones’ license plate lay on top. Jack couldn’t help but obsess over the image. He’d stared at it for hours already just today, never mind all the days before. A license plate didn’t just fall off like that. Especially not so conveniently right before the car burst into flames.
     
    Someone had to have removed it. Someone who didn't want the identity of the owner of the burned car discovered. And why at the edge of town? If someone wanted him gone , why wouldn't they go out of town.
     
    Jack shot up in his seat, back rigid.