Page 50 of In the Line of Ire

"A lotof sobbing and a pissed-off cleaning crew who had to sanitize hiscell after he vomited everywhere. Strickland wanted them to getback together but she wasn't sure because he accused her ofcheating although he had no idea if that were true or not. He saidit looked like it from his perspective but he wasn't all thatcoherent."

"Hethought she had another guy on the side?"

"That'sthe conclusion he jumped to. She denied it, they had a fight, andeventually broke up."

"Howlong ago was that?"

"A weekago."

"Whattipped him off about another guy?" I pressed.

"Don'tthink you're being so smart getting all this information from me.I'm just in a chatty mood."

"Don'tstop now."

"SeemsAlison was going out at odd hours and had a lot more money thanbefore. She was making some big purchases that surprised him. WhenStrickland confronted her, she said she got a raise but we checkedher bank account and found out it was not true. Wherever she wasgetting the extra money, she was being paid in cash or inkind."

"Whatkind of purchases did she make?"

"Agirls’ trip down to Mexico, new clothes. High-end stuff. Wesearched her apartment and found new clothes with the tags still onthem. A couple of grand's worth."

"Couldshe have saved up to buy them?"

"Doesn'tseem that way. Most of her salary paid the bills and she wasn'tmuch of a saver. Also, there weren't any large cash withdrawalsfrom her bank account."

"Socould a wealthy new man be the one buying her thosethings?"

"Thatwas the conclusion we arrived at as well."

"Anyideas who it might be?"

"None.Nothing in her cellphone records. No texts, emails, cards, or lovenotes."

"That'sstrange. Most new lovers are eager to express their affection. Whatdid her family have to say?"

"Theydon't know anything about a guy. They were glad she dumpedStrickland but never figured him for a killer. The idea came upthat if Alison were actually stepping out, she could be keeping thenew guy secret. Lots of people get SIM cards that they conceal andonly use for brief amounts of time. We're digging into everything.If he exists, someone will know who he is."

"She's asingle woman. There's no reason for her to get a secret SIM orphone." I sat back, thinking more about it. It didn't feel right.How could Alison have a mystery lover that no one knew anythingabout? "Did you find any connection between her and thecounterfeiters?"

"No. Itappears to be a nasty coincidence. I guess someone suffered fromremorse and grabbed a purse and tugged it over her head. If youhadn't known the purse over her head was a fake, I'm not sure anyof us would have realized it. We're not the most stylish bunch." Iglanced through the internal window at Garrett's team. The men'ssuits and ties, as well as the women's suits and silk blouses, wereperfectly acceptable but nothing screamed fashionista.

"I needto talk to the boyfriend in case there's a different angle to this.I wanted to let you know as a courtesy."

"Have acrack at him. He's off the hook here so it makes no difference tome." Garrett paused. "Has Mom said anything to you about eatingdinner at their house next week?"

"No, shehasn't mentioned it. Only that we should not be late this week." Iwasn't sure I wanted to go now; it would probably turn into amarital counseling session full of advice I neither wanted norneeded. The idea of enduring that in front of my entire family whomight not feel obliged to chip in but would do so just for the hellof it left me cold.

"My wifeand I thought we'd host it next time. Give Mom and Dad a break. Wehaven't hosted for a while," he continued. "Maybe everyone couldbring a dish? What do you think?"

"Happyto contribute," I told him, rising. Now that I'd gleaned all theinformation I was apparently going to get, I had to make tracks ifI still wanted to speak to Colin Strickland before starting myundercover shift.

"I'lltell Traci. She can circulate the information. Hey, is everythingokay with you and Solomon?"

"Yes.Why?"

"Momsaid..."

"Ignoreher," I cut in. "She got everything wrong."

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