Page 23 of Little Hidden Fears

It would also take some of the edge off.

We raised our glasses, and Giovanni said, “Here’s to solving this murder.”

Foley took a sip of bourbon and winced.

Lightweight.

“Toward the end of my visit with Dominic, he talked about Noelle’s love of tennis,” I said. “He even got up to get a picture so I could see her in her younger years. In the photo, she was holding a trophy she’d won at one of her matches. I thought he was doing all right, and then, he stared at the photo, and he lost it.”

“Lost it, how?”

“He started crying uncontrollably. I tried to offer him a few words of comfort, saying things like I understood what he was going through. It seemed to work for a moment, and then it backfired, and he bolted out of the room for a second time during our conversation. Seconds later, he spoke to me from down the hall. They were the last words he said before he committed suicide.”

“What did he say?”

“He said to let his daughter know he loved her, and he said he was sorry. In that moment, I knew what he was about to do, and I tried to save him. I raced toward his room. It was seconds before I got to him, but I was still too late. When I entered theroom, he’d already sagged to the ground, the gun on the floor next to him, and he was lying in a pool of his own blood.”

Giovanni set his bourbon down and sat next to me, wrapping an arm around me as he said, “I’m so sorry,cara mia.”

“We’re sorry, too,” Whitlock said. “Doesn’t matter how many times something like that happens in our presence, it’s still one of the worst things a person can witness.”

“I still can’t help but wonder if something I said or he did had led to him pulling the trigger.” I rubbed my forehead. “But knowing he left a letter ... I guess it changes things. He planned to kill himself, and there was nothing I could have done to save him.”

CHAPTER 10

I indulged in a bit more of the bubbly, and I thought about how much there still was to discuss about my visit with Dominic. I was tired, my head throbbing, but what I had to say couldn’t wait until tomorrow.

“I appreciate your offer to discuss Dominic later, but since the two of you are here now, I say we keep talking and make the most of this horrible day,” I said.

“You sure?” Foley asked.

“I am. We need to catch Noelle’s killer. He, orshe, may have only committed one murder, but in my mind, I’m holding that person responsible for two. Dominic would still be alive if Noelle wasn’t murdered.”

“How can you be so sure?” Foley asked. “Maybe the guy wasn’t happy, even before the murder.”

“I don’t think so. I think he lived and breathed for his wife, and I feel they had a deep love for each other.”

“What did you learn during your conversation with him?”

“I learned I’d been going about it all wrong.”

“How so?”

“I started at the end with you guys, but I should have started at the beginning. I first arrived at Dominic’s house with the intent to learn more about Noelle and what she was like when she was alive. I knocked on the door, expecting Dominic to answer it, but he didn’t. Lenore Whittaker did.”

“Lenore Whittaker? Isn’t she the woman who used to date Lucas Bronson, the guy who’s marrying your client?” Foley asked.

“Yep.”

“She doesn’t even know the guy, does she?”

“Not well. They met at Lucas and Zoey’s engagement party.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I didn’t either, and I questioned her about it. She said she’d been thinking of him today, so she decided to bring him a casserole. Here’s the interesting thing. Today wasn’t the first time she’d stopped in to see him. She’s been there a few times, and maybe even more than a few times.”

“Huh, strange. What do you make of it?”

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