Page 79 of Little Hidden Fears

“Any reason why someone would do such a thing? I mean, if I had to guess, I’d say it must have something to do with your murder investigation. Are you getting any closer to solving it?”

“I am, and I’m positive the incident is related. My handbag was stolen in the process, along with a couple of important files.”

“’And did these files contain sensitive information relevant to your case?”

I nodded. “Are you aware of the Ophelia Albrecht Center? It’s a women’s center founded by Dominic and Noelle.”

“I was not made aware of its founders until after her death. There was an article about the center in the paper. I knew ofthe center, of course. I just wasn’t aware of Noelle’s association with it. I’ve heard great things about the place. It’s made a big difference in many women’s lives over the years.”

“In the weeks before Noelle died, a woman named Dawn Salisbury came to the center seeking help. Does her name sound familiar to you?”

He shook his head. “Any reason why it should?”

“When Dawn arrived at the center, she had been badly beaten. Noelle was able to talk Dawn into getting her injuries looked at by a doctor. Not long after, she fled the center.”

Alexander narrowed his eyes, looking at me like he was trying to determine my angle, the reason I was relaying Dawn’s story, and what it had to do with him.

“I feel for any woman in such a position, but tell me, Miss Germaine, why share what happened to this woman with me?”

He was about to see the correlation.

“I believe Dawn fled the women’s center because Noelle recognized her or vice versa,” I said. “Noelle remembered seeing Dawn before, arguing with someone in the parking lot of the tennis club.”

“Strange coincidence. Do you know with whom she was arguing?”

“Not yet, but I intend to find out. I plan to stop at the club today, talk to a few people, and see if they have any security cameras. If there’s footage of the argument, I need to see it.”

“I suppose whether or not there’s footage depends on when the argument took place.”

I crossed my arms, confused by his comment. “Why does that matter?”

“There might not be any footage.”

“Why not?”

“A couple of months ago, we had a company meeting with the club’s investors. The focus of the meeting was on cuttingcosts. The club is profitable, but profits can always be better. We discussed the ridiculous amount of money we’ve been paying each month to our security service. We’ve never had a single break-in or theft ... well, aside from Owen’s misconduct.”

“Are you saying you canceled the security service?”

“We did. In saying that, we’re aware it’s good measure to have some form of security. But given how much more convenient technology has become, we figured why use an expensive service when we could install and monitor security cameras ourselves, right from our phones.”

“You still have security cameras then, right?”

He nodded. “We have them. The reason they won’t be of any use to you is because we installed them in front of the main entrance of the club. Monitoring the parking lot is of no concern to us.”

It wasn’t what I wanted to hear, and the timing seemed convenient.

Perhaps a littletooconvenient.

“I suppose I’ll need to figure out who was arguing with Dawn some other way,” I said.

“You must have someone in mind. Otherwise, why would you have told me the story at all?”

He didn’t miss a beat, always assessing my motives.

It bugged me.

At the same time, I found his attention to every detail of our conversation impressive. I was certain he knew who I suspected had been arguing with Dawn, even if I didn’t know the reason why.

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