Page 69 of The Perfect Marriage

“Wait,” I say. She stops moving it. I take the photo from her, flipping it to the side with the writing, and then I grab the Post-it note stuck to the top of one of the evidence folders. I hold them up side by side.

The note says, “Here are the copies of the case files you asked for.”

“What is it?” Rebecca asks.

“Don’t you see it?” I look at her and then back at the writing on the photo and note.

“See what?”

My eyes trace the curves of the letters over and over again. “They’re the same handwriting.”

41

Sarah Morgan

This third set of unknown DNA is still not sitting well with me, and I don’t want to go into this case not knowing who it belongs to. I don’t need any more surprises. I stayed up all last night reviewing every connection I could find to Kelly as well as the interview Sheriff Stevens had with Jesse Hook. I know I zoned out a bit and missed something. The tenseness of that interrogation and the way the mood shifted from tense to relaxed and back struck me as odd. It was almost like there was a power struggle between Jesse and Sheriff Stevens. Why that is, I don’t know. Maybe they both know something I don’t. When I talked to the sheriff yesterday, he didn’t seem all that shocked that it wasn’t Jesse’s DNA. But then again, that is the nature of his work. He wasn’t convinced from the get-go. Still, there’s something Jesse said that made me think twice and if I’m right about this, it would explain why no one saw Kelly with this third man and why this third man used a burner phone.

I rub my forehead and take a drink of the lukewarm coffee from my desk.

“Anne!”

She enters immediately wearing a pencil skirt dress and her hair in a low bun. “Yes, Sarah—do you need some more coffee?”

“Actually, that’d be great.” I look at my half-empty cup. “But can you get Sheriff Stevens on the phone?” Anne nods and disappears. I wait a few moments and then pick up the phone.

“This is Sheriff Stevens.”

“Hey, it’s Sarah.”

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” There’s an ounce of flirtation in his voice.

“I have a lead on the third set of DNA.”

Sheriff Stevens coughs and for a moment, I think the line has gone dead. “I told you, Sarah—I want to help, but the case is closed. There’s nothing more I can do.”

“Then I’ll just have to look into it myself,” I say preparing to hang up the phone.

“Fine. Who’s your lead?”

“I reviewed that interview you had with Jesse, and I noticed that Jesse said he always saw Kelly with a cop.”

“Yeah, so—her husband Scott is a cop,” he interrupts.

“True and that’s who I assumed he was talking about, but what if he wasn’t? What if Kelly was having an affair with Scott’s partner, Deputy Marcus Hudson?”

“That’s quite the accusation, Sarah. Do you have any proof of that?” He sounds irritated, and I guess he has every right to be. In the past week, one of his deputies has been accused of being a wife beater, and now I’m accusing another deputy of having an affair with his partner’s wife, and possibly murdering her. It doesn’t really have the wholesome look you’d want for a small-town sheriff’s department.

“No, but Kelly would have known Deputy Hudson very well. They could have easily grown close, and it explains why he used a burner phone and why they were never seen together in public. That’s something you would want to hide,” I explain.

“I’m not bringing Deputy Hudson in for questioning nor testing his DNA without any evidence. That’s ridiculous, Sarah.” He raises his voice.

“Then let’s bring Jesse in again. Let’s ask him to specify.”

“Sarah, this is over. There is nolet’s. This is my investigation, and it’s closed. Please do not call me again.” Sheriff Stevens hangs up the phone.

I slam my phone down. “Fuck.”

Anne enters the office with a worried look on her face.

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