Page 33 of Seven Deadly Sins

“They’ve released the body?” Harper arched a brow.

“Not yet, but they will eventually. I don’t like waiting until the last minute.” She led them to a living room of white leather furniture, fuzzy throw pillows, and accents in red and yellow. She perched on the edge of the sofa. “What do you want to know?”

~

Liam sat across from her, leaving Harper to study the room. “We believe your husband may be a victim of the Seven Deadly Sins Killer.” He fought back a wince at using the title.

“Why him?” She pulled a tissue from a nearby box. Her gaze flicked to where Harper studied photos on the mantel over the fireplace.

“Is it possible your husband wanted something he didn’t have? His partner’s wife, perhaps?” He kept his features stoic as she flinched.

“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re all friends. We have been for years.”

“You take vacations together?” Harper held up a photo of the four of them on a tropical beach. “Your husband and Mrs. Reynolds seem cozy here. He’s holding her closer to him than he is you.” She set the photo back. “Sometimes, the wife is the last to know.”

“You think the killer ran over him because he looked too long at Sylvia?” She shook her head. “I refuse to believe it. I’m sure when you speak to her, you’ll realize I’m right.”

“I hope so, ma’am.” Liam stood. “If you should think of anything that would help us catch your husband’s killer, please let us know.”

“Perhaps, I’ll take a vacation and visit my parents in Europe until they release David’s body.”

“I wouldn’t advise you leaving town, ma’am.” Liam gave her a stern look, then followed Harper from the house.

Outside, Harper faced him. “If he wasn’t having an affair with Mrs. Reynolds, then he sure wanted to. Mrs. Alexander may not want to believe her husband’s infatuation, but photos don’t lie. In everyone with the four of them, David Alexander looks as if he wants to gobble up his partner’s wife.”

“All this line of questioning is doing is confirming that Alexander is the first victim of the second sin. We need to find out who the next victim will be and try to prevent their death.” A near impossible task.

Back in the jeep, he sat without starting the engine. “I have no idea where to go from here. So what if Alexander wanted Sylvia Reynolds? That doesn’t get us any closer to who killed him. Confirmation is not a clue.”

His fingers curled. He fought off the urge to punch the steering wheel. Losing his temper wouldn’t solve anything.

“Let’s go to the station. See what HPD knows.” She put a hand on his arm. “We’ll catch this guy. It’ll take time, that’s all.”

And deaths. Possibly many of them. He started the jeep and drove to the station where the same officer from the accident site led them to a case board.

“As you can see, we don’t know anything other than the texts the two of you received and that we have a dead guy.” Officer Perez crossed his arms. “But we don’t have another body, so that’s good.”

Yet. They had nothing to do but wait. “Tell me the local gossip. Who’s cheating with whom? Who’s fighting over property, anything that could be construed as coveting.”

“How much time to you have?” Perez shook his head. “We’re dealing with the human race here. Sin is rampant, but I’ll get someone on that and try to have some idea by the end of the day.”

“Thanks. We can at least warn some people.”

“My chief has been talking to the detective’s chiefs. They’re both going to hold a press conference this afternoon warning the public. If the danger escalates, they’ll enforce a curfew.” He shrugged. “People will balk, but it might save some lives.”

Liam regretted that things had come to enforcing curfew. He sighed and followed Harper back to the jeep. “Hungry?”

“I could eat.” She sounded as down as he felt. “Do you really think you can figure out the next victim off rumors?”

“If they’re in the public eye, maybe. We don’t have anything else to go on. Where’s the best place to grab a quick bite?”

She gave directions to a fast-food chicken place as her phone buzzed. Liam waited, expecting to receive a text. When he didn’t, he realized it wasn’t from the killer.

“Annie has addresses to the three men on the list. I’m going to have her check those who died next. Our man has something to do with one of those lists.”

“Finally, something that might pan out.” He considered himself a good judge of character and reading of body language. If one of those men had something against him, Harper or both, he’d sense it.

Chapter Three

---