Page 70 of The Couple's Secret
Josie waited until he was seated behind his desk again before asking, “When did you move into this office?”
“Oh, I guess a few years ago.”
She nodded to Gretchen, who leaned forward and planted the photo in front of him.
His brows knit with confusion. “What’s this?”
“A picture of you in your first office is what I’m guessing,” said Gretchen.
“Oh, yeah, you’re right.” He smoothed his tie again. “It was a bit of a shithole, if I’m being honest, but yeah.”
“In Brighton Springs,” Josie said. “In the strip mall across from the Majesty Motel.”
Avoiding her gaze, he blinked slowly. “Uh, yeah, that’s right.”
Gretchen leaned forward in her chair, tapping her hand lightly against the desk to get his attention. “Tell us again how you never met Cora Stevens.”
The color drained from his cheeks. “What are you talking about?”
“Let’s try it this way,” Josie told him. “When did you meet Cora Stevens for the first time?”
He met Josie’s eyes but quickly looked away. “I told you, I never met her.”
“When was the last time you spoke with her?”
“I don’t understand what’s happening right now. I told you?—”
Gretchen tapped the desk again, cutting him off. “We know what you told us. Now we want the truth. Don’t insult us, Mr. Olsen. You did our job for decades. You know how this works.”
“But just in case you need a refresher,” Josie said, standing and planting her palms on his desk so she could lean into his space. “Let me lay it out for you. We have a witness who puts Cora Stevens in the parking lot of the Majesty mere months before she and Tobias were killed. The pings from her cell phone confirm it. There are only two possibilities as to why she would have been there. The first and most obvious one is that she was having an affair.”
“I didn’t—” Olsen choked on his words.
Josie kept going. “We have a second witness who advises that in the weeks leading up to the murders, she was planning to leave Tobias. She’d started putting money away so she could rent an apartment for her and Riley.”
“By all accounts,” Gretchen said, “Tobias was a loving, devoted partner. He liked to spoil Cora.”
Olsen pursed his lips but didn’t interrupt.
“Tobias offered her financial security,” Gretchen added. “A big house for their blended family. In fact, he had told her she didn’t need to work once they got married. He also put up with Dalton Stevens, her abusive ex-husband, who continued to stalk her relentlessly. Tobias stuck by Cora even after Dalton threatened him.”
“Which makes me wonder,” Josie said, leaning in even closer. “Why would Cora want to leave him?”
Olsen pushed his chair back a few inches and cleared his throat. “It wasn’t—there was no affair.”
“So you did meet Cora,” Gretchen said.
“This isn’t relevant to the murders,” he said quickly. “I promise you that. If it was, I would have gone to Fanning with it first thing.”
Josie stepped back and folded her arms over her chest. “Let’s hear it anyway.”
“It wasn’t an affair, okay?” he insisted. “That’s the truth.”
“Forgive me if I don’t believe you since you lied to our faces not even a half hour ago when you said you never met her,” said Gretchen.
He groaned. “Fine. I lied about that. I’m sorry. But there was no affair. I never touched her. She came to my office.”
“She hired you?” asked Josie.
