Page 73 of Kiss Marry Kill
“Do you have questions for me or not?” he rasped.
His pompous expression irked me, but I tried to shake off my anger. It was hard to think straight when I was mad. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The day of the wedding, did you or did you not have words with Archie?”
A muscle jerked repeatedly in his cheek. “I didn’t approve of him.”
“That’s not exactly an answer.”
“Okay, yes. I had words with Archie.”
“All right. When was this?”
“I didn’t check my watch,” he said snidely.
“An approximate time will do.”
He shrugged. “It was right after that fool Kobe embarrassed himself.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “According to witness statements, your argument with Archie took place in front of the restaurant. Is that how you remember it?”
“Yes,” he snapped.
“Why were you upset with Archie? I’d have thought you’d have been furious with Kobe, not Archie.”
He crossed his arms, and the material of his suit seemed to strain. “Oh, believe me. If I’d seen Kobe, I’d have happily strangled him. As it was, I ran into Archie first.”
“What was your problem with Archie?”
“I told you, I didn’t approve of him for my daughter.”
“Was that the only reason you had a problem with him?”
The muscles of his jaw clamped. “None of your business.”
I sighed. “Seriously? We’re going to start that again?”
He studied me, obviously struggling with his pride. Finally, he said, “My issues with Archie were a personal matter.”
“Murder usually is personal.”
He hissed, “For the millionth time, I didn’t murder Archie. It’s true I didn’t like him. He was all wrong for my daughter. But I didn’t murder him.”
I studied him, noting the anger still glittering in his eyes. Archie was dead, yet Michael still seemed to harbor anger at the other man. If he’d murdered his son-in-law, I’d have thought some of that anger would’ve dissipated. But it was still there.
“Did you punch Archie?” A cursory glance of his hands had already revealed to me some scraps on his knuckles.
The flush returned, as did his bluster. “What kind of question is that? How could you ask me that? Why, I’ll have your badge for harassing me and my family this way.”
“It’s a fair question,” I said evenly.
“A fair question? You’re asking me if I attacked the murder victim.”
I studied him, weighing whether or not I wanted to mention Archie going to the gazebo with Angela. Michael was already furious with me. His head would probably explode if I brought up his wife’s possible infidelity. I decided I had nothing to lose because he was already in the red zone.
“There are rumors about your wife. Have you heard them?”
As expected, his fury intensified. If he’d been a chimney, black smoke would’ve been pouring out of his ears. “Excuse me?” he hissed. “What did you just say?”
“It’s a simple question.”
