“Were there any other conversations after that?” Ava asked. “Since that argument.”
“Not that we heard, but Marty was always complaining about Drew. He kept saying that he messed up as a parent. You see, he had a lot of guilt about the divorce. In trying to make it up to the kids, he inadvertently spoiled the hell out of Drew.”
“His sister seemed to skate through unscathed,” Logan remarked. “Did she and Marty have any issues?”
“Not at all,” Sandy replied. “He was proud of her. He’d say that he hadn’t completely screwed up his kids. I never heard them argue or even disagree.”
“What about Marty and Abby?” Ava queried. “Did they argue?”
“Not really,” Sandy replied, surprising Logan with her answer. All he’d heard up until now was that Marty and Abby fought like cats and dogs. “Sure, they disagreed now and then but they never really fought.”
“They never raised their voices?” Logan asked. “Ever?”
“They might have when we weren’t around,” Leo said with a laugh. “We don’t air our dirty laundry around the other club members either. If we’re having a domestic disagreement then it stays between us.”
Was it possible that Marty and Abby hadn’t argued when they were around these people? Everyone else had said they didn’t care who they yelled in front of. Even business associates.
Interesting.
“So Marty and Abby were happy?” Ava asked. “I mean, as far as you could tell.”
“They really loved each other,” Leo declared. “But I’m sure they fought, too. Every couple does.”
Logan wasn’t going to be the one to tell them about Marty’s threat of a divorce lawyer the night he died.
Ava cleared her throat, leaning forward onto the table, her elbows propped up.
“Did you know that Marty and Abby were being sued by their neighbors?”
The second half of that sentence was for damage that you supposedly did. To Ava’s credit, she didn’t say it out loud, although Logan’s mind filled in the blanks.
The affable expressions the couple were wearing instantly changed into something far different. Mad and annoyed were how he would describe them.
“Those people,” Sandy said, her tone fierce. “They acted like we’d run over their cat or something like that. Marty accidentally didn’t set the emergency brake and the car rolled down a hill and hit one of their trees. It did more damage to our car than their tree, but they were absolutely livid when we knocked on their door to tell them. We offered to pay them for the damage, but they wouldn’t take it. Next thing we knew, they were suing Marty and Abby. Absolutely crazy. Some people just don’t want to be happy.”
“Apparently, living next to Marty and Abby was something of a nightmare according to them,” Logan explained. “They said they were tired of the constant loud parties, the naked people in their pool, and the damage to their lawn and plants.”
Sandy’s mouth hung open, her eyes wide with shock.
“No, that’s all wrong,” she said. Leo was also shaking his head, his brows pulled down. “Yes, Marty and Abby hosted several parties, sometimes one or two a week. But we were never wild and loud. I can assure you that naked people weren’t wandering the area or climbing into their pool. Usually, it was a small group of people and we were very quiet. I’m surprised they even knew we were there except for that one day when the car hit the tree. They’re lying, I can assure you. We were always respectful of the other people in the neighborhood.”
Logan and Ava exchanged a glance. This didn’t jive with what they’d been told in the least.
“They were quite adamant,” Ava said. “They said the music was loud and that people parked on their lawn. That this went on several nights a week.”
“Listen, I can’t say what went on at that house when we weren’t there,” Sandy said aggressively. “But I can say that that didn’t happen when we were there. Believe me when I say that our club doesn’t want to garner any more attention than it already does. We’re quiet and nice because we don’t want people complaining about us. We get a lot of judgement for what we do here. We don’t need to add to our problems by being assholes.”
The explanation made sense to Logan. But did that make the neighbors liars? Was the truth somewhere in the middle?
“They said they had security footage,” Logan said.
“It’s the first I’m hearing of it,” Leo replied. “I swear that I’m telling you the truth. Why don’t you ask those people about how they tried to buy Marty and Abby’s house for their son and daughter-in-law, but were turned down? They were angry about that. I wouldn’t put it past them to make up a story like this to get Marty and Abby to move. Trust me when I say, if that house goes on the market, they’ll be the first to put in an offer.”
He made a mental note to look into that accusation. The neighbors hadn’t made a peep about wanting the house, but they had asked if it was going to be sold. They were back on the suspect list until he had this straightened out.
“We’ll check into that,” Logan replied. “Is there anyone else that you can think of that would have wanted to hurt Marty? Anyone at all?”
“I’ll just say look at the son,” Sandy said. “Marty and Drew were always at each other’s throats. He’s the most likely suspect if you ask me.”