Page 80 of Coveted Justice

“I had no idea that gun was there,” she said with a shake of her head, new tears starting to fall. “No idea at all. I don’t know how it got there. I was as surprised as he was.”

“Whose gun is it? Is it yours?”

“Marty and I had a gun for protection,” Abby replied. “It looks like it, but I can’t say for sure. I never used it. It was Marty’s before we got married.”

“You’ve never touched it? There won’t be any fingerprints on it that match you?”

“I’ve never touched it,” Abby said firmly. “Not even once. Marty kept it in his desk drawer.”

“Did you have a key to the desk?”

“Marty had one, and there was a spare in his nightstand. The top drawer.”

“But you never touched the gun?”

“Never. Not once. You know I don’t even like guns.”

That was true. Abby hadn’t been a fan of them, despite him having several in their home. He’d always made sure they were locked up and out of reach of the children.

“I didn’t shoot my husband,” she said, her fist banging down on the wooden table. “I loved Marty. I would never have hurt him. Ask anyone. They’ll tell you.”

“I’ve been talking to a lot of people, Abby, and they pretty much all say that you and Marty fought endlessly. And we already know that he threatened a divorce lawyer the night he died.”

“I didn’t know that, though. He never said that to me. Besides, he was just blowing off steam. He wasn’t going to actually call his attorney. We had a fight. It wasn’t a big deal.”

Tanner was still waiting for a call back from Marty’s personal attorney. So far, the man had been ducking his calls, and Sam’s too.

“The people around you don’t think it’s no big deal. They think that you had motive.”

Her cheeks turned red and she pushed back from the table, hopping to her feet to pace the small room.

“They’re wrong. I loved Marty with all of my heart. He was a wonderful man. We had a wonderful marriage. Better than ours ever was.”

They had had some good years, good times. It hadn’t always been bad, but Abby had never been happy as the wife of a small-town sheriff. She’d wanted more out of life than he could give her. His drinking back then hadn’t helped, although he’d been sober for awhile by the time she filed for divorce. She’d waited until Emily was in high school, but she said that she couldn’t wait any longer. She’d wanted her freedom.

“I know about the swinger’s club,” he heard himself saying. “And the wild parties.”

Her eyes widened but then she smiled as if she was glad that he knew.

“You are one hell of an investigator. I should have known you would find out. Nothing is ever a secret from you. But I’m not ashamed of it, Tanner. Marty and I were very happily married and this was simply a little hobby of his. It didn’t mean that he didn’t love me or that he wasn’t happy.”

“Did he force you into it?”

“I fully consented. I knew what I was getting into very soon after we started dating. Marty was completely open about his lifestyle.” She stopped near the windows and turned toward him. “Listen, if you want to look at someone that had a motive, look at Drew. They fought a hell of a lot more than he and I ever did. They absolutely hated each other. They argued recently and Drew wasn’t even speaking to Marty at all.”

He didn’t tell her that Logan had spoken to the son or what others had said about him.

“You didn’t mention Drew when we first talked.”

“I didn’t want to throw my stepson under the bus, but if everyone is going to think that I shot Marty, they also need to know that Drew had far more motive than I did. With Marty out of the way, Drew gets half of the estate.”

“Are you sure about that? They haven’t read the will.”

“That’s what I was told,” Abby said with a shrug. “I’m supposed to get a small amount plus the life insurance. The rest is split between Drew and Tricia with a few small bequests to charity. I’ve always known that I won’t inherit. So you see, I didn’t have much of a motive.”

“You get the life insurance,” Tanner pointed out. “I assume it’s not a paltry sum.”

“It’s not as much as Marty’s estate,” Abby shot back, clearly irritated. “Drew had more motive than me.”

---