Chapter Eight

The living room of the victim’s home was an array of blues and grays with smidges of yellow that were present in the pillows and flowers clashed with the sadness that oozed from Nicholas.

Nick sat on the gray couch after letting them in and stared blankly at the bridal and wedding magazines that lay in an arc on the coffee table along with color samples for table clothes.

“It took so long to convince her that we would work...that we could work.” He clutched his cardigan closer to his body. His knuckles were white with stress. “It sometimes felt like we would only see each other for an hour or two in a week.”

Dinah was kneeling next to the lower rung shelves that adorned the wall next to the flat-screen TV.

“Did she mention any arguments or complications she had at work?” Kacey came back into the living room with a cup of tea with honey.

The tea shook in his hands and he continued to stare at the table. “I wish I could say that she was loved by all but by the time she got to a higher on the ground position she was competing with three other people for raises and promotions. All of this combined with some friction with her co-workers.” He took a deep breath and scratched his scalp. “Her and Markus were always at each others heels when it came to leadership roles and raises. I remember that while they were quite good at working with each other they don’t necessarily get along well due to their competitiveness.”

“Then why did you go to the theatre with him?”

“I was friends with him before I knew her. I met him during my last year of college when he transferred his credits from his previous college to NYU. I didn’t intend to date her but there was a bar close to their workplace where a lot of them would go and hangout. We would talk, she was smart, funny, and dedicated to her goals. She was obviously attractive and I was lucky enough that she thought I was attractive as well.”

“Can you give me the names of the people who were in her squad?”

“Markus Nolan, Allison Quartz, Lucas Brook, Layla Marina, and previously Christopher Williams. Chris transferred to the Seattle branch two years ago.”

“Could you give me the names of any friends she had outside of the office?”

“If she wasn’t working she was with me and if she wasn’t with me or at work she was visiting her family. Friends outside of work stopped being a thing for her once she graduated with her masters.”

“Did you two have any on-going fights or issues in the previous months?”

“The same arguments anyone about to get married would have, I guess. She was busy and I wanted her to spend more time helping pick things out for our wedding.”

“When were you planning to get married?”

“We were planning for February of next year. It was going to be a small thing but the more we started to plan, the more people we invited and stuff we added. I realized I cared more about that fantasy wedding than I thought I did.”

Dinah stood up, “Is it okay if I go check out the other rooms?”

“Yeah, of course. Whatever you need.”

There was a short respite from the questioning as the silence grew and popped like a balloon.

“We argued about wedding choices but everything else we already talked about years ago. We both want..wanted kids. Neither of us had any serious opinion on religion and she wasn’t put off by my issues.” He gulped down the tea and hid his mouth behind his sleeves.

Kacey looked around at the furnished house, hardwood floors, over at the marble island, and the pool just outside the patio doors.

“When did you and Adeline move into this house?”

“About four months ago. We used to live closer to the city but now that we are getting married there was a want to prepare for children.”

“Where did you live previously?”

“We lived in an apartment about six blocks away from Madison Square Park.”

“Could you write down the address?” She handed him the notepad with a fresh page turned.

*******

Dinah didn’t even have to announce her presence as she walked back into the room holding a gun in a clear evidence bag.

“Is this gun yours?”

Nick shook his head, “No I have no need for a gun. Any gun in the house always belonged to Adeline.”

“Do you know how to use a gun?”

“Yes, since we have one in the house she wanted me to know how to take one apart, use one, and disarm someone carrying a gun.”

“Does this particular gun look familiar to you?”

“No.” Shaking his head and standing up he told the two he was going to go to the bathroom leaving them alone in the living room.

“The serial number has been scratched off and based on my inspection it looks like it can hold six bullets but there are only 4 bullets.” Dinah passed the bag off to her.

Kacey set the bag on the coffee table after she finished inspecting it and passed her notes over to Dinah. “He works at home as a director of quality improvement for a computer software company which according to him is the income that made them able to afford this house with a pool.”

“Did you find out anything about the fight she supposedly had with Nolan?”

“Kind of. He didn’t know of any arguments in courthouses. He also wasn’t aware of any specific fights that she had with him. However, the two apparently had a tense and competitive relationship even though they were able to, for the most part, work together well.”

“Did he believe that there was anything in his behavior that could put him in the light of being a more serious suspect?”

“He and Markus were friends before he even met Adeline so I think this keeps any violent anger from joining Adeline and Markus’s relationships.”

Dinah picked up her jacket and twirled her keys around her fingers “We can’t talk to Adeline so we’ll have to make do with Markus’s opinion on what they fought about.”

“Are you two leaving?”

“Yes, thank you for answering our questions and letting us look around your house. If we need to look around more or have more questions we will let you know.”