Slowly, Walter let the gun return to his lap. “Hurry.”
Leigh’s legs were shaky as she went to the desk. She pulled open drawers, dumping their contents onto the floor, searching for the small key. She silently begged Walter to not remember the screwdriver in her car. She needed to get her husband out of here, to make him see reason. They had to stop this. They needed to take Reggie to the hospital. And then Reggie would go straight to the police and Walter would be arrested and Andrew would show the tapes and—
Leigh felt her thoughts lurch to a halt.
Her brain had been making connections in the background, telling her that something wasn’t right. She inventoried the items on Reggie’s desk. Laptop. Black leather blotter. Colored glass paperweight. Personalized business card holder.
The Tiffany 1837 Makers letter opener was missing.
Leigh knew that the seven-inch long, sterling silver desk accessory cost $375. She had bought the same one for Walter a few Christmases ago. It had the distinctive, masculine look of a knife.
“Walter,” she said. “I need to talk to you in the hall.”
He didn’t move. “Get the screwdriver out of your car.”
Leigh went to the couch. She reached into her purse. Ruby Heyer’s crime scene photos were still in the folder. “Walter, I need you to come into the hall with me. Now.”
Her curt tone of voice somehow managed to cut through the fog. Walter stood up, telling Reggie, “We’ll be right outside that door. Don’t try a goddam thing or I will shoot you in the back. Understood?”
Reggie lifted his head. His eyes were closed, but he managed to nod once in agreement.
Leigh didn’t move until Walter did. She led him into the hall, but he stopped before they reached the outer office, hovering near the doorway so he could keep his eyes on Reggie.
Walter spoke through gritted teeth. “What is it?”
“Do you remember the letter opener I bought you?” Leigh said. “Do you still have it?”
Slowly, Walter turned his head in her direction. “What?”
“The letter opener, the one from Tiffany that I bought you. Do you remember it?”
Walter’s expression slowly changed into one of confusion. He almost looked like her husband again.
Leigh thumbed through Ruby Heyer’s file, keeping the photos obscured so that Walter wasn’t set off again. She found the close-up of the knife sticking out between Ruby’s legs. She still didn’t show it to him. Most of Walter’s legal career had been spent on a phone or behind a desk. He’d never tried a criminal case before, let alone a violent murder.
She said, “I’m going to show you a photo. It’s very graphic, but you need to see it.”
Walter glanced back at Reggie. “Jesus, Leigh, just get to the point.”
She knew he wasn’t ready, so she walked him through the details. “Andrew has an alibi for Ruby’s murder. Are you listening to me?”
Walter nodded, but he wasn’t really.
“Andrew got married last night,” Leigh said, trying to keep the information as simple and repetitive as she would for a jury. “When the police confronted him this morning about Ruby’s murder, he had an alibi. He showed them photos on his phone. The photos showed Andrew with the caterer, and another one with his mother at the cocktail party, and then with friends waiting for Sidney to walk down the aisle.”
Walter’s jaw worked. He wasn’t going to entertain her for much longer.
“This morning, before court, I saw Andrew. He had bite marks on his neck, and a scratch here.” She put her hand to her face and waited for Walter to look. “They were defensive wounds. Andrew had defensive wounds this morning.”
“Ruby fought back,” Walter said. “So?”
“No, remember the alibi photos from the night before? You can see the bite marks on Andrew’s neck, but the bruises are already coming up. The timing doesn’t work out. It kept bothering me because I know how long it takes for bruises to get dark like that. Andrew got the bite marks around three, maybe four yesterday afternoon. Ruby talked to her family at five on the telephone. Andrew has photos of himself meeting with the caterers at five thirty. The police think Ruby was murdered around six or seven. Her body was found at seven thirty. Andrew was at home the entire time, surrounded by witnesses.”
Walter’s impatience was on full display.
Leigh put her palm flat to his chest, the same way she always did when she needed his undivided attention.
He finally looked at her. She could see him silently running back through the details, trying to figure out the important parts. Finally, he said, “Keep going.”