“No. It’s very quiet here. Very safe,” Aimee says. “It’s a cul-de-sac, so no one who doesn’t live here ever goes through here. Except, like, Amazon and DoorDash.”
“People from the neighborhood don’t come through the cul-de-sac to use the shortcut to get to downtown Bethesda?”
“Sure, I guess. But just locals who live here,” she says. “Do you think someone from the neighborhood is involved?”
“We’re just asking questions at this point. Can you think of anything else that might be relevant? Anything at all?”
Aimee debates whether she should offer up any of the jigsaw pieces she’s picked up in the past day: the fight she overheard last night, where the blood on Anton’s head came from, Anton’s history of cheating. But she decides it’s none of her business. Detective Salazar is a professional. He’ll find these things out if they are relevant. It would feel like a betrayal of her friendship with Gwen to mention any of them.
Detective Salazar looks at Scott. “If you could walk me out, give me that name and number of the friend you met. The one from the gym.”
His tone is slightly amused, as if he thinks Scott has made it all up. But maybe that’s how he talks to people, Aimee thinks, keeping them off guard. She watches as Scott and the detective leave, and goes to the kitchen. As she busies herself with the remaining breakfast dishes, she replays the interview. She’s shaken, as much by the fact that her neighbor has been killed as by her husband’s behavior. It’s off, there’s no denying it. She doesn’t believe Scott is capable of violence, but he is hiding something.
“So, who’s this friend?” she asks as soon as he crosses the threshold into the kitchen.
“Whoa, easy there.” He holds up his hands as if he’s being robbed. “He’s nobody. Just a guy from the gym.”
“What did you say his name was?”
“Jon Block.”
“How come you never mentioned him before?”
“Aimee. What’s going on with you? I’m not allowed to meet a friend from the gym for a drink?”
“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” Noa runs in and yanks at Scott’s pants. “Can you get the first aid kit down? I’m setting up an animal hospital and I need bandages.” Aimee had placed the first aid kit out of Noa’s reach for this very reason—she could go through a jumbo pack of Band-Aids in an hour. A look of relief flashesacross Scott’s face. He’s glad, Aimee realizes, to have an excuse to cut the conversation short.
Moments after Scott leaves the room with Noa, his phone pings. Aimee stays still a moment, trying to establish where the sound is coming from.Ping.She finds the phone plugged into their charging station on a table by the back door.
Aimee holds it in her palm, torn about what to do.
They have a marriage built on trust. She’s not like Gwen, full of suspicions. She’s never gone through Scott’s things, never read his texts or his emails. But then again, she’s never had any reason to doubt him before.
She’s dying to read what has just come in but knows that will be crossing a line. She’s never been tempted to invade his privacy before. The last thing she wants to do is turn on Scott, but in light of Detective Salazar’s questions and Scott’s slippery responses, she feels justified.
Aimee turns the phone over in her hand. The home screen has a text from Jon Block.I’ve found something. Can you meet me…
The text cuts off and she can’t access it because she doesn’t know his passcode. She tries their anniversary, her birthday, the twins’ and then Noa’s birthday, but nothing. She hears his footsteps approaching and drops the phone back on the table, stepping back, pretending to look for something in Max’s backpack, which hangs on a nearby peg.
“There it is.” Scott picks up his phone. Peering over her shoulder, she watches him read the message.
“Get the first aid kit for Noa?” She watches his face as he reads the texts, searching for any change in his reaction.
He doesn’t respond straight away. He’s absorbed in what he’s reading. Finally, he looks up. “Huh? Yeah. Hey, listen, I think I’m going to head to the gym while the boys are at soccer. That cool with you?”
He doesn’t wait for a response but walks away, obviously distracted. Something shifts inside her. She can sense a crack inwhat she had long taken for granted. No matter what challenges she faced as a mom and a business owner, she always thought her marriage was rock solid.
But Scott is lying to her.
She doesn’t know why, but she is going to find out.
13
NOW
Gwen stands in the middle of her kitchen and stares at her to-do list.
She can’t put it off any longer—it’s time to call Anton’s father, Henri.