“I was having an affair. Sarah and I have been having problems, and I strayed. I met her at a convention for a larger church a year ago. I went to meet her and tell her it was over. Sarah knows, and we are working through it.” He held his head high after admitting that he cheated.
I was about to speak when Chief cut in first.
“We need your alibi and any other proof that you can give us that you were not with Amanda at the time of her death.”
That was it. Robert Burke was not the killer.
“Do you have any idea who would want her dead?” Chief was taking the lead from now on. We still had a killer to catch.
Robert shook his head.
“She was a nice girl despite her powers. She made Sarah happy, was a good friend. Most of the people she works with come to worship on Sunday. The young folk. Always drama with young people these days,” he commented, and I wanted to call the pot a kettle. He was sleeping around on his wife, and he had the nerve to complain that young folk were the cause of drama? His life was like a soap opera. I’d bet my next paycheck the mistress winds up pregnant in his story.
“Maybe talk to the guy she was seeing.”
“Neil from the ER?” She’d broken up with her boyfriend for him, so maybe they were already together despite him saying they hadn’t taken that leap.
“No, I don’t remember hearing anything about a guy in the ER. She was talking with Sarah one day, and her scarf moved, showing a hickey on her neck. She was always coming in with hickeys and marks on her wrists. Probably into that BDSM. Satan’s work there, if you ask me.”
I didn’t ask him, and for him to judge people like that made him seem even more hypocritical in my eyes. But what he said confused me. Did Amanda have another lover besides the boyfriend she left and the one she wanted?
Chief worked with him to get all the official statements and his alibi checked out. His wife was sitting in our waiting room, and I took the opportunity to tell her that he was not Amanda’s killer, and he’d be out soon.
Even though she knew, I didn’t bring up the affair. To me that was something that was unforgivable, but others might be able to forgive and move on.
Her eyes were red, and puffy. She’d been crying a lot that was for sure.
“We weren’t able to have a baby, and I know that’s what made him stray.” Her voice was low as she stared at the door that her husband was behind.
“Amanda was there for you during the hard times.” It was a statement easily made. Amanda just seemed like the kind of person friends would lean on.
“She was. She was kind and didn’t judge me for not leaving him. She would tell me everything would work out as God planned.” She turned her head so she could look at me, woman to woman.
“I miss her.” Tears started to flow down her cheeks, and I felt bad for her, losing her closest friend in a time where she needed her the most.
“Was Amanda seeing anybody? We know she had left her boyfriend and had eyes on Neil. But your husband mentioned hickeys and red marks. Both of those lead us to think she had a lover. If you were her closest friend, then maybe she confided in you?” I hope this led somewhere, otherwise we were back to nothing but the scent of shoe polish as our only connection to the murder and Lisa’s almost-murder.
I could tell she was trying to think over what she and Amanda had talked about in the last few weeks, and then a light bulb went off in her head.
“I noticed those too but didn’t say anything. She did mention something happening at the hospital but didn’t tell me who. I wanted her to live a little outside of work, so I was hoping she took my advice to have a fling in the storage room.”
Interesting that she told her to go out and sex it up.
“She’s young and could have fun before settling down. It may not be the church way of waiting till marriage, but I just wanted her to be happy. She made so many people happy; she deserved some too.” Sarah smiled slightly, and all I could do was think about how there was another person in the picture. But who?
An hour later, Robert, his wife, and his lawyer were walking out of the station.
I wasn’t ready to be still, and I had a new lead to go on, so I drove to the hospital.
Hopefully I would be able to flush out more information about who Amanda had been seeing.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Echo
I was halfway through eating an apple in the car when someone tapped on my window. My stomach had started growling on my way to the hospital, so I stopped at the store to grab some snacks in case today wound up being a long one.
It was Dr. Nathan Bellmont tapping on the glass.
I took one more bite and then opened the door.
“Ms. Cross. I thought that was you. Are you heading into the hospital?” He looked happy to see me, and I mentally cringed, hoping he didn’t think I was here for him in the way he hoped.
“Still investigating Amanda’s murder.” I put my cuffs in my back pocket and my gun in my holster on my belt, going for a little intimidation factor. My jacket covered up both, but I saw Dr. Bellmont’s eyes had seen where I’d stashed them.
“Do you think the killer is at the hospital?” His eyebrows scrunched together, like the thought of working with a killer was not possible.
“Well, normally in cases like this, the victim knew the killer personally. Dr. Bellmont, was there any misconduct between Amanda and another coworker that you were aware of?” We walked into the hospital together, and he shook his head.
“I’m the lead doctor in this ward. If the employees are doing something they know they aren’t supposed to, it’s usually hidden so I don’t find out. Personal relationships between staff members are not prohibited but are discouraged, for obvious reasons.” He chuckled and veered off to his office. I followed him in.
“So, you have no clue if she had been seeing someone in the hospital?”
He set his satchel down and looked at me with a kind smile, but with a narrowing stare. It was sort of chastising, as if he was saying that I am a silly girl for looking into such things.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Cross. I am sadly out of the loop when it comes to the staff here and their adventures.”
I watched him for a moment longer and tried to decide if he was telling the truth or not. He was their boss and was in their lives every day. He had to have known at least something, even if it was gossip.
I needed another way to listen to what was going on in the ward but without being here as a cop.
“Thank you for speaking to me again, Dr. Bellmont. I won’t take up anymore of your time.” I started to back away as he said his goodbyes and if I needed anything else to please give him a call.
He rushed over to me and pushed his card into my hand.
When his fingers touched mine, a creepy chill moved down my spine.
Dr. Bellmont wasn’t exactly screaming killer at me, but whenever people find out someone they know is a serial killer, they all say he was a good person, would have never hurt a fly.
I was going to find out if that particular statement was true or not.
I thanked him and walked down the hall, and out of his sight.
Without anyone noticing me, I snuck into the janitor’s closet and took off my clothes.
Once naked, I changed into a fly.
I’d been a fly before. The eyesight was strange, but I could move around and listen to people’s conversations. A fly on the wall.
First, I flew into the doctor’s office again, hoping to get more on him than what his creepy smile let on.
He was looking at his computer and talking on the phone.
“Yes. Echo Cross.”
My name on his lips made me curious. Why was he saying my name?
“And make sure it’s the white ones with one red one in the middle. And yes, the dozen.”
I flew around to see what he was looking at on his computer and saw flowers. He was sending me a bouquet of roses. Gross.
Someone came barging in through his door, and he looked unhappy at the intrusion. He thanked the person on the phone and then ended the call.
I didn’t want to make any noise flying around, so I landed on the bookshelf behind the doctor and watched as the nurse Rose and I had talked to stepped toward the desk.