Callie turned critical eyes on him. “Who are you working for?”
Sharp had hoped to keep his association with the defense to himself for now. Presumption of innocence was a legal term. Most of the time, the public assumed the defendant was guilty, and Callie seemed more loyal to Noah’s parents than to his memory.
But asked directly, he couldn’t lie. They might need her to testify.
“The attorney hired to defend Haley Powell,” Sharp said.
Callie didn’t look surprised. But then, Sharp had already established that she was intelligent.
“Noah had his good points,” she began. “He was cute in a geeky way. Sometimes he was disarmingly adorable.” The corner of her mouth quirked up, as if she were remembering something specific.
Sharp waited. He could sense a big, fat but was coming.
“But every time we’d hang out, I’d wake up with the worst hangover. I was no angel in college. I had my share of evenings to regret. But after the first year or so of college, the partying grew old. These days, I’m a one-or-two-drink girl. I teach grammar school at the Young Academy.”
“The private school on Oak Street?” Sharp asked.
“More specifically, the Christian private school. The last thing I need is for a picture of my sloppy-drunk self to show up on social media. The parents of my students would go ballistic. One whiff of scandal, and I would lose my job.”
“So what does this have to do with Noah?”
“He had—how can I say this tactfully? Noah’s sexual appetites were a little more adventurous than mine.” A blush stained her cheeks. “I like fruity, girly drinks. No matter what I ordered, he would bring me a double. If we were at his house, he added extra alcohol to mine. Face it, after a drink or two, particularly doubles, I wasn’t thinking clearly. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but it took me a while to figure out what he was doing. When I did, I felt incredibly stupid.”
“Did you confront him?”
“I did. He said I was a prude, and he was just trying to loosen me up.” The red of her cheeks darkened with anger. “I broke up with him immediately. Who would date a guy she can’t trust?”
“Smart of you.”
“Look, I’m not saying Noah was a terrible person. He didn’t deserve to die. But he wasn’t perfect.”
“No one is,” Sharp agreed. “How well do you know Noah’s friends?”
“We hung out with them a few times.” She folded her hands, and her head tilted. She was deciding whether to tell him something.
Sharp waited. He’d questioned enough people to know when to push and when to be patient. Callie needed patience. If he pushed her, she’d toss him off her porch.
“Honestly, I didn’t like hanging out with his friends, and Noah spent a lot of time with them.”
“Every man needs some guy time.” Sharp had his retired cop buddies.
“True.” Callie nodded. “Maybe I’m being too harsh, but they all seemed to resent me. They didn’t have girlfriends. I definitely felt like the fifth wheel.”
“How did Noah get along with his family?”
“His parents are nice. Maybe too nice.”
“Can someone be too nice?” Sharp asked.
“Noah and his brother were indulged.” She laughed, but the sound was tight and strained. “Maybe I am just too uptight.”
When she went quiet, Sharp pressed for more. “How did Noah get along with his brother?”
“Adam has issues.” She watched the mail truck move from house to house across the street, her mouth turned down, as if she were deciding how much to reveal.
“I know you probably feel like you’re betraying confidences, but Noah is dead. The right person should be convicted of killing him. If you know something, holding back might put an innocent woman in prison.”
Callie turned to face Sharp again. Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. “You really think she’s innocent?”
Since he was asking for her complete honesty, Sharp offered his to her. “I think so. But I want to be one hundred percent sure.”
Her head dipped in a small nod. “I never witnessed any fight between the brothers, but Noah did tell me about a few incidents from his childhood. When Adam was five, he stabbed Noah in the neck with a pencil. Noah had a small scar from it. When he was seven, Adam tried to set the house on fire in the middle of the night. The family’s retriever gave him away.” Callie’s eyes hardened. “A week later, the dog died. Noah suspected Adam had poisoned her.”
Sharp leaned back and absorbed the information.
Adam was a psycho.
“That’s all I know.” Callie stood.
“Thank you for talking to me.” Sharp rose and shook her hand. “Can I call you if I have more questions?”
“I suppose, but I’d rather you didn’t.” She wrapped her arms around her middle.
“Call me if there’s anything else you want to tell me.” Sharp jogged down the porch steps and hurried to his Prius.
Could Adam have killed his brother? And why?
Chapter Thirty-Three
“They’re avoiding us.” Eating the last bite of her chicken sandwich, Morgan stared through the windshield at Isaac’s house. Though his car was parked out front, he hadn’t responded to their knock on his door. He’d also ignored her phone call. Chase had done the same. She crumpled the sandwich wrapper and stuffed it into the fast-food bag. Lance had already finished his lunch.
“That’s what I would do if I were them.” Lance turned the car around.
Morgan’s phone pinged with an incoming email. She read the display. “Let’s stop at the office. A forensic report just came in.”
Lance drove into town and cruised past what had been his home.
Caution tape and barricades blocked off his lot. Smoke curled from the burned-out shell that had been his house. One fire truck still sat out front, no doubt waiting for the ashes to stop smoldering.
“Oh, my God, Lance.” Morgan pressed a palm to her chest. Emotions clogged her throat. The bed he’d been sleeping in was in that pile of charred debris. “When I think you were in there . . .”
She’d known at the hospital that he could have died, but seeing the evidence was a slap of reality. He was very lucky to be alive. Gratefulness filled her. She was lucky he was alive.
Lance reached for her hand. “It didn’t look like that when I was in it.”
“With multiple points of origin, it must have gone up very quickly.”
“Let’s go to work.” Lance put the car in gear. “This is just a house. Haley’s life is much more important.”
But the investigation was dragging them into dangerous places. Again. But then, what did she expect? They were pursuing a killer, who presumably didn’t want to be caught.
Lance cruised the six blocks to the office. Sharp’s Prius was parked out front when they arrived. They went inside and found him in the kitchen brewing tea.
“Oh, good, you’re here.” Sharp rubbed his palms together. “Want to know what I learned from Callie Fisher?”
“I hope it’s a break in the case. We really need one of those.” Morgan deposited her coat and bag on a chair and eased into the next seat.
“It might be more than one.” Sharp bounced on his toes with more energy than he’d shown in days.
Lance leaned on the wall. “What did she say?”
“One, Noah liked to give her extra booze, and two, his brother, Adam, sounds like a psychopath.” Sharp poured three cups of green tea while he gave them the details on his interview.
Then Lance filled Sharp in on his mother’s report.
Sharp studied Morgan’s face. “You should take a cat nap.”
Morgan realized she must still look terrible, because Sharp placed an organic oatmeal cookie on a plate and laid it next to her. She blew across the steaming cup of tea to cool it. “A forensic report just came in. The trace evidence has been processed.”
“Lance and I can read through it.” Sharp’s jaw set. “This is a team effort.”
Morgan wanted to argue, but the throbbing of her head stopped her. “You’re right. I’ll close my eyes for twenty minutes.”
Sharp’s brows dropped. “You’re not arguing?”