Jules didn’t say anything for a minute. “And did you threaten her?”
“I knew what she was doing behind Shep’s back, because I’d overheard her phone calls. I told her that I was going to tell him if it didn’t stop. I guess maybe she saw that as a threat.”
“And on the day she was killed, did the two of you argue?”
“Yes, we did.”
“Can you tell us what about?”
She paused again. “It was about how she was treating Shep. I overheard her arguing with him the night before and again the following morning, after the boys went to school. It was terrible that morning. She refused to give him the divorce he had asked for. He had proof she was unfaithful. He was hurt. Broken. I’d never seen him so miserable, and it seemed as if she was determined to make things even worse for him. Seeing him that way broke my heart. He was a good man and didn’t deserve that. She didn’t deserve him.”
“What happened after that?”
“He got in his car to leave, and I heard her tell him to meet her at the boathouse at noon or else.”
“Or else what?”
“She didn’t say, but he did tell her he would be there at noon. I was angry with her. She had hurt Shep, and he didn’t deserve that. She got dressed, and I confronted her. We argued. She said she was going to demand that Shep fire me when they met later that day. She told me to start packing. Then she got in her car and left for the boathouse.”
Jules glanced over at Dalton. He had been quiet and listening attentively. She wondered what he was thinking. She looked back at Hannah and saw the tears glistening in her eyes as she studied her hands. “Hannah, do you know how the gun got to the boathouse?”
Hannah glanced back up at Jules, and it was a long moment before she answered. “I took it there. I followed her. I was angry that she had hurt Shep so much. I confronted her, and she laughed at me. Even when she saw the gun, she told me I didn’t have the guts to use it. And she was right. I didn’t. I couldn’t. No matter how much she had hurt Shep, or how much I hated her at that moment, I couldn’t forget she was Jace, Caden and Dalton’s mother. I put the gun down and left.”
“You put the gun down where?”
“I left it on a table near the door.”
Jules didn’t say anything. She’d read the police report; according to Sheppard Granger, he arrived at the boathouse at noon and found the gun lying on the floor. He made the mistake of picking up the gun. Whoever had shot Sylvia had wiped their prints clean before putting it on the floor in a place where Shep would be sure to see it.
“Did you see anyone go to the boathouse after you left?”
“No. No one. I went straight back to the house and got back to work in the kitchen.”
“Have you told anyone else what you told me today?”
Hannah nodded. “Yes, I told both Richard and Shep. I called Richard as soon as I got back here and told him what I’d done. I would have told the police about it, but neither Richard nor Shep would let me. They said they knew I didn’t kill Sylvia, and that’s all that mattered.”
Hannah then turned to Dalton. “I’m so sorry, dear. I didn’t kill her, but for those few minutes that day, I wanted to. In a way, I wish I had. Then I would be the one in jail instead of your father.”
Without saying a word, Dalton went over to Hannah and pulled her to him. It was then that she began sobbing in his arms.
*
A short while later, after leaving Hannah, Jules suggested now would be a good time for her to check out the boathouse. She was surprised when Dalton offered to come with her since she’d heard none of the Grangers had been there since their mother’s death.