“The Marriott Long Wharf. That’s where they always put me up. Why does this matter?”
“I need to get a full picture, Mr. Gaynor.” Duckworth was thinking that before he walked out of this house, he’d have someone onto the Marriott and Neponset Insurance to check Gaynor’s story. Even though there was nothing so far to suggest Gaynor had murdered his wife, spouses were always high on the suspect list. Boston was only a couple of hours away by car, if you really pushed it. The man could have left Boston yesterday afternoon, returned home, killed Rosemary Gaynor, then hightailed it back to the city, pretending to have been there the whole time.
It seemed unlikely to Duckworth, but if he didn’t check it out, it would always remain a possibility.
He asked, “When did you leave Promise Falls for Boston?”
“Like I said, Thursday. Very early, so I could be there by ten. We finished up this series of meetings last night, but I was too tired to drive home then, so I decided to get up early this morning. I was calling Rose all the way home. The house phone, her cell. She wasn’t answering.”
“But you talked to her yesterday. On Sunday.”
The man nodded. “Around two? There was a lunch. We had a keynote speaker, a funny motivational talk. When that was over, I had a few minutes before the next session I had to attend, so I called Rose on my cell.”
“And you reached her.”
He nodded.
“What did you talk about?”
“Nothing, really. I told her I missed her. I asked how Matthew was. I told her I’d probably drive home in the morning, but if I decided to come back that night I’d call and let her know.”
“So you didn’t call her again?”
“Not till I was on my way this morning.” He bit his lip. “I should have come home last night. Why the hell didn’t I just come back then? I could have been here, could have stopped this from happening.”
“We’ll know more as the investigation proceeds, Mr. Gaynor, but it appears this attack happened yesterday afternoon. Coming home last night . . . it’s unlikely it would have made any difference.”
Bill Gaynor closed his eyes and breathed in slowly.
“I noticed you have a security system,” Duckworth said.
He opened his eyes. “Yes. But Rose only turned it on at night when she went to bed. She didn’t have it on through the day. Every time she’d go out, to go to the store, or take Matthew for a walk in his stroller, she’d have to disengage it before she opened the door. So she only put it on at night.”
“Okay. What about just locking it?”
A fast nod. “That she almost always did. She’d turn the dead bolt every time she came back in the house.”
“What about friends? Did your wife belong to any clubs? Like a university women’s club or a gym? Anything like that?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head.
“And I have to ask, Mr. Gaynor, whether it’s possible there could have been anyone else.”
“Anyone else?”
Duckworth said nothing, just let the question sink in.
“Oh, no, God. I mean, we were devoted to each other, and she just had a baby. She’s hardly— That’s a terrible thing to ask.”
“I’m sorry. Any kind of trouble with the law?”
“Are you serious? Of course not. Okay, she got a speeding ticket a week or so ago, but I’d hardly call that being in trouble with the law.”
“Nor would I,” Duckworth said gently. “Do you have family in town?”
“No. We don’t really have any extended family at all. I was an only child and my parents passed away when I was in my teens. And Rose, she did have an older sister, but she died years ago.”
“How’d that happen?”
“Horseback riding. She fell off a horse and broke her neck.”
Duckworth winced. “Parents?”
“Like me, Rose’s mother and father passed away fairly early. I think she lost her mother when she was nineteen, and her father when she was twenty-two.”
“So there’s no parents, in-laws, who might have keys to the house.”
“No, just Sarita.”
“Who’s Sarita?”
“The nanny. I don’t know where she is. She should be here. I’m pretty sure this is the day she comes in the morning.”
“What’s Sarita’s last name?”
Gaynor’s mouth opened but nothing came out.
“Her name?” Duckworth repeated.
“I don’t . . . I don’t think I’ve ever known Sarita’s last name. Rose, she took care of that end of things.” His face reddened with embarrassment. “I know I should know this.”