Free A Deadly Game by Catherine Crier

five minutes. Moments later, he arrived home to find McKenzie still wearing his leash and the back door unlocked.

For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, Scott described what he did next-an account that still doesn't make sense to me. The dark, empty house set off no alarms in the young man's mind. Instead of looking around for Laci, he had a casual snack, washed some clothes, and took a shower. Were these the actions of a father-to-be with a seriously pregnant wife who should have been home to greet him?
    Before he could describe his call to Sharon Rocha, the investigators asked Scott about his overall relationship with Laci. It was good, he responded. The couple never shouted at each other or fought. They were both in good physical health. Laci took only prenatal pills; neither had any medical problems or history of mental illness. They lived on a budget and saved money by eating most meals at home. The local Barnes & Noble bookstore was a favorite haunt. Just two weekends before his wife's disappearance, the couple had stopped there to buy children's books for their unborn son.
    While Scott took care of finances and paid the household bills, Laci was a "good money manager." She didn't make extravagant purchases. He added that she was pleased he'd bought the boat and become a member of the Del Rio Country Club.
    When Scott laid out the family finances, however, the picture was one of a couple living from paycheck to paycheck. Scott's current monthly income was around $5,000, plus roughly $1,400 in travel reimbursements. Yet his regular expenses, as he outlined, nearly equaled his salary:
    $l,250/mo.-House payment 650/mo.-Truck payment 750/mo.-Credit card payment 500/mo.-Home improvement payment 600/mo.-Food bill 390/mo.-Club payment 300/mo.-Retirement installment 240/mo.-Life insurance bill
    $150/mo.-Utilities 50/mo.-Cell phone bill
    The Petersons' monthly outlay totaled at least $4,880-just two hundred dollars less than Scott's salary. Their savings account hovered around $2,000. Laci had quit working and expressed no desire to resume an outside job. Although testimony at trial did not support a financial motive for murder, the young couple was spending almost everything they brought in. Their accumulated savings left little to pay for a new infant. . . especially when it became clear how much money Scott was spending on his extracurricular activities.
    Asked to elaborate about the life insurance expense, Scott told police that he had a Whole Life Plan, and immediately recited his agent's name and phone number. Laci had a separate policy, but he couldn't remember the payout amount.
    Although Scott traveled extensively on his own, he and Laci did vacation together on occasion. In August, Scott went to The Cliffs, a resort at Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo with a friend; four months earlier, he and Laci had gone to Hawaii with another couple. The couple spent a few days in Carmel with Scott's parents just a week before she disappeared, and he described three overseas business trips he'd taken himself that year, all for corporate meetings.
    The investigators also asked Scott about visitors to the Covena home in the last week. Their housekeeper Margarita, who came Monday mornings at 9:30 and left around 2:00 in the afternoon, was the only person Scott recalled. Before her, his in-laws, Sharon and Ron, had been the last people to visit.
    Scott told the officers he had never been in a fight in his life and had no criminal history. "What about all the guns?" Brocchini asked. Scott listed his weapons:
    .22-caliber   Llama    semiautomatic   handgun    (which   Detective Brocchini confiscated)
    20-gauge Browning
    .22 Ruger
    .223 Ruger
    12-gauge semiautomatic Browning
    12-gauge semiautomatic Mossberg
    12-gauge side-by-side Ithaca
    20-gauge semiautomatic Smith &t Wesson
    Scott said he last fired a gun while pheasant hunting in November. The .22 was confiscated by Brocchini from his glove box. Scott reported the