Free 2 CATastrophe by Chloe Kendrick Page A

in my career. They don’t exist outside of the occasional murder mystery story.”
    “So these two cases have to be related. That’s the first thing you can look at.”
    “Geez,” she said, “there was enough there that I thought that was more than your two suggestions.”
    I shook my head. “The locking app was the first one. The second is Miller’s ex-wife.”
    “You think she’s good for this.”
    “You tell me. You know that your then husband killed your father using an app that your father had created, claimed all the royalties and rights for himself, and then dumped you for someone else.”
    Sheila pulled out a notebook and started writing things down. “She waited long enough though to get revenge. This has been like eight years. Why not just do it then?”
    I shrugged. “No telling, but she’s definitely got the motive. You’ll need to look at the financials for Miller and his ex-wife. How much did she get from the divorce? I’m betting she didn’t get anything from the business or her father’s apps. Some of the apps were released until after Vires’ death, so they would appear that they belonged to Miller.”
    “We haven’t talked to Miller’s ex. The divorce was eight year ago. We thought that was all water under the bridge.”
    “Not that I have any personal data to add, but yeah, from the people I know, eight years is usually more than enough time to move on. However, we didn’t know about the other death being a murder, which changes everything.”
    I left her an opening to talk about past relationships, if she wanted to say something, but she didn’t. To be honest, I wasn’t very good at this whole small talk thing – or flirting. I’d spent most of my life trying not to be noticed. Flirting was all about making someone else notice you and your attractiveness. It would have been less painful for me to write out a big sign that said “Like Me” on it, and probably less painful for her as well.
    Still she didn’t seem to mind, which counted for a lot in my book.
    “I’ve seen cases where women – or men – have waited decades to get revenge. It’s not an emotion that dies easily. It certainly makes me not want to get married, that’s for sure.”
    So I had my answer, even if it was worded in the context of a discussion about crime. I had been so mired in my own feelings of inadequacy here that I neglected to remember that perhaps others suffered from similar fears as well. Granted, they would be different than mine, but at the same time, they were real.
    “I’m surprised you didn’t talk to the ex-wife since you weren’t investigating this murder.” Green used air-quotes around “this.” Her poor air-grammar was perplexing to me, but I had had let it go on multiple occasions. When she wasn’t being sarcastic or yelling at me, I actually found it endearing.
    “I tried to Google her, but the last name of Miller with no first name, even when I added Vires into the search, came up with too many hits. I wasn’t going to get anywhere with it, so that’s why I handed it off to you. You have access to records that I don’t.”
    “And now you know why we have access and you don’t,” she said with a smile. “There are actually parts of this investigation that you haven’t mucked up yet. Maybe we’ll actually get some untainted answers from a witness now.”
    “Well then, you have a lot to do,” I said, wondering if I would get a green light to go ahead with more investigating. I felt lost at the moment, not wanting to give up my part in solving this crime.
    “That I do. I’ll give you a buzz if we find out anything about that app or the ex-wife.”
    “Is there anything I can do?” I asked.
    “I’ll give you two things, just like you gave me. However, my requests are simpler and with fewer parts. First, mow the grass. Second, open the file I gave you.”
    I nodded. I wasn’t sure that I’d do either, but since we were being so agreeable, I didn’t want to