Free Dirty Little Secrets (Romantic Mystery) Book 1 in the J.J. Graves Series by Liliana Hart

quality handmade apparel. And it’s less than two blocks from Dr. Hides’ office.”
    “When was Fiona’s last appointment?”
    “Thursday morning, 10 A.M.”
    “So Fiona goes to see her long time shrink and then heads over to an exclusive boutique to pick up a scarf that will eventually kill her in the next ten hours? How much did the scarf cost?”
    “One-hundred and twenty-eight dollars.”
    I let out a low whistle at the price. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d bought an item of clothing that cost more than a hundred dollars.
    “And Marie, the manager at the boutique was sorry to hear about Mrs. Murphy’s death. She was one of their best customers. And that is a quote.”
    “George and Fiona didn’t exactly live like they were rolling in money. And I can’t recall ever seeing Fiona look anything more than presentable. She was always clean and her clothes were pressed, but they looked like clothes off the rack. You could tell she had pride enough to try to pass off the illusion of her marriage to everyone in town, even if she did always cower away from anyone who wanted to talk to her for more than a few minutes. Like she was afraid word would get back to George that she was actually having a conversation with another adult. What the hell is going on?”
    “That’s a good question. Maybe we’ll get some answers tomorrow. If this weather ever lets up. We should swing by the hospital and see if George is available to be questioned when we’re done in Nottingham. The guard on duty tells me every time the drugs wear off he starts moaning and crying and thrashing around, too distraught to be handcuffed.”
    “Guilty conscience?”
    “Maybe. Or maybe he’s planning to go to Hollywood. Who the hell knows? But he can’t keep it up much longer. Did you finish the autopsy?”
    “Yeah, I was able to confirm the time of death. Between 9:30 and 10:00 is as accurate as I can get. If you figure she left the house at nine on the dot and then make a time allowance for the initial blow into unconsciousness and the rape, we’re looking at about half an hour to forty-five minutes from the time she walked out the door. She had her last meal a couple of hours prior to death, just some vegetable soup and crackers. I’ll be interested to see what the tox screen shows Monday, but my gut says it’ll be clean. She had full capabilities when she was killed.”
    Jack just grunted like that’s what he’d expected all along. “Oh, by the way,” he said. “Jeremy Mooney called me while I was headed back from Richmond. It seems that several people witnessed George Murphy getting his truck washed yesterday.”
    “Really?” I asked surprised.
    “Yeah, he went by the car wash right after he shut down the garage last night. A little after six.”
    “Damn,” I said deflated. “Do you think he did it on purpose? It rained early yesterday afternoon, but the sun was out by three. Do you think he got the carwash knowing it would be muddy, and then after he killed Fiona he had it rewashed late enough to where there were no witnesses like the first time?” I asked. I was grabbing for straws, and I knew it. “It would explain why the truck was so clean.”
    “Do you think that’s what he did?”
    “Not really,” I said. “It seems like a lot of trouble to go to. Maybe too much planning in advance.”
    “That’s a personality trait that describes George to a tee, though.”
    “Well make up your mind, Jack. You either think he’s guilty or you don’t,” I said grumpily. “Did you find out anything at the bank?”
    “By the time I got back from Richmond and tracked down the scarf and the therapist the bank was closed. It’s Friday,” he said by way of explanation.
    “Oh, yeah. I hate that,” I said.
    Dickey always closed the bank at four o’clock on Friday’s. Wife’s orders. Fridays belonged to Candy—whether she needed Dickey to cart around shopping bags, drive her home after plastic surgery or chase her