“That’s what you’ve been doing all this time?” I asked incredulously.
Max smiled at me before he said, “Suzanne, as much as I appreciate your concern, you don’t have the right to use that tone of voice with me anymore. I explained it all to Emily before we left, and she was perfectly fine with it.”
“Or she just said that she was,” Grace said, skepticism thick in her voice.
“She understands me,” Max said. “That’s why we’re getting married.”
“Well, I’ve got a hunch nobody’s doing anything until Chief Martin talks to you both. I’m surprised he hasn’t been here yet.”
“He might have left a few messages,” Max admitted reluctantly.
“And you weren’t even a little curious about what he wanted?” Grace asked him.
“I thought he was sending along his best wishes,” Max said.
The front doorbell rang, and Max answered it without thinking.
It was the police chief, and he clearly wasn’t happy with any of us. “What are you two doing here?” he asked Grace and me the second he saw us standing together.
“We just wanted to have a little chat with Max and Peter,” I said.
“Get in line,” he said as he turned to my ex and his best friend. “Gentlemen, get dressed.”
“We just heard the news about Jude Williams, and that’s the truth,” Max said.
“Save it. I don’t want to get into it right here. Unless you object, and you’d better have a darn good reason if you do, this interview is going to take place in my office. Do either one of you have any problem with that?” The way he stared at them both, it was clear that the question was moot. He nodded at their lack of responses. “Good. Now go.”
Once they were back in Max’s bedroom, Chief Martin turned to us. “Really? You just couldn’t wait, could you?”
“We’ve been trying to track them down ourselves,” I said.
“What did they say?”
“They both claimed they didn’t know that Jude was dead,” I said.
“Do you believe them?”
”Yes,” Grace said quickly.
When I didn’t answer right away, the chief asked, “Well? What about you, Suzanne?”
“I’d like to be able to say that I do, but they are both decent actors. Maybe they were telling the truth, or maybe they’re just both very good at lying. I don’t know, and that’s the truth.”
“I appreciate your candor,” the chief said.
Both men came out in jeans and T-shirts. “We’ll follow you out,” I said.
“Do me a favor, would you?” Max asked me as we all walked out together.
“Sure,” I said.
“Don’t tell Emily about this.”
“Max, I’m not comfortable keeping secrets from her,” I said.
“I’m going to tell her. I just want to do it myself. Can you at least give me that?”
I thought about it, and then I answered, “I won’t go out of my way to tell her where you two are, but if she asks me, I’m going to tell her. I’m sorry, but that’s the best I can do.”
“I’ll take it then,” he said. “Thanks, Suzanne.”
“Happy to help.”
“Chief, do you mind if we follow you there in my car?” Max asked.
I could see Chief Martin consider it, and then finally, he nodded. “Stay in my rearview mirror the entire time. If you try to make any unscheduled stops, you won’t be happy with the results.”
“You’ve got it,” Max said.
Peter waved to us as he got into Max’s car, but he looked a little concerned as he did so. Then again, who could blame him? He’d had a fistfight with a man who was murdered soon afterward. It couldn’t feel good, no matter how you looked at it.
Once everyone was gone, Grace turned to me. “There goes two of our suspects,” she said. “Does this change our plans in any way?”
“I’m thinking that it might be a good time to see if we can get Lisa Grambling alone. I had a hunch that the last time we spoke, she had more to say.”
“Oh, boy. This should be a real treat,” Grace said as we both got into my Jeep and drove over to Lisa’s place.
I just hoped that Frank would be gone this time.
Otherwise, I had a hunch that we weren’t going to get a thing out of her.
“I don’t want to talk to either one of you,” Lisa Grambling said as she opened her front door.
“Why, is your husband still at home?” I whispered. “We can meet up someplace else if you’d like.” I had to get this woman alone so she could speak frankly about Jude Williams.