“We’re just trying to understand your circumstances, find a connection or motive that might explain this,” Reyes said smoothly.
“So, you think this is my fault?” I countered. Unbelievable.
They ignored me.
Reyes gestured over his shoulder, where Sia had gone. “Your friend said you moved into The Mauricio downtown. That’s a pretty expensive place.”
His partner grunted. “And exclusive. I’d have no idea how to get in there even if I wanted to.”
They grinned at each other, perhaps thinking I didn’t know where they were going with these questions.
I raised my chin and rolled my shoulders back. “Just ask what you want to ask.”
The feigned amusement was gone. Their hawk eyes returned. The taller one narrowed his. “Do you know Cole Mauricio, ma’am?”
Ma’am. They even dropped the first name. A cold feeling crept in. “Yes, I do.”
“Your friend said you met at some hoity-toity event. One of those fundraisers. Is that true?”
“He was there, yes.”
They studied me, and I felt them reassessing.
Smythe asked quietly, “Is that where you met Cole Mauricio?”
“He wasn’t introduced to the group. Alfred Mahler conversed with him and his companion. Then Cole said a few words to the other people standing with us.”
“Other people? Who were they?”
Deep breath, and here we go. “My dead husband’s parents.”
“In-laws?” Both looked at me, long and hard. They hadn’t expected that.
I nodded. “I prefer ex-in-laws. There’s no relationship.”
Reyes wrote something down on a pad of paper. “Is that how you know Cole Mauricio?”
“I know him because I live in his building.”
“Your friend is dating one of the other residents, and she didn’t know him.”
I lifted a shoulder. “There’s a running track inside. We were both running one day. That’s where I met him.” I was willing to tell the truth, but I’d be damned if I just handed it over.
The medium-height one shifted on his feet, peering at me. “Your friend said you and your husband were estranged from his family.”
“That’s true. Yes.”
“Did you ever meet your husband’s grandmother?”
They were going the Bertal route. They weren’t going to ask whether I knew Cole on a personal level. The relief almost overwhelmed me. My knees grew weak, and I moved my head from side to side. “No. I never did. Liam was—he didn’t want me to meet her. That was obvious.”
“And you never questioned him?”
“I loved him. If he didn’t want me to meet her, there was a reason for it. I trusted him.”
Reyes put his pad of paper in his jacket’s inside pocket. “Were you aware Liam’s grandmother was a Bertal?”
“Yes, but not until the night of the event.” I could say this. I knew it had no bearing on me. “Cole Mauricio said that name, and I didn’t understand the implication. I looked up Bea Bertal on the internet that night.”
“The internet?” Reyes’ mouth twitched. “You found out about your deceased husband’s family from the world wide web?”
“Yes.” I frowned. “Why are you surprised by that?”
“You’d never thought to look up his family before?”
“Why would I? We were happy. Liam was a counselor. I wrote freelance. There was no reason to be suspicious.”
He shrugged. “I guess so.”
They shared another look before swinging their gazes back to me. “Is there anything else we should know, Addison?” Reyes asked.
“About the break-in?” I shook my head. “No. Can I ask you a question?”
“Go for it.”
“Why are there two detectives on this case? Wouldn’t normal protocol be that one police officer take my statement?”
Both reacted, unreadable masks slamming down on their faces. Reyes coughed. “We’re just being thorough. If you find that anything was taken, let us know. Otherwise it looks like no harm done. We don’t have much to go on.”
“Yeah. Could’ve just been teenagers looking for an empty house to party in.” Smythe pointed to a corner devoid of furniture. “Sometimes they’ll look on real estate websites and watch to see how long a house is listed. They’ll scope it out, and if it’s empty, they’ll throw a big rager. Although,” he mused, “doesn’t seem like that either.”
They left soon after that, and Sia joined me in the kitchen, watching them go through the window. “That was weird.”
I grunted my agreement.