“Have you ever talked to her?” Morgan asked.
“Not really.” Kirk tugged at the neck of his T-shirt. “Just hi and stuff.”
Morgan kept moving her thumbs. “Did you see her at the last company function?”
“Yeah. She brought the kids. I like kids.” Kirk’s tone brightened.
“Everyone says Chelsea is a great mother,” Morgan fished.
Kirk agreed with an emphatic nod. “She is.”
“It’s such a shame she’s missing,” Lance said in a tough voice, playing off Morgan’s good detective persona.
Kirk’s face fell. He looked like he was going to cry.
“We’re trying to find her.” Morgan unclasped her hands and reached into her bag at her feet. She slid a business card across the table.
Kirk stared at it.
“Would you please call me if you think of anything that might help us?”
Instead of answering, Kirk took the card and slipped it into the back pocket of his skinny jeans.
“Thank you for talking to us, Kirk.” Morgan smiled. “Would you let Elliot know we’re ready for the next interviewee?”
Kirk grabbed his skateboard and rushed for the exit.
“Oh, Kirk?” Morgan asked. “You don’t happen to remember where you were last Friday night, do you? We’re asking everyone.” She shot him a halogen-bright smile.
Kirk blushed. “I was online playing World of Warcraft.”
“People still play that?” Lance asked. “I thought everyone was into Call of Duty, Overlook, and Destiny now.”
Kirk nodded. “I play those too.”
“Were you playing alone?” Morgan treated him to another smile.
“No. Well, yes.” He flushed, his hands clenching the edge of the board. “I was playing online with some friends.”
“But you weren’t all in the same physical place,” Lance clarified.
Kirk shook his head. “No.”
“Thanks, Kirk,” Morgan said.
Kirk ducked out of the room. Outside the door, he tossed his skateboard onto the concrete and jumped aboard. His body had the finally-free posture of a kid leaving the principal’s office.
Lance and Morgan interviewed the remaining five members of Tim’s team without discovering anything interesting, other than they all alibied each other.
Lance and Morgan finished with the last interview, and Barbara escorted them to the lobby.
Outside, street lamps cast puddles of yellow light on the parking lot blacktop. The temperature had dropped, and the air smelled of burning wood. Morgan buttoned her coat and hunched her shoulders against the cold as they walked to the Jeep. “Isn’t that Elliot’s brother, Derek?”
He followed her gaze to a man clad in jeans, a leather jacket, and a knit hat walking across the parking lot. “Yes.”
“Shall we ask him about last Friday night?” As she asked the question, Morgan was already veering off course toward him.
“Hi.” She flashed him a megawatt smile.
He nodded. “Can I help you?”
Morgan introduced them. Lance kept his mouth shut. Most young men responded better to her than to him, especially when she turned on the charm.
“I know who you are,” Derek said. “Everyone inside was talking about you.”
“We just wanted to confirm that Elliot was with you last Friday night,” Morgan said. “You went out to dinner?”
Lance appreciated her attempt to catch Elliot if he had been lying.
Derek shook his head. “No. We just hung out at my place. I was tuning up my road bike.” He glanced back at the building and frowned. “Elliot hasn’t been himself since Candace died. I don’t like to see him spend too much time alone.”
“He must have been heartbroken,” Morgan empathized.
“He was.” Derek nodded. “I think if you have any more questions about Elliot’s wife, you’d better ask him, but I’ll tell you right now, Elliot wouldn’t hurt anybody. He takes care of people.”
Morgan thanked him. Lance led her back to the Jeep, and they got in.
“At least he verified Elliot’s alibi. Though they’re brothers, so we have to take that into consideration.” Morgan closed her door and shivered. “Poor Elliot. Twenty-seven is young to be a widower.”
“It would be devastating at any age, but it must have been a huge shock for him. It’s a wonder he could function to run his company.”
“Maybe he used it as a diversion. It’s best to keep busy.” Morgan would know. She’d only been thirty-one when her husband had died. No doubt her focus on her children had gotten her through.
He started the engine. “Kirk Armani seemed pretty happy to get away from us.”