“So what happened?”
“I guess at some point, Libby got in touch with Arthur to ask him some ‘follow-up questions’”—Mrs. Winterthorne made air quotes—“and supposedly she suggested he come out to her house to talk.”
Faye sat on the arm of the sofa next to where Mrs. Winterthorne was parked. She shook her head and murmured, “I mean, have you ever?”
“Never,” Mrs. Winterthorne answered, lifting an eyebrow toward Faye.
“How long ago was that?” I asked.
“Let’s see,” she looked up as she thought. “According to Judy, they started up six months ago at least, but Bennett didn’t find out until just recently.”
She then went on to tell me essentially the same story, about Bennett walking in on the two of them, having a heart attack, and Dr. Davenport doing CPR until the ambulance arrived.
“How was the whole town not talking about something like this?” I asked, knowing the rumor mill in this town was one hundred percent functional.
A sly smile slid across Eudora’s face. “That’s just the thing,” she said, “Bennett was adamant that word of this not get out. While he was recuperating in the hospital, he sent for Dr. Davenport. Judy never said, but I think Bennett must have threatened Arthur with something because right after that, I heard Arthur dropped Libby like a hot potato. Which did not set well with Libby, I might add.”
Interesting. I wondered if that made Libby a suspect too?
Eudora went on. “He did tell his parents, which is how I heard about it. Judy is a dear friend—which reminds me—Faye, would you set a reminder for me to call her later and invite her for lunch at the clubhouse? I’d like to see how she’s holding up.”
“Sure thing,” Faye said as she typed the reminder into her phone.
Mrs. Winterthorne turned back to me. “Poor Judy was just in knots about the whole thing, which is why she told me. She needed a sympathetic ear,” she said. “My but how she dotes on that boy of hers . . . wait,” she stopped herself mid-sentence, “is that why you’re asking about this? Do you think this whole affair could have had something to do with Arthur’s murder?”
“Do you?” I used the oldest trick in the book to get out of answering a question.
She paused for a moment. “I’ll tell you one thing: I cannot imagine being able to forgive a person for an insult like that. And Bennett is a proud man.”
“Do you think he could have wanted revenge? People have killed for less.”
I noticed Faye frowning.
“What is it?” I asked, turning to her.
“It’s probably nothing, but I’m in a King’s Daughters circle with Donna Lopez—”
“Arthur’s office manager,” I said. “I just interviewed her earlier today.”
Faye nodded. “Right. Well, I hadn’t remembered it until just now, but at our meeting last week, she came in all upset. When we asked her what was wrong, she didn’t get specific but said something along the lines of, ‘It just burns me up to see people taking advantage of other people,’ or something like that.”
“Did she say if it had anything to do with work? Or was this a personal matter?”
Faye didn’t know.
Mrs. Winterthorne, not to be out-gossiped, jumped in. “You know, Donna and Arthur were very close. After Maribelle passed, I think he leaned pretty heavily on her.”
“Did they ever. . .?” I asked, remembering Donna wore a wedding ring.
Mrs. Winterthorne shook her head vigorously. “Nothing like that,” she said. “Donna is a good Christian and has been married to her husband Earl for eons. But I think she liked being needed by the Davenports. Donna and Earl weren’t blessed with children, so Thad and David were like the boys she never had.”
“Do you think she would have known about Arthur’s affair with Libby?”
Both Faye and Mrs. Winterthorne nodded. Then Mrs. W said, “I think Donna Lopez knew just about everything there was to know about Arthur Davenport.”
Very interesting. I definitely needed to get more information on this story. If nothing else, it opened the search for suspects in a couple of new directions. Maybe that would be enough to convince Carl to look somewhere other than just at Thad.
CHAPTER 15
Jay got back from the DC office early and texted to see if I wanted to meet up for a late lunch. We decided on Landry’s General Store, which inexplicably had the best Cuban panini north of Havana, and a great little outdoor patio perfect for nice fall days. We sat outside at one of the round red powder-coated tables and I caught him up on my busy morning.
“Arthur was having an affair with a patient’s wife?” Jay said between bites of his sandwich.
I nodded. “Apparently. And apparently that wasn’t exactly new territory for him.”
“What’s the husband like?”
“Bennett Nichols?” I shrugged. “Haven’t met him yet. But I plan to, I can tell you that for sure.” I’d already decided I would try to go interview Libby and Bennett later that day. First, though, I wanted to talk to Carl and see if he knew about the affair. If he did, he sure hadn’t mentioned it to me.
Jay set his sandwich down and looked at me, his face suddenly looking very serious.
“What?”
“Just . . .” he seemed to be struggling with what he wanted to say. “Just be careful. This Bennett guy could be dangerous.”
“Oh, I’ll be fine.” I waved a dismissive hand.
“I’m serious, Riley.”
“I’m just going to ask him some questions . . .”
“Do you want me to come with?”
I laughed. “What? Like as my muscle?”
Jay didn’t laugh. His mouth flattened into a thin line. “I have experience interviewing combative suspects.”
He was serious. He honestly thought I might take him up on his offer to come with me as I did my job, like he was some sort of bodyguard or something. It was both sweet and slightly offensive. “Um, no thanks. I’ll be fine.”
He looked at me for a long moment, and then shook his head. I guess he decided
