Ralph hung his head and shrugged. “She handed it to me herself earlier this evening.”
Peter and I both looked to Daisy, who sat in between us. She whined. True.
“Did you tamper with it at all? Poison it? Add anything to it or spell it?” Peter leaned forward.
Ralph took another big swig, polishing off his drink. He set the glass down on the silk ottoman closest to him and began playing with his wedding ring. “No. No, I did not.”
Daisy wagged her tail. Truth.
I frowned. Not the answer I’d been expecting.
Peter shifted in his seat. “Did anyone else have access to it?”
Ralph shook his head. “No.” He slid his golden wedding band up and down his finger, his gaze far away. “Well…” He tipped his head. “I put it in my jacket pocket.” He sighed. “And I toog my jacket off seferal times throughout the evening—left it on a chair, backstage, in the lobby… so, yeah. I guess anyone coulda had a chance to tamper it.”
Unfortunately, Daisy confirmed this as true. Peter pinched the bridge of his nose, and I shared the sentiment. Guess our suspect pool just expanded to literally everyone who’d attended the summit—thousands—not to mention the hotel staff.
Ralph looked up, brows pinched together. “Is that what killed her? The potion in thag vial?”
Peter cleared his throat. “We’re not sure yet, but we’ve sent it to the station for testing.”
Ralph gave a slight nod, then hung his head again.
I plunked my chin in my hand and stared at the firelight for a moment as Peter grabbed his scroll and looked over his notes. The fire glinted off Ralph’s ring as he slid it up and down his finger, over and over again. The movement stood out to me—something was off. I focused on it—aha! I sat up straighter.
The guy was tanned to a crisp—but there was no white band beneath his ring, like I’d have expected. Which either meant he’d taken it off when he cast his tanning spells, or he was up to something.
“Hey, Ralph—nice tan.”
He looked up and gave me a dejected nod.
“Spelled, or…?” I raised my brows.
“Uh…” His brows pinched together for a moment in confusion. “Uh, no.” He shook his head. “We actually recently vacatantioned in the Mediderrean.” He hiccupped, and his gaze lingered on my chest. “Sun and beaches, baby.”
I shifted away from him and curled my lip. I kinda hoped he’d killed his wife—always made it easier when we got to arrest a creep.
Peter looked up from his notes and shot me a questioning look. I flashed my eyes at him—you’ll see where this is going, just give me a minute.
The brief moment of interest faded, and Peter gave a dull nod, then went back to looking over his scroll.
I nodded. “Sounds nice. And your wife, Pearl, went with you?”
“Uh….” His bleary gaze drifted to Daisy, who watched him with those intense dark eyes of hers. He shook his head. “Nah. She was supposed to but got caught up worging here.”
“So you went alone?”
“Yep.” He hiccupped.
Daisy growled. Lie.
10
THE PIG
Peter jerked his head up, and a grin tugged at the corner of my mouth. Vacationing without his wife? And he’d clearly taken the ring off, since it hadn’t left tan lines. I was onto something—I could feel it.
Ralph cleared his throat. “Okay, I meant, I went without Pearl, but not alone, alone. Our team came along—it was a work event.”
I cocked my head. “Your team being those people who were just in here before?”
He nodded. “And some of our top—hic—consultants—we take them on lots of trips like that as rewards.”
I glared at him. “Including that pretty, extremely young lady with the big blue eyes?”
He frowned. “Avery Ann?” He thumbed toward the door she’d exited through with the others.
I nodded. “She didn’t stay here to help Pearl with the business?”
Ralph pushed himself up straighter and puffed up his chest. His collared shirt was unbuttoned way too low, his white chest hairs clearly visible. “I’ll have you know, I’m an inegral part of—hiccup—the business, too.” He swayed slightly where he sat. “And I needed her more than Pearl did.” His throat bobbed, and his eyes grew even more glassy.
Daisy wagged her bushy tail. Truth.
I scoffed. Yeah, I bet he needed her.
“Besides”—Ralph waved a hand—“Pearl was afraid of airships.” He raised a thick hand to the side of his mouth like he was sharing a secret. “Bad blimp experience as a child.” He let his hand drop. “She’d have had to take a ship out to the island we were staying on, and the trip would’ve been over by the time she’d have arrived—what with the delay from staying behind to handle that work matter.”
“What was the work matter that called her away?” Peter watched Ralph intently.
The guy shrugged. “No idea.”
I smirked. So integral to the business.
“Fine.” Peter nodded. “Stick around—we’ll likely be asking you more questions in the coming days.”
I whipped my head around to look at Peter and lowered my voice. “We should just arrest the guy now.” I flashed my eyes at him. “He handed Pearl the vial, and I think we can infer he was having an affair—at least one.”
Peter’s nostrils flared, and he answered me in a hushed tone. “You heard Daisy—he told the truth about not tampering with it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine, so his mistress—probably that innocent-looking girl—did it for him. Same diff.”
Peter raised his thick brows. “I’m not saying he’s a great guy, but I don’t get the feeling he killed his wife.”
Oh, he had a feeling? Why was he fighting me on this? I narrowed my eyes, anger making my throat and face hot. “Yeah, well, your feelings can be fickle.”
His expression darkened. “Fickle? No. But they can certainly change when new information comes to light.”
I raised my brows. Oh—so this was personal? I whirled around to face Ralph. “Did you kill your wife?”
Peter shot
