“With Rachel?” Max asked quietly. “The girls?”
“Both. Rachel, she doesn’t dress correctly. Isn’t poised enough. The girls don’t behave correctly. Olivia was having some struggles in kindergarten, and Debbie said that wasn’t good enough for Paul. Their home wasn’t enough, either. They’d paid off a small home in a neighborhood near the elementary school that Olivia would attend here. But it wasn’t good enough. Somehow, he managed to scrape together the money to buy a foreclosure near Old Jamestown. And instead of the public school, he enrolled Olivia in Brynlock Academy. Rachel knew nothing about that. He just told her to pack one day, that they were moving. He’d spent all of their savings—and the money she had from her parents’ life insurance policies—on a house she’d never even seen. Debbie had kept most of that money for her when she was an adult. Then it was just gone. If they had stayed where they were, money wouldn’t have been a problem, but the new house put a strain on their budget. Debbie said Paul threw a fit when Rachel suggested taking on a part-time job. He wanted no part of that, I think. They argued about it.”
“It’s a good school,” Max said. “A great reputation, my own daughter goes there.”
The pastor nodded. “I’ve heard it’s a wonderful school. Olivia seems to like it, according to Debbie. But they have to borrow money in order to pay her tuition each year. They argue about that a great deal. Rachel wanted her to go to a smaller school, far less expensive. Closer to the house and where the neighbors send their kids. But Paul would have no part of it. The director of the FBI’s children go to PAVAD, he told her this past school term. The mayor’s grandchildren. If it was good enough for them, it was good enough for Paul Sturvin’s daughters.”
“So they argued a great deal about money?” Jac asked.
One of the prime motives for murder was money. She’d have to get Dani on running life insurance policy checks as well. If the woman hadn’t already started.
After they were back in the car, she looked Max. “I’m getting more and more interested in speaking with Paul Sturvin.”
“You and me both. Studies show that wives are most often the victims in murders within families. Money is often a major motive.”
“We need to go over Rachel’s cell phone; it might show us the most recent contact between her and her aunt. It might give us a clearer picture why the aunt was there. Although I believe the neighbor this morning. It makes sense. The girls wanted their mother, or maybe Debbie was ill herself and couldn’t handle two little girls. So she took them home, and into a nightmare.”
Max nodded toward his phone. “Check my notes. We need to check Rachel’s phone. See if there are calls from Debbie or texts.”
Jac nodded, and checked the list of items found by the original forensic team. The phone was listed. “I’ll text Kelly, see if the forensics team has started on it yet.”
After a minute or two, the evidence supervisor texted her back. “That was quick. Kelly says that have the phone, and it’s with a tech, but they haven’t gotten fully into it yet.”
No surprise. It took time to process every bit of evidence. Jac had seen some cases with tens of thousands of pieces of evidence collected that would have to be waded through. Hopefully, Rachel’s wouldn’t be anywhere near that scale.
“Then that’s where we’re going. Back to PAVAD. Have you eaten anything today?”
She shook her head. She hadn’t even had time to grab breakfast. She’d gotten the call from the coordinator Dan around six that morning. She’d showered and dressed quickly. After she realized what she was seeing, food had been the last thing on her mind.
It was so common, normal, something they had done a thousand times together. Yet everything felt different now.
Two months should’ve been long enough for her to forget, but apparently, it wasn’t. It was hard to forget those years of friendship in just two months.
“What do you think happened?”
He just shook his head slightly. “Until we find the location of Paul Sturvin and Debbie Miller, I’m not making any theories. But I know you have one.”
“What if they were having financial trouble? It seems likely. I mean, the house they lived in didn’t come cheap. And if they were scrimping for tuition to Brynlock for Livy, paying for Ava’s preschool wouldn’t be any easier—the exact opposite. I’d be interested in talking to someone who knew more about Paul and Rachel’s relationship—and their finances. But that would most likely be Debbie. Until we can get a warrant for bank records. But…who is Paul close to? We need to find any friends he might have.”
“Why do you think it was the husband? For all we know he is on a business trip to Indianapolis, about to be greeted by his worst nightmare.”
Of course, Max would point that out. He always had been the devil’s advocate.
“Possibly. But we should have found him by now. We both know that.” And the fact that they hadn’t deepened her suspicions. Jac knew the statistics. “Someone with nothing to hide isn’t all that hard to find.”
“That doesn’t mean he was involved.”
“But it doesn’t mean he wasn’t.”
“Don’t make assumptions.”
He must have told her that a thousand times over the last five years. Jac almost never listened. “I’m not. I’m theorizing. We need to find Debbie Miller.”
“She has the answers. I just hope to hell that she has those kids someplace safe.”
52
They grabbed lunch in the cafeteria located at the back of the first floor of PAVAD. It was plain, utilitarian, but convenient. It reminded Jac of a run-down high school cafeteria, even though the paint was fresh and
