Safe In His Arms

As if suddenly remembering why he was there, she stopped and stared at him. “Yes. Kenneth moved in with me. He was in a condo at the time and he sold it.” She paused. “His ex got the big house.”

Bishop gave her a one-sided smile. “From what I understand that happens a lot. At least that’s what my ex told me when it came time to divide up the spoils.”

Anise Borden returned Bishop’s smile but the expression faded quickly. “I need to call her,” she said. “Kenneth’s ex-wife, I mean. You haven’t talked to her, have you?”

“Didn’t even know he had one. I’ll need her contact information, though, along with a list of anyone else you might think of who could add something to the investigation. If you’d like to phone her first, that’s fine.”

“Her name is Donna Capanna.” She gave him her address and number. “They have a daughter named Brittany. She’s sixteen. I’m not their favorite person but it would probably be better to hear the news from me rather than the television.”

“This could be obvious but humor me…why aren’t you their favorite person?”

“Donna thinks I stole Kenneth from her.”

“Did you?”

“They’d been divorced for two years when Kenneth and I started dating.”

“I guess she wasn’t ready to turn loose, eh? Especially since she kept his name?”

“You could say that.”

“Would you say that?”

Her eyes were emotionless as she considered the question. “Donna’s a very bitter, unhappy woman. It was easier for her to blame me than to examine their relationship.”

“Was she unhappy enough to kill him?”

The candor of his question took her by surprise, which is exactly why he asked it. Her hand snaked up to the lapels of her robe. She hesitated then answered. “I don’t think so…but who can say for sure? I have to admit I wondered if that was her on the phone.”

“Did the voice sound like hers?”

“I can’t say for sure.”

“Is she capable of being violent?”

“Maybe. When it comes to money.” The teakettle behind her began to whistle and she jumped. Filling two mugs with hot water, she added tea bags, then brought the cups to the table. Bishop pulled out the chair closest to her and sat down himself.

“Did Mr. Capanna and his ex-wife argue over their finances?”

“Constantly. She wanted more of it and he didn’t have it.”

Bishop cocked his head. “I thought you said he was an attorney?”

“He is…or was.” She bit her bottom lip then released it. “But money wasn’t something Kenneth handled well. He never had enough of it.”

“Why is that?”

“For the same reason most people can’t, I suppose. He liked to spend it more than he liked to make it.”

“And the former Mrs. Capanna shared this problem?”

“No. Her family has plenty of money and her parents have always been very generous with her. She liked to use Kenneth’s financial situation against him, though. It was a big stick and she could hammer him with it. He told me tonight that she’d just asked him for more to put into Brittany’s college fund. He wasn’t happy about that.”

“He didn’t want his daughter to go to college?”

“He didn’t think she could make it.” She explained the girl’s troubled background then said, “Brittany’s had a bad go of it but I don’t see her shooting her father. Underneath it all, she loves him.”

“What about you?” he asked. “Did you love him, too?”

Her expression didn’t change. “We were separated. The divorce papers are in my purse. That’s the only reason we were together tonight—we met at the bar so Kenneth could sign everything.”

He processed the information slowly, her reaction at the crime scene, or lack thereof, making more sense than it had before. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

“I didn’t think it mattered.”

“I guess I don’t understand, then.”

“What’s not to understand?”

He pulled a spiral notebook from his jacket and thumbed through the pages as if he was looking for something. In reality he was giving himself some time to think. A pending divorce had been the last thing he’d expected but he couldn’t say why. Maybe Anise Borden’s elegance had gotten to him. The longer he sat in front of her, the more impressive it had become. He couldn’t imagine a guy who wouldn’t want a woman like her on his arm.

“Here it is….” He tapped the notebook page before him as if he’d found what he was looking for. “This says you were embracing Mr. Capanna when the shot came. You were in his arms, he kissed you, then he was hit and you both fell to the sidewalk.”

She closed her eyes but only for a second. “That is what happened.”

“He was kissing you? But you’d just had him sign divorce papers?”

“We weren’t going for each other’s throats. It was a different kind of divorce.”

“I didn’t know there was another kind.”

She didn’t smile this time. “Kenneth wasn’t happy about the situation but I’d convinced him a divorce was the best thing for both of us.”

“Because?”

“Because it wasn’t working out,” she said. “We needed to move on. It was a mistake from the very beginning.”

“Okay. I guess I can understand.”

“I doubt that,” she said. “But it doesn’t matter, does it? He’s gone. And you’ve got to figure out who did this.”

Bishop turned the conversation in a different direction. “Do you have a list of his employees?”

“There was only one. Robin Estes, his assistant. I can give you her name and address if you like.”

He copied down the information she recited. “I’ll need access to his files.”

“I can let you in the office. Just let me know when.”