Chapter 3 - The Perfect Husband)
Officer Davis had met men like Julian before.
Not criminals necessarily.
Not yet.
Men who believed confidence could substitute for truth.
Julian greeted the officers at the front door with the exhausted patience of a respectable homeowner inconvenienced by a difficult relative.
“Thank you for coming.”
Marcus nearly laughed.
Officer Davis looked between them.
“Who called?”
“I did,” Marcus said.
Julian folded his arms.
“My brother-in-law is upset because my wife decided to take a few days away.”
“Without her phone?” Marcus asked.
Julian ignored him.
Officer Davis was in his early forties, calm-faced and observant.
“What’s your wife’s name?”
“Claire Carter.”
“When did you last see her?”
“Yesterday morning.”
Marcus turned.
“You told me she was upstairs today.”
Julian looked at Davis.
“That was before I understood what Marcus was doing. He arrived aggressive. I wanted him gone.”
“So you lied.”
“I avoided an argument.”
Officer Davis wrote something down.
“Where did Mrs. Carter go?”
“Boston.”
“Where in Boston?”
“A hotel.”
“Which hotel?”
Julian paused.
“I’d have to check.”
Marcus said, “He doesn’t know because she never went.”
Davis raised one hand.
“I’ll speak to everyone separately.”
The second officer took Julian toward the sitting room.
Davis remained with Marcus.
Marcus told him everything.
Claire’s voicemail.
The forged trust amendment.
The suspicious text.
The ringtone.
The sweater button.
The chain.
Davis listened without interrupting.
When Marcus finished, the officer asked, “Can I hear the voicemail?”
Marcus played it.
Davis’s expression changed slightly when Claire said, If I call you tomorrow and tell you everything is fine, don’t believe me.
“Send that to me.”
Marcus did.
Davis looked toward the basement corridor.
“You said you heard knocking?”
“Yes.”
“Definitely from the basement?”
“I can’t swear to that.”
“Did you hear a voice?”
“No.”
Davis nodded.
It was not the answer Marcus wanted.
“Can’t you break the lock?”
“Not based on a noise you can’t identify.”
“My sister could be behind that door.”
“She could be. But we still have procedures.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“A child says her mother is missing.”
“A child also told you her father said Boston.”
Marcus understood.
Lily had not yet directly said Claire was downstairs.
He looked toward the staircase.
“Talk to Lily.”
Davis did.
They sat in the breakfast room with the door open.
Marcus remained outside.
Julian tried to join them.
Davis refused.
For fifteen minutes, Marcus heard only fragments.
Do you know where Mommy is?
When did you see her?
Did someone tell you not to talk about it?
Lily’s answers were too quiet to hear.
When Davis emerged, his face gave nothing away.
“Well?”
“She says she saw her mother yesterday.”
Marcus’s heart pounded.
“Where?”
“She won’t say.”
“Why not?”
“She’s scared.”
Julian appeared at the end of the hallway.
“I told you. Marcus has upset her.”
Lily walked out behind Davis.
The moment she saw Julian, she stopped speaking.
Marcus noticed.
So did Davis.
The officer turned to Julian.
“Do you have a key to the basement?”
“No.”
Marcus stared.
Julian continued smoothly.
“The contractor has it.”
“What contractor?”
“North Shore Restoration.”
Davis wrote it down.
Marcus knew the company.
His own corporation had used them.
He called the owner while Davis stood there.
The owner answered.
Marcus put him on speaker.
“Did your company install a lock on the basement at the Bennett estate?”
“No.”
“Have you worked there recently?”
“Not in about eight months.”
Marcus looked at Julian.
Officer Davis asked, “Do you know who installed the chain?”
“No idea.”
The contractor continued.
“That basement door didn’t even have an exterior lock when we finished.”
Silence.
Marcus disconnected.
Julian’s face remained composed, but his right hand had started flexing beside his leg.
Davis saw that too.
“I’d like permission to look at the basement door.”
“You can look.”
“And the area around it.”
“You can look.”
“But not enter?”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“It contains private financial records.”
Marcus laughed without humor.
“Interesting place for financial records.”
Julian looked at him.
“Not everyone keeps their business in a glass office.”
They went downstairs.
Davis examined the chain.
The brass padlock was new.
So were the metal brackets screwed into the doorframe.
Near the threshold, Davis crouched.
He touched something on the stone floor.
A faint brown smear.
Marcus stopped breathing.
“Is that blood?”
Davis looked closely.
“Could be rust.”
Julian immediately said, “It is.”
Davis turned.
“How do you know?”
Julian realized the mistake.
“I’m guessing.”
Davis stood.
Then they heard it.
A small sound.
Tap.
Everyone froze.
Tap.
Tap.
Marcus stepped toward the door.
“Claire?”
Nothing.
Julian laughed.
“Pipes.”
Marcus slammed his palm against the wood.
“Claire!”
Davis pulled him back.
“Mr. Bennett.”
Marcus fought the urge to push past him.
“Somebody is in there.”
Davis moved closer to the door.
“Police. Is anyone inside?”
Silence.
Then a faint scraping sound.
Julian spoke quickly.
“Rats.”
Marcus turned on him.
“In a finished basement?”
Davis raised his voice.
“If anyone is inside, make a noise.”
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then came three weak knocks.
Lily screamed from the top of the stairs.
“Mommy!”
Every adult turned.
She stood there trembling.
Julian’s face changed.
“Lily, go upstairs.”
She shook her head.
“Now.”
“No.”
Marcus saw courage enter her face through the fear.
She pointed at the locked door.
“Mommy’s in there.”
Julian started toward her.
Davis blocked him.
“When did you see your mother go downstairs?”
Lily’s voice shook.
“Yesterday.”
“Did she come back up?”
“No.”
“Who put her down there?”
Lily looked directly at her father.
May you like
And whispered, “Daddy.”
That was the moment Julian stopped pretending to be the perfect husband.
