“But if you listened closely, she was so spent, so devastated, that she missed her entrance to the final repetition of the melody.”
Cheryl Beth hadn’t noticed.
He said, “She recovered in time… Most people wouldn’t even hear it. Sorry, I sound pompous.”
“You don’t!” Cheryl Beth said. She was rapt listening to him. “I love to learn about this from you.”
“I’ve heard the piece many times. It’s one of my favorites.”
“Well, thank goodness the police got the guy.”
Will’s face was thoughtful. “They think they did.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.” Will gave a smile short of sly. “Only a feeling I have.”
She reached over and took his hand. The abrasions from his fall were healing, but she wasn’t examining him, only wanting the closeness.
“There’s so much to you, Will Borders.”
He gave a self-deprecating shrug.
“The symphony president thought so. She specifically came up to you at intermission to thank you for your help. All those important people were watching her and wondering who we were. A cop and a nurse.”
Will chuckled. “Notice how she avoided Dodds, even though he was no more than twenty feet away? He wasn’t deferential enough to the symphony, which is a high crime in Cincinnati, so I had to go over and smooth ruffled feathers.” His eyes brightened. “Here’s a secret.” He leaned in closer, still holding her hand.
“Her husband was one of Kristen Gruber’s lovers.”
Cheryl Beth felt her eyes widen.
“Yep. He berths his boat right next to hers at the marina. And he’s a middle-aged bald man.”
“Oh, my god…” She felt the big room closing in to envelope the two of them.
“He’s a very high-powered lawyer. I met with him. He was belligerent. Of course, he doesn’t want his wife to know he was with Kristen. He said he had an alibi, that he was with his wife last Saturday night.”
“Too bad,” she said.
Will leaned in closer. “It may be too bad for him. Remember when Mrs. Buchanan spoke to the audience before the Rachmaninoff tribute to Jeremy Snowden? How she said that it was only last Saturday night when she had heard him play there, and then she had gone to a party with him and other musicians after the concert. Her husband said they were alone at home Saturday night.”
“The bald man who stalked Lauren…”
“If only I can sell it to the bosses.”
***
Afterward, they walked across the street to Fountain Square. Will walked best when he could swing his left arm, but he took Cheryl Beth’s hand and moved even slower. She didn’t seem to mind. The most famous public space in the city was deserted except for the lights on the Tyler Davidson Fountain, illuminating the water falling out of the hands of the bronze woman who kept watch from her granite perch. Even many natives didn’t know the fountain was actually called the Genius of Water. They sat on the lip and felt the spray in the cool night.