She thought she saw a bead of sweat on Noah’s brow despite the fact that it was cool inside the police station.
"I have in my notes that you and Miss Palmer started Lyah software together," Sam said.
"We started it in college. The name, Lyah, is a play on the letters in our first names."
"Clever," Sam said.
"And you were lovers?" Jo added.
Noah swiveled his gaze to Jo, his brow creasing. "We were, but that was a long time ago. We broke up."
"Was this breakup amicable, or was there a lot of fighting?" Sam asked.
Noah swiveled his head back toward Sam, appearing to become slightly agitated. "There were a few fights, but then we ended up being friends. I mean, we have to work together, so we have to get along. We’re good friends now."
"Uh-huh. And you’re with Amber now," Sam said.
Noah looked momentarily confused, then his expression cleared. "Yes, Amber Huffman. She’s a receptionist at work. We’ve been dating for a couple of months now."
"Really? That’s not awkward?" Jo asked, causing Noah to swivel his head back to her again. "I mean, your ex-girlfriend and your current girlfriend working together and hanging out together? Seems like that could be opportunity for a lot of fighting."
Noah became belligerent, his voice rising. "What does this have to do with Lynn’s death? Surely you don’t think I killed her because I’m dating another woman. What about that local guy? He seemed like a lowlife. You should have him in here."
"Couldn’t have been him." Sam pushed the gas station receipt on his desk toward Noah. "He was pumping gas at the time of death."
Noah looked down at the receipt then up at Sam. "If you’re accusing me, I want a lawyer."
"We’re not accusing you. We’re just trying to figure out the group dynamics and find out what happened that night. You have to admit that jealousy from an ex would be a powerful motive, but you moved on, and she didn’t have a boyfriend… unless you were jealous of Lynn paying attention to Jesse," Sam said.
Noah relaxed. "No, I wasn’t. It doesn’t make sense that I would kill her. If anyone would’ve killed her because of jealousy, it would be Amber…" His words trailed off, and his face scrunched. "Well, surely you guys don’t think it was Amber? I mean, she wouldn’t hurt a fly."
Jo thought about how Jesse had said he’d heard Lynn arguing with the blonde. Amber was the only blonde in the group, and it wouldn’t be the first time she’d caught a killer who had murdered her boyfriend’s ex. Especially if they were as close as Noah and Lynn had once been.
Noah swiveled his head between them, stopping at Jo. "No way. There was nothing for them to fight about. I mean, the whole trip was Lynn’s idea, and she encouraged me to bring Amber. Neither one of us still had romantic feelings toward each other, so why would Amber be jealous?"
Sam leaned forward, the creaking of the old chair capturing Noah’s attention and causing his head to swivel back in Sam’s direction. "How come you didn’t tell us that you get all of Lynn’s shares in the company now?"
Noah looked momentarily confused, and then, as if a light bulb had switched on, he sucked in a breath. "Of course. I’d forgotten about that. When we started the company, we wanted to make sure it could still be run the way we wanted if anything happened. The lawyer recommended that we give each other controlling shares in our will… But you don’t think I would kill her for that? The company isn’t even doing that well."
"But you said that you had all just been working long hours to put out a new game. What if that game took off? The company could be worth a lot, couldn’t it?" Sam asked.
Noah spread his arms. "Sure, but if it was, I’d have plenty of money. I wouldn’t need to kill Lynn for her shares."
Sam nodded slowly. "Can you think of anyone who would want her dead?"
"No. That’s the thing. Everyone liked her. That’s why I figured it was someone we didn’t know, like that Jesse guy. Maybe it was someone else, someone from the campground. Like another camper. Some people from another campsite joined us for a while. It could have been one of them, couldn’t it?" Noah turned pleading eyes on Jo and then Sam.
"Maybe, but I wouldn’t count on it."
Chapter Eighteen
Sam had been watching the expression on Jo’s face while they were interviewing Noah. He could tell that she didn’t believe everything he had said, and neither did Sam. They didn’t have a chance to compare notes, though, because as soon as Noah left, Amber entered.
Amber perched on the edge of the wooden chair, her knees pressed together, her red-tipped nails clutching the armrests. She looked like a murderer ready to be sentenced.
"I don’t think I can tell you very much. I didn’t really know Lynn, and I wasn’t paying much attention to her that night," she said.
Sam got straight to the point. "We heard you had a fight with her in the bar."
Alarm crossed her pretty features. The chair rocked slightly. "Who said that?"
"We have our sources." Sam leaned across the desk. "Is it true?"
Amber looked at the floor. "No."
Sam figured Amber was lying. He glanced at Jo for confirmation. Jo nodded.
"Are you sure, Amber? Because lying would be obstructing justice, and there’s jail time for that."
Her eyes flew up to his face. "Well, maybe we had a little argument, but that doesn’t mean I killed her."
Sam leaned back in his chair. "Of course not. Why don’t you tell me all about it."
Amber sighed. "You probably already know that Lynn used to date Noah. They started the company together. And I think she still wanted to get her hooks into him. When we were in the bar, she was flirting with that long-haired guy and with Noah, too. Well, I don’t like anyone getting their claws into my man, so I laid into her." Amber grimaced. "Okay, maybe I had a few too many to drink, but she was out of line."
"That was in the bar—what about later on at the campsite?" Sam asked.
"What about it? We came back. We partied. As far as I know, she was still alive when Noah and I went into our tent."
"Can you specifically say that you saw her alive when you went to bed?" Jo asked.
Amber looked down at the floor. "I think so. I did have a bit much to drink, and things are a little fuzzy. But I remember her with that guy."
"He has an alibi," Sam said.
Her face pinched together. "Oh. Well, I don’t know what more I can tell you."
"Do you happen to know where her phone is?" Jo asked.
Amber shook her head. "No. After you came this afternoon, we all looked all around the site, but none of us found it. It’s the weirdest thing. I know she had one."
"And besides her flirting with Noah at the bar, did you see them together any other time?"
Amber’s eyes narrowed. "What do you mean together? They weren’t together. I was with him the whole time."
"What time did you go to bed?" Sam asked.
She thought about it. "It must’ve been around two-thirty, because we left the bar at one, and we weren’t up much longer."
"And you went into the tent at the same time as Noah?"
"Yeah. Of course I did."
"And you were both in there the whole time after that?"
Her eyes flicked to the window. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Of course. I was with Noah all night, so he couldn’t have killed her, if that’s what you’re getting at."
"Is there anything else? Any idea who might have done this? Did you notice anything odd maybe the day before when you were in town or that night at the bar?" Sam asked.