“Early evening on Sunday.”
“Did he stay here with you? Not at a motel or anything like that?”
“He stayed with us,” his father said.
“And you spent time with him on Monday and Tuesday?”
“We were with him all day both days.”
“We think the abduction occurred around nine o’clock Tuesday evening at your son’s house,” Serena said.
“Then you can rule Gavin out,” his father replied firmly. “He left our house at eight thirty. Unless you think he beamed himself to Duluth, he didn’t make it there until after ten.”
“You’re sure about the time he left?”
“Yes. He checked his watch and said he wanted to get home before Chelsey was in bed.”
“When did you next talk to him?”
“In the morning,” Mary said.
“Did he tell you what had happened?”
“No. He didn’t say a word. It was obvious that something was wrong; we could hear it in his voice. He seemed to be under some kind of tremendous stress, but he told us it was one of his cases. We didn’t find out what was really going on until today when he called us again. Gavin apologized for not telling us the truth. He said he couldn’t risk word getting out and Chelsey ending up in any more danger. I’m sure he thought we’d call the police if he told us, and I suppose we probably would have. He knows he made a mistake by trying to deal with this himself, but he was in a panic. I’m sure the kidnappers were counting on that.”
“Can you think of anyone who might have done this?” Serena asked.
“It must be one of his scumbag clients,” Tim harrumphed. “You lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.”
“You don’t sound too happy about your son’s law practice,” Serena said.
Mother and father exchanged glances. Tim’s face looked sour.
“Our children’s lives didn’t go the way we hoped,” Mary told her. She sounded like someone in a bathrobe on the street watching her house burn down. “It’s been one tragedy after another for both of them, and none of it was their fault. Honestly, there are days when Tim and I wonder if we’re cursed. That God is punishing our kids.”
“I know you also lost your daughter — Gavin’s sister — to cancer recently,” Serena said quietly. “Is that right?”
“Yes. Susan. We’d known it was coming for a few years. She’d been battling it bravely, but I’m afraid the outcome was never really in doubt. She lasted longer than the doctors thought she would, but in the end, well, death always wins, doesn’t it?”
“I’m very sorry for your loss.”
Serena found it hard to look away from Mary’s ocean-blue eyes.
“As for Gavin, things started out so well for him,” the woman went on with a sad smile. “After law school, he worked at a corporate firm in Minneapolis for several years. Then he moved to Duluth to start a firm with a friend of his. They worked with start-up technology companies. It was a very successful practice. For a while, he had everything. Big house on Skyline Drive. Smart, beautiful wife in Chelsey. That was a happy time. We were very proud of him.”
Tim scowled. “He was naïve. He didn’t watch his back with that fucking partner of his.”
Mary looked pained by her husband’s harshness. “I suppose that’s true, but I can’t really blame him for that. Gavin is too trusting. His so-called friend — his partner in the law firm — had a gambling problem that wiped him out. He began to embezzle money from the firm’s clients. Gavin didn’t pay enough attention to the books. When it all came out, his partner went to prison. Gavin nearly did, too. As it was, he and Chelsey lost everything. Money. House. They were wiped out. Gavin started over doing criminal law for — well, for not the best sort of people.”
“Scumbags,” Tim said again.
“Gavin always says his clients are just down on their luck,” Mary corrected her husband. “He said he could relate to that, given what he went through. Actually, he told us he was happier doing criminal defense work than he had been when he was working with stock offerings and venture capital. He said he could see the impact of what he did on people’s lives, and he liked that.”
The look on Tim’s face told Serena that Gavin’s father didn’t agree.
“Could we talk about the inheritance?” Serena asked.
Mary looked down at her lap, and Tim — for all his rough edges — also looked stricken, thinking about his daughter.
“About three years ago, we finally got a bit of bright news in the family,” Mary went on with a sigh. “Susan got married. She was forty years old, so we’d sort of given up hope about that. But then she met a wonderful man — athletic, very successful, a senior health-care executive in Duluth. We had visions of grandchildren, which we’d assumed was never going to happen.”
“Gavin and Chelsey didn’t want kids?” Serena asked.
“Oh, they talked about it for a while in the early years. I’m not sure Chelsey was too crazy about the idea of putting her body through pregnancy. I can’t really blame her for that. Anyway, after the setbacks Gavin went through, they didn’t feel ready. Financially, emotionally, whatever.”
“And Susan?”
Mary sniffled. “Like we told you, it’s been one crisis after another. First, we went through all of Gavin’s troubles. And then, Susan got the diagnosis. Aggressive uterine cancer. She hadn’t even been married a year! At the time, the doctors told us she might only have months to live. We couldn’t believe it. You’d think that would be tragedy enough, wouldn’t you? But God piled on. Susan lost her husband the same year. A car accident a few months later. I was so angry. Angry at the world. There Susan was, battling to stay alive, and she loses the love of her life. Honestly, I thought the stress of it would kill her right then and there. She hung on for two more years, but you could tell her heart wasn’t in the fight. This whole stretch of time has been like a nightmare.”
“I’m so sorry,” Serena said again.
Mary nodded. Tim stared out the windows.
“I understand that Gavin was the principal beneficiary of Susan’s estate after she died,” Serena went on with a little hesitation. “Obviously, we’re wondering whether money was a motive in Chelsey’s kidnapping. I’m wondering how widely known it was that Gavin received a substantial inheritance.”
“Well, this is a small town,” Mary replied. “People talk. We didn’t hide it. I’m not aware that Gavin or Chelsey did, either. I mean, who would dream that something like this could ever happen?”
“How did Gavin feel about his newfound wealth?” Serena asked.
“Well, he had mixed feelings, of course. He was on stable footing again financially, but only because he lost his sister. That’s not something he would have chosen in a million years.”
“Did he talk to you about any of his future plans?”
Tim leaned forward, his hands on his knees. His voice was gruff. “What do you mean?”
“Was he thinking about any changes because of his new economic circumstances? Giving up his job? Moving? Anything like that?”
“Or giving up his wife?” Tim asked sharply. “That’s what you’re really thinking, isn’t it? Gavin got a boatload of money and was looking for a cheap way to get rid of Chelsey.”
Mary’s blue eyes widened in shock as she stared at Serena. “You can’t honestly believe that Gavin did this—”
“Of course, they can!” her husband interjected. “You heard what my cousin said. That’s the first place the police go. Blame the spouse.”
“I’m just trying to get the whole picture,” Serena replied calmly. “I talked to one of their neighbors, and she indicated that Chelsey was a little concerned about Gavin. She said he’d changed after the inheritance. It sounds like things were strained between them.”