Natalie later told me she had felt uneasy all week. Adrian had been too calm, which with men like him is often more dangerous than rage. He had come home early twice. He had started using that falsely gentle tone he reserved for witnesses, real or imagined. He had asked if she still planned to see me that weekend, then suggested maybe rest would be better.
That evening he had a dinner meeting, or said he did.
Natalie stayed home in their house in Willow Brook, an overlarge brick place Adrian liked because it looked established in photographs. Around nine-thirty she went into his study to print a contractor invoice. She almost never used his printer because Adrian hated people touching his desk.
The printer jammed.
When she opened the lower tray, she found a folder hidden behind a stack of legal pads.
Heavy cream paper. Gavin Pierce’s letterhead.
Her own name on the tab.
NATALIE COLE – PROTECTIVE ACTION.