The next morning, Mac was up early. Their flight left at 9, so they had to get there early. He got all his stuff together and went out the door, and Jo was coming out the door too. "Let's get going," Mac said.

"Mac, I am sorry about that last night," Jo said. "I fell asleep looking at those photos and files."

"Jo, don't let that happen again. You need to take the files to your own room if you're going to do that."

"I will. But I noticed something in the photos from the hotel room."

"What?"

"I'll show you in the car."

They got into the car and Jo took the photos out. "What do you see missing?" she asked.

Mac looked at the pictures but he had looked at them over and over and had not seen anything that looked different. "Tell me," he said.

"Dana was there with Travis that night, and even showered with him…so when did she leave? Where are her clothes in this photo? It's odd that she didn't leave anything in the room."

Mac scowled as he looked at the photos. "But she said that she…" He stopped in mid-sentence. "She didn't say when she left."

"Right. Why didn't she tell us when she left?"

"We didn't ask her."

"But Mac, if she was there with him like that, why did she leave in the first place?"

Mac considered that a moment. "I don't know," he said. "It looks like she would stay all night and try to spend time with him the next day."

"Well, when my husband and I were in the same hotel room, I certainly didn't get up during the night and leave like I was just staying for a while," Jo declared. "It doesn't make sense."

"You're right, so why don't we go and ask her now before we head for the airport."

"I thought you'd never say that."

Jo cranked the car and drove over to Dana Miller's house again. She was not happy to see them that early in the morning. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Just need to ask you some questions," Jo said.

"Like what? I thought I had already answered all your questions."

"We have another one," Mac said. "When you were there in the hotel room with your husband…why did you leave?"

Dana stared at them a moment, taken by surprise by that question. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Your husband was murdered there in that hotel room," Mac said. "You were there and slept with him and took a shower with him…then what? Why did you leave?"

"I had to come back home."

"You had to leave before morning?"

"Yes. I had to get back here to my kids."

Mac shook his head. "I can't believe you just flew all the way to New York to have a roll in the sack and a shower and then just hurried back here."

"Well, I don't care what you believe. If you think there's more to it than that, prove it."

Mac looked at Jo. "We will prove it," he said. "Right now, we need your fingerprints and DNA."

"Go ahead."

They took her fingerprints and DNA and packed it away to take with them. Mac thought they were getting nowhere, though.

They went back to the car and went on to the airport. Mac studied the crime scene photos while they were on the way to the airport. He had to admit it was odd that Dana would have left and did not know anything about the murder. Then again, Sid had estimated that the time of death was at 5am but that could have been altered by the water or lying there on the beach. Mac thought everything was not what it seemed, and he thought Angela Miller had something to do with that fact. And where did Teddy come into this? He did not think Dana did the actual killing even if she knew about it, although he did not understand her part in it. He thought Carly did the actual killing but he had not met her yet. She was the one who lived in Ohio.

Mac and Jo got to the airport but when they tried to get the trunk open to get their luggage out, it would not open. "This thing opened fine earlier," Jo said.

Mac took the key and tried to open it again but the key would not turn. "Does it have a lever in the car to open the trunk?"

"Oh, I have never seen anything like this," Jo mumbled as she went up to the driver door to check. "We should have known there was something wrong when the GPS didn't work."

Mac waited while she checked for a lever or a button. He almost laughed but it was not really funny since they had to get on their flight. "I don't see anything," Jo said.

Mac tried the key again and then he hit the top of the trunk and it flew up. He looked at Jo who was laughing. "Let's be careful what kind of car we rent," he said.

"It looks like a good car."

"Looks can be deceiving."

They got the luggage out of the trunk and Mac closed it but then it would not stay closed. "How old is this car?" he asked.

"It's a two-thousand thirteen model," Jo said.

They went inside and told the attendant that the trunk was messing up on that car. "I thought we weren't going to be able to get our luggage out," Mac said.

"I am so sorry," the man said.

Since they had had trouble, they got a discount on the rental. "By the way, that trunk won't close now," Mac said.

"We will take care of it."

Mac and Jo left there and went on to the terminal. "Wow, I hope that is the last of the antics," Jo said.

"What do you mean?" Mac asked.

"When something like that happens, it's just all downhill from there."

"Don't say that."

They went through security and got their bags checked and sat in the waiting room. "At least this flight won't be very long," Mac said.

"That's the best thing about it," Jo replied.

The flight was delayed for a while so they did not board until 10am. Mac sat down in his seat and folded his arms with a sigh. He was tired of this trip already. He wanted to get it over with and go home. Jo sat down beside him. "Oh, don't be such a fuddy duddy," she said. "This flight will be short and then we'll maybe find our killer."

"Jo, I think Dana Miller was in on this," Mac said.

"I do too but we have to prove it."

"Just her presence there is enough to arrest her if she was in New York."

"But she's not. Maybe we will have more luck with this Carly Miller."

"I hope so. It's just strange to me that neither of these women went to New York to claim his body."

"If they know about his extramarital marriages, I suppose they don't want it, but Dana Miller would have more rights than the others because she was his rightful wife."

"Well, he's been married to Carly for six years." Mac took some of his files out of the briefcase. "Just look at this, Jo."

Jo leaned over and looked at what Mac was referring to. "Three of these women have a two year old child," Mac pointed out.

Jo shook her head. "I can see why they were furious," she said.

"I'm just beyond stunned."

Jo leaned back on her seat. "You never know what people are doing," she said. She looked at Mac. "I'm sorry for last night."

Mac shook his head. "It wasn't as bad as I made it out to be," he replied. "Don't worry about it, but Karen called and I turned over and saw you lying there and it made me feel like I was caught with my hand in the cookie jar."

Jo laughed. "You consider me the cookie?"

"Jo."

"Well, you said it."

"You know what I mean."

"Yes, and I'm sorry. I just got so sleepy looking at all that evidence I just went to sleep."

"I didn't even eat any of the pizza. At least my legs are not aching today though."

"You were definitely resting."

"I just hope we can get this over with and get back home. Karen is leaving Monday. I at least want to be there to tell her goodbye."

"Maybe we will be there." Jo hated hearing Mac talk about Karen. She could not help herself. She did not know anything about this Karen, not that she had not done a background check on her. Everything she had told Mac was true about being in the Navy and all. She just did not like the idea that Mac was with someone else since she had let him know how she felt. She had brought him all those roses while he was in the hospital. She would see what she could do while Karen was gone over to California. Maybe Mac would get lonely and she could convince him to go out with her some time and maybe it would just go from there. She could only hope.

They landed in Columbus, Ohio at around 12Noon. Mac got his bag and walked out of the airport. Columbus, Ohio was a much bigger city than Buckhannon had been. They would need more help finding where they were going but at least there were cabs. "Are we renting a car or taking a cab?" Jo asked.

"I think it would be better to take a cab," Mac said. "We might drive around a long time before we find where we're going."

"Especially if we don't stop and ask for directions."

"Don't start that again. I'm tired and I just want to get on down there."

"Are we going to eat first?"

"Let's just get to the police station."

They got a cab and went to the police station. Soon, they were on their way to Carly Miller's house which was in an uptown neighborhood. The chief sent a deputy with them so they went up to the door and he knocked.

Someone opened the door and it was a young girl, about sixteen. "May I help you?" she asked.

"We're looking for Carly Miller," the deputy said. "Is she here?"

"No. I'm babysitting for her. She's at work."

"Where does she work?"

"She's a nurse at the children's hospital."

"Thanks."

Mac, Jo and the deputy went back out to the car. "Are we going to go barging into the children's hospital?" the deputy asked.

"No, we're not going to 'barge' in, but we have to go there," Mac said.

"I just don't want to cause a scene there. There are sick children there."

"I understand that, but we will get Carly out of there to talk to her."

They went over to the children's hospital and Mac and Jo went in, and the deputy followed them. Of course there was a reception desk there in the lobby. Mac walked over there and showed them his badge. "We're looking for Carly Miller," he said quietly. "We need to talk to her."

The receptionist just looked at Mac a moment and then typed in her computer. "She's working on the eighth floor," she said.

"We would appreciate it if you would not call her and tell her that we're coming."

"Of course not."

Mac, Jo and the deputy went to the elevator and went up to the eighth floor. When they came out, Mac hated to go on with this but he had no choice. He just hoped the woman was not in some critical situation. They would wait if she was but they had to talk to her.

Mac looked at the deputy. "Why don't you go back down and wait for us?" he asked. "I don't want to make a scene here."

"Okay," the deputy replied.

Mac and Jo walked on to the nurse's station. "May I help you?" the nurse at the desk asked.

"We need to talk to Carly Miller," Mac said. "Is she busy?"

"She's with a patient right now."

"Will you tell her that someone is here to see her?"

"She should be back up here in a few minutes."

"Good. We'll wait."

Mac and Jo sat in the waiting room that was there at the nurse's station. "Oh, Mac, I feel like an intruder here," Jo whispered.

"I don't like it either," Mac said. "But we have to talk to her."

"Couldn't we wait until she gets off work?"

"Jo, we're not here to cause trouble for anyone but her."

"Right. I guess it's just where we are."

"It is."

They waited and after a while, a nurse came into the waiting room. She had the reddest hair Mac had ever seen and it was long and curly. She had blue eyes and was wearing blue scrubs. "You wanted to see me?" she asked.

Mac stood up. "I'm Detective Mac Taylor from New York," he said. "You probably know what I'm here about."

"You're here about that rotten man I called a husband for six years, I assume."

"You know he's dead?"

"Yes, I know he's dead. If you're wanting me to claim his body, forget it. Ask one of his other wives."

"Who told you that he had three other wives?"

"Angela Miller."

"And how long have you known that?"

"About a week, I guess. I was his 'second' wife."

Mac could hear the anger in Carly's voice and see it in her eyes too. "You know he was murdered," he said. "We also know you were in New York the night that Travis Miller was killed."

"And just what makes you think that?"

"You were described to a T by a man named Teddy who owns the Seagull. He said you came there to get a swim fin replaced and you more than likely stole a boat…but then again, I don't think he was telling me the whole truth."

Carly folded her arms. "So? What does that have to do with me?"

"You were there and you're a suspect in his murder. Is there anything you want to tell us?"

"I can't think of a thing. Why would you think I killed him?"

"Because you were angry, hurt, and you wanted to teach him a lesson?"

"Prove it. If there's nothing else, I have work to do."

Mac knew they did not have enough evidence to arrest her, but he had to prove that she was in New York. All he had was the word of Teddy whom he did not think was telling the whole truth. "You're not out of this yet," he said. "I believe you killed him and I believe two others helped you and maybe Teddy even helped you to get rid of the body."

"Prove it."

"Where did you meet your husband?" Jo asked.

"We met at the beach," Carly replied.

Mac wrote that down. "At the beach, huh? What were you doing? Sunbathing?"

"I was lying there on the beach and he walked over to me."

"Where was this? There are no beaches in West Virginia."

"No kidding. I was in Myrtle Beach, and he was there on business and took a while to have a little fun."

"And he just fell for you."

"That's the significance of the beach, then?" Jo asked.

"I hate the beach now," Carly said. "I had always loved it and thought I had met the most wonderful man in the world…until a week ago."

Mac stared at her a moment. "Is that why you threw him out on the beach?" he asked.

Carly's eyes flashed as she glared at him. "Don't try to trap me," she said. "If you want to know anything else, you just talk to my lawyer."

"Let me guess…Angela Miller?"

"Wouldn't you love that?"

"I think you need to come down to the police station with us," Mac said.

"I will not," Carly declared. "You have no right to take me down there."

"I have every right. Now, if you don't want to go out of here in cuffs, you better cooperate."

Mac thought if looks could kill, he would be falling dead with the hateful look she was giving him now. "Tell your boss that you have a date with the police," he said.

"I'll be ready in a few minutes," Carly replied.

Mac and Jo left the waiting room and watched as Carly went to the nurse's station and they could see her glare at them as she explained to her superior that she had to go to the police station. They could also see the surprise on the head nurse's face as she looked around at them. Once she was done talking to her, Carly went into another room. "Where is she going?" Mac asked.

"To get her things from her locker," the head nurse replied. "What is this about? Do you really think she would kill her husband?"

"Yes, I do, and if she didn't, someone sure is going to a lot of trouble to make it look like she did. Has she said anything about her husband lately?"

"Not anything unusual."

"She didn't tell you about any trouble they were having?"

"No, but she did tell me that she was going to get a divorce."

"A permanent one," Jo remarked.

Carly came back from the other room, but Mac thought she looked a little nervous now. "Let's go," he said.

They went down to the deputy's car and went to the police station where they took Carly's fingerprints and DNA. They sent the fingerprints to New York to compare to the ones from the hotel room, but there had been no unknown fingerprints in the room. However, there had been DNA on the artificial nail and when the DNA was run through the system, it found the match.

"She was there," Jo said when she and Mac had the results.

"Yes," Mac replied. "But then so was Dana Miller but we can't prove she killed her husband."

"Mac, you know they were all in on this."

"We have to prove it, Jo. If we go into court with stuff like this, they'll throw the case out."

"It looks more promising against Carly Miller. Maybe we can make her roll over on the others."

"We'll see."

They went into the interrogation room where Carly Miller was pacing back and forth. "When am I getting out of here?" she asked.

"Not any time soon," Mac said. "Sit down."

Carly just stared at him a moment but then she sat down at the table. Mac laid some pictures on the table. "You see that?" he asked as he pointed to a picture of the artificial nail.

Carly looked at the picture and then looked at Mac. "So?"

"You know that was your nail. Your DNA was on it. You lost it while you were rummaging through your husband's things. What were you looking for?"

"Okay, so I was there. I went there that day and told them I was his wife and I went in there to find that wedding ring I had given him if he had it in there and I also wanted that gold watch I gave him."

"So you killed him and then tried to rob him too?"

"He was my husband. I had a right to be in his room."

"Actually, he couldn't be your husband because he was already married to Dana Miller before he married you."

"I don't care. I still have a marriage license."

"You killed your husband and then you went through his things looking for something," Mac said. "Then, Teddy, the store owner helped you get him into that boat and you threw him out on the beach. You both disposed of that boat and I'll just bet wherever that boat is, the murder weapon is there too."

"The problem with all that is that you don't have any proof of anything you're saying," Carly said.

"Well, we're going to talk to Teddy too, and I just wonder what he's going to say."

"I don't care what he says. He doesn't know me."

"I think he probably knows you pretty well."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I think you bribed him into helping you, and you had great persuasion too."

Carly glared at Mac. "Are you saying that I slept with him to get his help?" she asked.

"Are you saying you had his help?" Mac asked.

"I'm not saying anything else. You're trying to twist my words. I want a lawyer."

"I just think that you got so angry when you found out that your husband had been fooling you all these years," Mac said. "I think you got so angry that you plotted to kill him and you found out that Dana and Angela were just as angry, and Angela figured out the whole thing so that you could get away with it, and then you employed Teddy for the muscle to dispose of the body because you thought it wouldn't look like a woman could get him out of there and throw him out like that."

"I suppose you better ask Teddy about all this because he must be the one who killed him," Carly said.

"Oh, I'm sure he's going to have a lot to say when he's faced with life in prison or the death penalty because this was premeditated murder."

"I'll take that lawyer now."

Mac gathered up his evidence and put it back in the briefcase. "You know, you may think you're going to get away with this but you're not," he said.

Mac and Jo left the interrogation room. The chief was standing outside the interrogation room. "You really think she did this?" he asked.

"Don't you?" Mac asked.

The chief, whose name was Wade Summers, nodded. "It sure looks like it."

"She was there in that room and searching through his things."

"I guess you need to find that boat and murder weapon."

"My team is searching for it. We can hold her for twenty-four hours."

"Not when her lawyer gets here."

"We need to make sure that woman doesn't leave town. We have enough to show a judge and arrest her."

"We'll go and talk to Judge Bricker."

"Good."

Mac hoped they could get this woman back to New York. He was sure she killed her husband and that she would confess it if they could talk to her more. Maybe he would get back to New York before Monday after all.