at the funeral?” he asked.
My surprise was so evident I didn’t need to say no.
“She hung around with Jennifer a lot,” he said. “Black silk suit. Would be good as a burial outfit.”
“I did see her, but I didn’t know who she was. It was, uh, kind of her to come.”
He snorted. “She’s not kind. She wants me to think she is so I don’t fight so hard about the size of her settlement, now that I’ve come into Mom’s money.”
“Sooo, maybe that gives her a motive.”
“How do you figure that?” I had his interest.
“If your mom lived until after your divorce, it would be all your money when she died, right?”
“Sure, but geez, I don’t think Darla would kill someone, even my mother.”
I realized I had not known her name. I plowed ahead. “Aunt Madge said she, Darla I mean, wasn’t too fond of your mom.”
He sighed. “She was jealous. It had the same effect of dislike. She tried to drive a wedge between me and my parents, especially my mother.”
“Why should she care? I would think, given what you stood to inherit, that she’d want to be on their good side.”
“There’s no figuring Darla. Took me awhile to figure that out.” He studied me for a moment. “You probably thought you knew your husband pretty well, but there were some things you really didn’t know.”
I grimaced. “You can say that again.”
“What I found out was that Darla has a hard time maintaining relationships with very many people.” He stood and poured himself another cup of coffee. “She was even estranged from her parents when we were married. At the time, I thought it was her parents with the problem. Wrong.”
“Maybe you could talk to Sgt. Morehouse about what Darla has to gain…”
“I’m not talking to anyone but my lawyer.” He was quite firm on that.
“What if I…”
“Give it a rest, Jolie,” he said shortly.
I sat stiffly, stung by the tone he used to reject my offer to help.
He ran his fingers through his hair. “Look, I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m paying this lawyer a lot of money, and I figure she has people who work on stuff like this.” He smiled. “I’ll pass your idea to her.”
I smiled in return, though in truth I thought he should be more aggressive about his own defense.
THAT NIGHT I SAT IN BED and tried to think of ways to test my theory on Sgt. Morehouse. More specifically, ways to test it without Michael figuring out I had done so. I told myself I was doing this because Aunt Madge would hate to see Michael in prison, but I can rarely totally fool myself. This was something I could dig into in a way I hadn’t wanted to dig into anything in the last few months. Since learning about Robby’s crimes I’d alternated between wanting to hibernate and figuring out how to leave Lakewood. And it seemed Michael was growing on me. Maybe I even liked him a bit. So what if I do?
Any good lawyer would probably consider that Darla had a lot to gain if Mrs. Riordan died while Darla was married to Michael. Plus, unless the police knew a lot more than they were letting on, it seemed unfair to accuse him. Of course, I didn’t know him well. He could be a serial ax murderer in Houston. Though if he were, the Ocean Alley police would probably have matched his fingerprints to some left at a crime there. Unless he wore gloves…
I stopped my train of thought and frowned as I played absently with Jazz, who was trying to attack my toes which, fortunately, were under the covers. Even a cat without claws has teeth. “Why do you do that?” I asked her. “You have no motive to maim me, I feed you.” I picked her up and held her under the front of her belly, with her face facing mine. She tried to swat me. “Nice,” I said, and put her down.
I examined my interest further. There was a great deal I didn’t know about Michael. Maybe the split with his partners was actually because he was hard to work with or was lax about business procedures. There was a lot more to find
My surprise was so evident I didn’t need to say no.
“She hung around with Jennifer a lot,” he said. “Black silk suit. Would be good as a burial outfit.”
“I did see her, but I didn’t know who she was. It was, uh, kind of her to come.”
He snorted. “She’s not kind. She wants me to think she is so I don’t fight so hard about the size of her settlement, now that I’ve come into Mom’s money.”
“Sooo, maybe that gives her a motive.”
“How do you figure that?” I had his interest.
“If your mom lived until after your divorce, it would be all your money when she died, right?”
“Sure, but geez, I don’t think Darla would kill someone, even my mother.”
I realized I had not known her name. I plowed ahead. “Aunt Madge said she, Darla I mean, wasn’t too fond of your mom.”
He sighed. “She was jealous. It had the same effect of dislike. She tried to drive a wedge between me and my parents, especially my mother.”
“Why should she care? I would think, given what you stood to inherit, that she’d want to be on their good side.”
“There’s no figuring Darla. Took me awhile to figure that out.” He studied me for a moment. “You probably thought you knew your husband pretty well, but there were some things you really didn’t know.”
I grimaced. “You can say that again.”
“What I found out was that Darla has a hard time maintaining relationships with very many people.” He stood and poured himself another cup of coffee. “She was even estranged from her parents when we were married. At the time, I thought it was her parents with the problem. Wrong.”
“Maybe you could talk to Sgt. Morehouse about what Darla has to gain…”
“I’m not talking to anyone but my lawyer.” He was quite firm on that.
“What if I…”
“Give it a rest, Jolie,” he said shortly.
I sat stiffly, stung by the tone he used to reject my offer to help.
He ran his fingers through his hair. “Look, I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m paying this lawyer a lot of money, and I figure she has people who work on stuff like this.” He smiled. “I’ll pass your idea to her.”
I smiled in return, though in truth I thought he should be more aggressive about his own defense.
THAT NIGHT I SAT IN BED and tried to think of ways to test my theory on Sgt. Morehouse. More specifically, ways to test it without Michael figuring out I had done so. I told myself I was doing this because Aunt Madge would hate to see Michael in prison, but I can rarely totally fool myself. This was something I could dig into in a way I hadn’t wanted to dig into anything in the last few months. Since learning about Robby’s crimes I’d alternated between wanting to hibernate and figuring out how to leave Lakewood. And it seemed Michael was growing on me. Maybe I even liked him a bit. So what if I do?
Any good lawyer would probably consider that Darla had a lot to gain if Mrs. Riordan died while Darla was married to Michael. Plus, unless the police knew a lot more than they were letting on, it seemed unfair to accuse him. Of course, I didn’t know him well. He could be a serial ax murderer in Houston. Though if he were, the Ocean Alley police would probably have matched his fingerprints to some left at a crime there. Unless he wore gloves…
I stopped my train of thought and frowned as I played absently with Jazz, who was trying to attack my toes which, fortunately, were under the covers. Even a cat without claws has teeth. “Why do you do that?” I asked her. “You have no motive to maim me, I feed you.” I picked her up and held her under the front of her belly, with her face facing mine. She tried to swat me. “Nice,” I said, and put her down.
I examined my interest further. There was a great deal I didn’t know about Michael. Maybe the split with his partners was actually because he was hard to work with or was lax about business procedures. There was a lot more to find
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