Chapter Thirteen
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Zach and Jason were tucked into a booth in the back of the half-empty diner. The lunch rush was over but it was still too early for dinner. It was the perfect time to meet and have a piece of pie and a cup of coffee.
Jason took notes on his tablet. “I can do that. I’ll have Jared run the names of attendees for any priors. That won’t take long. Anything else?”
Zach shifted uncomfortably on the vinyl seat. This was a small town and the people were close, protective of one another. “I’d like to get some background on the Marshalls. Finances, social media, that sort of thing.”
Jason’s brows shot up. “Are you leaning away from your two suspects?”
Holding his hand up, Zach shook his head. “Not in the least. I think they’re definitely worth a look. Frankly, there were several people at that reunion who could have been carrying a grudge against Drew. From the what I’ve been able to find out, he was kind of a bully back in the day and humans have long memories. But investigating him and the women is my standard operating procedure. The more I know the deceased, the more I can get into the motivations of the killer. I’m still not sold on the revenge theory. It just doesn’t feel right.”
“It’s a good idea to check them out,” Jason approved, tapping at the screen. “Especially when you have so many suspects. Just because someone wasn’t invited to the reunion doesn’t mean they weren’t the perpetrator. He could have been waiting until the reunion to do the deed, thinking that suspicion would be on everyone but him.”
“You keep saying ‘he’,” Zach laughed, digging into his apple pie. “Do you know something I don’t? It could very well be a female. Drew had a string of broken hearts in high school from what I’ve been told and the other victims were female. There could be a grudge there. Revenge is male, envy is female.”
“Just an assumption based on the mode of death. Drew should have been able to easily overpower a woman who was wielding that champagne bottle, plus the strength needed to strangle Bitty.”
“I’d normally agree with you but Drew had been drinking all night. I think he could have been overpowered by someone weaker, especially if they had the element of surprise.”
Jason signaled for more coffee. “That’s a good point. I’m anxious to hear what the medical examiner has to say about his blood alcohol level.”
“I want to hear from the crime lab if they found any evidence that might lead to narrowing down the suspect list. As it is I’ve got over two dozen possible suspects plus the hotel staff. That doesn’t include your theory that someone slipped in to the hotel and can’t be accounted for. We’ll know more when we hear from the lab. I’ve got my fingers crossed that the champagne bottle had fingerprints.”
Something had to break and soon.
* * *
“I can’t believe she had the nerve to show her face here,” Jenna hissed from her perch on the couch, her gaze sweeping the room full of people and zeroing in on one particular woman. “She has absolutely no respect.”
Leann looked around, confused for a moment as to whom Jenna was referring to, but then she saw Nicole Quincy placing a pie on the dining room table. Dressed in white pants and a peach blouse, the brunette was quite pretty. Leann didn’t remember seeing her last night at the reunion.
“That was fifteen years ago,” Leann reasoned. “I think it’s actually kind of nice that she stopped by to pay her respects. I’m sure she’s moved on from having a crush on Drew.”
It didn’t appear that Jenna had though from the way she was seething, her eyes following Nicole’s every movement. “She slept with my husband.”
Only kind of true.
“Drew wasn’t your husband then. He wasn’t even your boyfriend at the time. You two had broken up over some reason that I bet you don’t even recall. You went to the homecoming dance with someone else too.”
Reasoning with her friend wasn’t going well. Jerking her gaze away from Nicole, Jenna rounded on Leann. “Traitor. Are you taking her side?”
Jenna was emotionally overwrought and obviously not thinking clearly. Leann remembered homecoming night well and Jenna had been in the back seat of a Camry with another boy.
“Are there sides to take fifteen years later over one school dance? You and Drew sowed some wild oats and then you settled down together. He chose you and you chose him. The fling they had that night can’t compare to the life you and he had.”
A fresh spate of tears rolled down Jenna’s cheeks and Leann pushed the tissue box closer.
“You just don’t understand.” Jenna shook her head, dabbing at her swollen eyes. “You’ve never loved or been loved by a man. If you had, you would be on my side.”
Ouch. That was unnecessarily cruel.
Her friend was grieving so Leann wanted to be considerate. Understanding. Gracious.
“You shouldn’t let something that happened so long ago mar your memories of Drew and the life you built together. No one can take those from you.”
Shrugging, Jenna grabbed another tissue from the box. “Like I said before, you really don’t get it. Maybe someday you will.”
Mentally counting to ten, Leann took a deep breath. It wasn’t worth pursuing and none of this was about her, anyway. But it did remind her why she and Jenna had drifted apart after graduation.
“This is a lovely turnout,” Leann said, wanting to change the subject. “Drew was certainly well thought of in Tremont.”
“Someone hated my husband enough to kill him,” the widow said sharply, her eyes narrowing as she took in the room full of people. “Someone looked him in the eye and then killed him.”
Jenna had always been something of a drama queen but considering the circumstances Leann was willing to give her friend a huge amount of latitude. If Jenna wanted to scream and stomp her feet that was fine with Leann.
“That’s…true,” Leann conceded cautiously. Was Jenna planning to confront someone right here at the wake? “But dwelling on it isn’t going to make you feel better. I’m sure Zach will have the guilty party behind bars very soon.”
Jenna blew her nose again. “Everyone thinks it’s Troy or Darrell but I have another theory. I think it’s one of the kids that Drew used to bully. They came to the reunion to kill him as revenge. That’s why they killed Carole and Bitty too.”
Leann didn’t like to speak ill of the dead but Drew had played some nasty jokes on several of the so-called “geeks” in high school. Carole and Bitty hadn’t done anything overtly cruel but certainly someone might have taken their actions as a slight.
“Whoever it is, Zach will find him,” she said in her most soothing tone. “This isn’t his and Jason’s first murder case. Not even close.”
Bursting into tears, Jenna buried her face in the crumpled tissue. “Nothing is going to bring him back.”
Wrapping her arm around her friend, Leann tried to comfort Jenna as best she could. What the woman said was true. Drew was gone.
“Go ahead and cry,” Leann urged, patting Jenna on the back. “Get it all out. I’m here for you. We’re all here for you.”
A whole room full of people just to support Jenna. And one of them might just be the killer.