“You won’t,” Jeff assured him with a smile. “It’s a small town. The list of possible perpetrators isn’t going to be that long.”
“Yes, but we can’t rule out somebody who came here from out of town.”
“That’s not likely,” Nemara said. “I mean, he was wearing socks, you know. He had to have taken his shoes off in somebody’s house, in a place where he felt comfortable,” she added.
Gil cocked his head. “That’s not a bad guess.”
She laughed softly. “Thanks.”
“I feel bad for the mayor,” Jeff remarked. “His wife is a very difficult woman.”
“We make our own beds,” Nemara said softly. “And then we have to lie in them.”
“Very true.” Gil sighed. “Well, we have a list. Let’s go wear out some shoe leather.”
Nemara nodded. “It’s still the best way to investigate a murder,” she said. “Despite all our electronic aids.”
“I’ve found that to be true,” Jeff told her. “Most people we want to interrogate won’t even answer an email. But if we go talk to them, they’ll usually tell us all they know. People skills are becoming a thing of the past, thanks to social media. It’s not a good thing.”
“Tell me about it,” Nemara said, shaking her head. “I deleted all my social media accounts. I stay home and play . . . well, I stay home.” She hesitated to tell the men what she did with her leisure time. It was a little embarrassing for a woman her age.
“Me too,” Gil said. “At the end of the day, I just want to go home and have a beer with Bert.”
“Bert?” Nemara asked. “Oh, I remember, your dog.”
“He’s my pet—”
“Better get going,” Jeff interrupted with a level stare at Gil that made the point. He’d better be quiet about his roommate if he was finding common points with their out-of-town visitor. Gil just chuckled.
“Yes, we should,” Gil agreed.
He checked his reminder list. “I want to talk to Mayor Handley . . .”
“What a stroke of good luck,” Jeff murmured, nodding toward the door.
Mayor Handley was just coming in. “I heard that you’ve already identified the body,” he said abruptly. “Was it Marley Douglas?”
Gil took a breath. “Yes, sir, it was.”
Handley cursed under his breath. His eyes were lackluster. “He was my best friend,” he said. “We played chess every week at my house. I knew him all my life. We were in school together.” He looked up. “It’s a blow, let me tell you!”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Gil replied sincerely.
“Who did it?” Handley demanded. “Do you have a suspect yet?”
Gil took another breath so that he didn’t say what he was really thinking.
Nemara beat him to it. “We don’t. Not yet,” she told the mayor. “Right now, we just have skeletal remains.”
“Well, you have to find out who killed my best friend. You have to!” he told Gil.
“I’ll do my very best,” Gil promised him.
“Should I call in the media? They might help find something,” Handley offered.
“It would probably be better if we don’t,” Gil replied carefully. “If they stir things up too much, they might frighten witnesses away, if there were any.”
“Considering how poor Marley ended up, I doubt anybody saw what happened,” Handley mused.
“We’re just going out to ask some questions. Actually, Mayor Handley, I’d like to interview you, if you’re willing. You knew the victim. You might know something that would help us solve the case; something you’re not even aware of.”
Handley was nodding, but his face was taut. “Yes, yes, I’ll be glad to help, but I can’t right now. We’ve got two people sick and out of work at the business, so I’m needed to help with sales. Give me a call next week, okay?” he added as he walked to the door. “And keep me posted! I want this murderer caught!” He closed the door firmly behind him.
“Well,” Jeff exclaimed.
“For somebody who wants a crime solved, he wasn’t very helpful,” Nemara ventured.
“I noticed that,” Gil said. “He was first on my list of interviews. We’ll have to find some other people who knew the victim. I’m particularly interested in whether or not he had enemies.”
“Go back and talk to Judge Garrett. She knows more about this town than anybody alive,” Jeff suggested.
Gil nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. And I want to walk around the area near that water line,” he said. “We might turn up something.”
“After twelve years?” Jeff mused.
“Not trace evidence or anything.” Gil frowned. “I just want to look at some leaves.”
Jeff’s eyebrows almost hit his hairline. “Leaves?”
“It sounds goofier than it is. I’ll explain later,” Gil promised. He turned to Nemara. “If you’re ready, we can go.”
“Oh, yes,” she agreed.
* * *
They took the clean patrol car this time. Nemara noticed, but she didn’t mention it. She was enjoying Gil’s company and surprised at how much they had in common. It made her feel funny. Excited and safe, all at once. She’d never really experienced such emotions.
“You’ll like Judge Garrett,” he told her. “She’s been probate judge as long as anyone can remember. Nobody runs against her at election time, which says a lot for the way she does her job.”
“Indeed it does,” she agreed. “She knew the victim?”
“Yes. She told me all I knew about him until the medical examiner added to it.”
“You want to walk around the crime scene,” she mused. “It’s a secondary crime scene, isn’t it, and somewhere there’s a primary one.”
“Somewhere,” he said. “And after twelve years, there likely won’t be any evidence, even trace evidence.”
“You want to see if the leaf we sent off matches anything at the secondary crime scene,” she said.
He laughed, surprised. “You take a little getting used to,” he commented.
“I do? Why?” she asked, and wide gray eyes held his for a few long seconds.
“You have the most incredible insight,” he murmured. “You see things that other people miss, including me.”
“It’s a gift and a curse,” she replied. “I blurt out things that I shouldn’t, and people run the other way.” She shrugged. “I figured that since I had this, well, gift of insight, I should get a job where I could put it to good use.”
“Does it run in your family?”
“My dad had it, they say. I never knew him. He was killed overseas during an incursion of some sort. Top secret. Black Ops. Classified stuff. My mother remarried less than two weeks later,” she added curtly.
“To someone you don’t like,” he guessed.
“Someone I didn’t like,” she agreed. She sighed. “There was a plane crash in Italy a few years ago. I imagine you read about it? She and her new husband were on board.”