Dust to Dust

to prove that monster was innocent,” she said.
    “Didn’t Stacy ask you these questions?” said Diane.
    “She asked me some of them. She didn’t hammer at me the way you two are doing.” She glared at them. “I told her I picked him out of a collection of photographs the police showed me,” she said. “And I did.”
    “In the photo array, which one was it?” asked Diane.
    “I don’t remember,” she said. “It was nine years ago.”
    “Yes, nine years ago at one of the worst times in your life and the lives of everyone around you. Was it the first one or the last?” said Diane.
    “The first one, I think,” she said. “I think you’d better go now. This has not been pleasant.”
    “I know,” said Diane. “And you have been far more cooperative than we had a right to expect. I thank you.”
    Kathy Nicholson straightened up a little, then stood up. “I’m sorry for Stacy and her father.” She paused. “Do you think her murder had something to do with her brother?” she asked.
    “We don’t know,” said Kingsley. “That’s one theory, but we have to wait for all the evidence.”
    “How could it? I saw what I saw. I wasn’t mistaken,” she said. “It wasn’t someone else.”
    “We don’t know why she was killed. It may have had nothing to do with what happened here nine years ago,” said Kingsley. “It may be just a big coincidence.”
    She showed them out the door, and Diane and Kingsley walked to his car and got in. He started it up and drove out of Kathy Nicholson’s drive and onto the street and stopped.
    “Chilly,” said Kingsley. “I’m glad we didn’t have to do this outside.”
    “Me too,” said Diane, looking out the window at the Carruthers’ house.
    “I would have helped ask questions,” said Kingsley, grinning, “but it looked like you were on to something. Did you notice something?”
    “Two or three things jumped out,” Diane said. “If he was looking at Ellie Carruthers’ house, why would he drive only in this direction?” Diane pointed in the direction Kingsley’s car was headed. “He would have to look out the passenger window to see the house. Much easier to look out the window on the driver’s side. So why didn’t he case the house coming from the other direction? He could have seen more.”
    “Perhaps he did, but that was the only time he was seen,” said Kingsley.
    “Could be. I also noted that she did her gardening at the same time every day. If you needed a witness to be in a specific place in front of the victim’s house, she would be your witness. And everyone in the neighborhood probably knew her schedule.”
    Kingsley nodded. “That’s true. What else? You said maybe three things?”
    “The tattoo. She saw it because he had his arm hanging out the window,” she said.
    “And?” he asked.
    “It would be his left arm she saw, the arm that wasn’t on the steering wheel. When you drive with one hand, which one do you use?”
    “I’m left-handed, so I drive with my left hand,” he said.
    “Ryan Dance is left-handed too,” she said.

Chapter 24
    “We left-handed people are pretty good with our right hands, living in a right-handed world as we do,” said Kingsley. “Just playing the devil’s advocate.”
    “I know. All of these things I mentioned are tiny and can’t remotely be used to benefit Ryan or get justice for Stacy. They are just interesting, small bits of information. They probably mean nothing. But when small pieces start adding up, sometimes you get a whole pot.”
    “A whole pot of what?” he said.
    “I’m working on something else that has to do with broken pottery,” she said. “It’s on my mind.”
    “Her identification of Ryan gave me pause,” he said. “I don’t believe she saw his face.”
    “Neither do I,” Diane said.
    “So, did she call the Carruthers’ house right away?” said Kingsley.
    “Of course,” said Diane.
    “Do you think they will see us?” he asked.
    “I believe so. There is a neighbor going over to her house now. I’m willing to bet it’s for moral support.”
    “Why do you think they’ll talk to us?” said Kingsley.
    “They want to find out what we are up to—if they need to mount an effort to keep Ryan in prison. They want to scope us out to see if we are the kind of people who are up to the task of perhaps getting Ryan out of prison,” said Diane.
    “You don’t think Kathy Nicholson believed we are only interested in Stacy Dance,” said