Love Can Be Murder

to question her anyway."
    "I don't know where she's staying, but I guess I could check the local motels." In her mind she replayed the scene when she had spoken to Elise. "She said something interesting yesterday when I ran into her."
    He grinned. "That you have a good bod?"
    "You are so unfunny. She said she realized that all of her troubles stemmed from a relationship she had in college."
    "Are you thinking she had a relationship with Dr. Seger?"
    "That's making a pretty big leap."
    "But since the man is dead, it's worth mentioning to the police." Then he grinned. "But it's still not as interesting as it would've been if she'd said you have a good bod."
    "Shut. Up." She sighed. "When did Cape show up at Nell's?"
    "Around four-thirty, but it took a while for Dr. Oney to track us down at the hospital."
    "Poor Nell," she murmured. "First Carl's death, and now this."
    "Maybe it isn't a coincidence. Maybe Frank Cape was making good on his threat to hurt people you were close to."
    "But how did he know I was in South Bend?"
    "Have you been using credit cards?"
    "I don't have any."
    "Your cell phone?"
    "No, only pay phones. Besides, why would Cape think that I was close to Carl Seger? I hadn't seen Carl in years."
    His shrug was a little too casual. "But you were in love with him?"
    Love —another word she would have bet wasn't in the man's vocabulary. "Carl was the first man who listened to me, the first man who made me feel important."
    "And the first man to break your heart?"
    Roxann gave a self-deprecating laugh. "I was devastated when he didn't come for me after the scandal, but I thought it was out of some lofty sense of nobility." She waved her hand dramatically. "It somehow seemed even more poignant."
    "And you've been pining for him ever since?"
    "No, not pining. Wondering, maybe. It was pretty strong stuff for a young heart."
    "Sounds like it," he said in a dubious tone.
    "You've never been in love, Detective?"
    He shifted in his seat, then fiddled with the radio knob. "Can't get a station worth a damn up here."
    "I thought not." She smirked, then laid her head back. But she acknowledged a bit of a tingle at managing to put him on the spot.
    Capistrano cleared his throat. "Listen, I couldn't help but overhear what your cousin said back there. It was probably the medication talking."
    "No it wasn't." She pushed herself up and stared out the window at clumps of Homecoming visitors, most of them probably oblivious to last night's murder, or immune because they hadn't known Carl personally. "A couple of years before my mother was killed in a car accident, she left me and my father for another man. Deep down, I've always known, but I've never admitted it to anyone. He drove a blue car."
    He looked at her, his gaze straight and void of pity. It gave her the courage to forge ahead.
    "And on some level, I guess I sensed my mother didn't want me after the divorce, but it was easier to believe that Dad was keeping me away from her."
    "He never told you?"
    "No."
    "To protect you."
    She nodded slowly. "Yes." For years her father had silently borne the brunt of her resentment, all the while knowing that her mother hadn't cared enough to stay. Or visit. Or even call. She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and sniffed mightily. How she'd underestimated her father. And how she'd overestimated Carl. Who else? She glanced sideways at Capistrano. He hadn't mentioned Melissa Cape recently...was it possible that he was sticking around out of the goodness of his heart?
    Nah. He'd said so himself—no one had ever accused him of being a nice guy.
    He slowed to pull into Nell's narrow driveway. "Where's your van?"
    "Around back."
    "Well, I guess we know why Cape thought you were here."
    She frowned. "Why didn't you put him out of everyone's misery back in Little Rock?"
    "Nothing I would've liked better, except he wasn't doing anything."
    "He was harassing me."
    He brought the truck to a stop. "You said I was harassing you."
    She unhooked her seat belt. "Well, next time, shoot him in the foot or something."
    "I wouldn't waste a bullet there," he said, then turned off the ignition.
    A locksmith was installing a new dead bolt on the door. Nell didn't answer their call right away, but when she did, her red eyes belied her welcoming smile.
    "I'm so sorry," Roxann said, squeezing Nell's hands. "It's my fault that Frank Cape was here—did he hurt you?"
    "No," she said, then motioned for them to sit in the living room. "Forgive me, it's