Love Can Be Murder

don't make passes at women they like?"
    "No. I mean that a guy like Seger who was exploiting young girls probably had a line in his head separating the girls he respected."
    She simply stared.
    "I'm shutting up."
    "Thank you."
    He kept his word for about thirty seconds. "Did she tell you anything else you didn't know?"
    She nodded. "The night Tammy Paulen was run down, she was driving nearby. She heard a scream, then saw a black Volvo driving away."
    "Seger?"
    She looked out the window. "He has—had—a black Volvo." Her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat of the sudden emotion that welled. Okay, maybe she could believe that Carl engaged in dalliances with his pretty students, but the thought that he would actually leave the scene of a crime was incomprehensible. He taught ethics, for heaven's sake.
    He made a rueful noise in his throat. "It's not your fault that Seger wasn't the man you thought he was."
    "It makes me feel foolish that I could be so blind, though."
    "Maybe the way he acted around you was the way he wanted to be."
    "You're being generous all of a sudden."
    He shrugged. "Nobody is all good or all bad. Even some of the worst criminals love their mother, or tell bedtime stories to their kids, or buy cream for their cats."
    Okay, he'd managed to surprise her—and make her feel a tad better.
    "So we know he wasn't a saint. And that it's entirely possible one of his students could've dropped by and done him in."
    She told him their theory on how the scarf had made its way to the crime scene.
    "Not bad," he said. "Maybe we can find someone at the restaurant who saw him pick it up. One thing is sure—if the DA is relying on one of you to turn on the other, he doesn't have enough evidence to convict."
    "That's what I told him."
    "You or your lawyer?"
    "My lawyer is a narcoleptic idiot with a good ad agency. I handled everything."
    He pursed his mouth. "You know an awful lot about the law for someone determined not to have anything to do with it."
    She smirked.
    "Listen, I'm sorry I wasn't at the arraignment, but I thought my time would be better spent looking for Cape."
    "I guess you didn't find him?"
    His mouth twisted. "No. He probably changed vehicles, maybe his appearance." He looked over. "No offense, but you should've stayed in jail. You'd be safer."
    "I filed a restraining order on Cape this morning, since I was already at the courthouse," she said wryly. "And I have my pepper spray."
    "Don't remind me."
    "Is it possible Cape could've wrecked my van when he threatened Nell? I didn't check it."
    He shook his head. "Surely Nell would have noticed, or the police when they came to make the report."
    Her laugh was dry. "I'm not overly impressed with the South Bend detectives, although Warner seems okay. But I don't think they're going to go out of their way to find another suspect. Did you tell them about Elise?"
    He nodded. "Last night when they were, um, taking you in. But you're right—they didn't seem very excited about the prospect of a new lead."
    "Yet the more I think about it, the more I think she might be involved somehow."
    "Why?"
    She wet her lips.
    "Dammit, Roxann, tell me."
    She sighed—she did need a sounding board, and Capistrano was the most solid surface around. "Remember that Nell told me Tammy Paulen was holding something over Angora's head? Well, it has something to do with a blond wig."
    "What is it?"
    She waved her hand. "That's not important, but whoever trashed the van knew about it, and knew that I knew about it. And it makes me think that Frank Cape isn't in this alone."
    "So you know what this girl had on your cousin?"
    She looked away. Too painful to think about—she never allowed the memories to fully materialize. Angora probably felt the same, which explained why they always skated around the topic.
    "You were involved in it, too, weren't you?"
    She kept looking away.
    He dragged his hand over his face. "Okay, whatever it is—would Elise know?"
    "Possibly. If T amm y told her."
    "They were friends?"
    "I don't know, but she was going to school here when Tammy died."
    "But how could Elise get hooked up with Frank Cape?"
    "I have no idea."
    "Okay, then we need to find Elise."
    "That's what I was planning to do today."
    He pulled into the hotel lot and parked. "Oh, you're working alone now?"
    She nodded and handed him a slip of paper.
    "What's this?"
    "An e-mail address where you can reach Melissa Cape. She's willing to go to a local courthouse, be sworn in, and answer