Murder Deja Vu

avoid skimming through them. Reece would stop and show her something he considered special, exposing his passion for the subject matter and the written word. The man constantly surprised her, revealing bits and pieces without trying.
    She watched him make seafood linguine with assurance and creativity. No measuring, no second-guessing. He knew what he was doing, and the result proved it when they sat down to dinner with Jeraldine and Clarence.
    “Honey, this is better than you can get in Seafood City, Massachusetts,” Jeraldine said. “That’s Boston, Dana. Best seafood anywhere.”
    Dana listened to the innocent banter, tensely aware that Jeraldine’s ebullience might be a cover for bad news. Clarence waited until Reece served coffee.
    “Doesn’t take Jeri long to zero in on a snitch wherever she goes. This time was easier because not many people mind working against Minette. He’s not well-liked. The snitch is a gal at the courthouse. They’ve dug up something to tie you to Rayanne Johnson, Reece. We don’t know what it is, but they’re going to pull you in for questioning.” Clarence focused on Dana. “I’m sorry to say the problem is coming from Robert Minette’s office.”
    Dana’s stomach turned over.
    Reece put down his cup. “Don’t direct that at Dana, Clarence. She has nothing to do with her ex-husband.”
    Dana liked the way Reece stood up for her. It had been a long time since someone did that.
    “Sorry. I know. I didn’t mean—”
    Dana waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. People have said things to me when Robert wasn’t around as if I were his surrogate. I know it wasn’t personal.”
    “We didn’t want to tell you till after dinner, baby,” Jeraldine said.
    Dana noticed how Jeraldine called Reece baby all the time. She’d known him for twenty-one years, and Dana guessed when they met, Reece probably seemed young to her. Dana figured Jeraldine to be in her mid to late fifties, but she neither looked her age nor acted it. She loved Reece like a son.
    Reece looked bewildered. “I don’t understand. The bartender said the woman left with a stranger, and the stranger wasn’t me, which of course I knew.”
    “Yes, and I’m working that angle,” Clarence said. “It’s obvious from his description that he wore a disguise—glasses, facial hair, ball cap. We have height and weight, though. If it’s someone from Boston, the weight could have changed, so we have to keep those things in mind.”
    “Tying Reece to the woman doesn’t tie him to the murder,” Dana said. “Maybe he met her, maybe he even—”
    “Don’t, Dana.” Reece snaked his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t go there, because it’s possible. I haven’t been a monk the last six years, though I rarely did anything around here. Rudy’s is a good thirty miles away, and I liked the music, so it’s possible.”
    “Show him the picture, Clarence,” Jeraldine said.
    Clarence drew a small pad and a copy of what looked like a yearbook picture from his shirt pocket. “Recognize her?”
    Reece studied the photograph. “I don’t know. Maybe. How old is this?”
    “She was thirty-two. This is a high school shot, so…maybe the picture’s fourteen years old.
    Reece looked at it again. “Add a few years, a few pounds. Me, a few beers. Could be someone I—” He shot Dana a glance. “You know.”
    “It doesn’t matter,” Jeraldine said. “Dana’s right. Even if you did, doesn’t mean shit.”
    Clarence raised his hands to stop the conversation. “Before we go off half-cocked, Jeri and I want to go over some old history—the events the night you were arrested for Karen’s murder. I know you’ve gone over them a hundred times with Jeri and in your own head, but not enough with me. Maybe you missed something. Some small fact, a connection. I tried to talk to your brother, but I’m sorry to say he refused to speak to me.”
    “Not surprising. Carl supported me before and after the conviction, but in my heart, I don’t think he wanted to talk about it for fear he’d find out I was guilty, even though I swore I wasn’t.”
    “Could Carl have been sleeping with Karen Sitton?”
    Reece snorted. “Seems half of Cambridge slept with her. Why not Carl?”
    “What about the others that night?” Clarence flipped open the pad. “I have the names of the male suspects questioned before your trial.”
    “Only men?” Dana asked. “No women?”
    “A few were questioned, but it took a strong