Murder Deja Vu

tables, exactly the way Robert had always done when dealing with people. Find out their secrets. Everyone had them. Secrets made people vulnerable.
    * * * * *
    C larence sat in Sheriff Jim Payton’s office and listened to his conversation with Robert Minette. He tried to appear as if he wasn’t paying attention, but he’d have to be deaf not to hear. The sheriff didn’t seem to mind that he heard either. He could easily have asked Clarence to wait outside, but he didn’t.
    File folders lay stacked in trays on Payton’s desk, along with the only personal items—a framed picture of his family and another of his two kids. His gaze shifted back to Payton, whose body language and facial expressions stated clearly his disdain for Minette. The dismissive sound he made when he hung up clinched it. Clarence intended to use that to his advantage, but for the moment, he didn’t say anything, allowing Payton a chance to cool off.
    “Do you know where they are?” Payton asked.
    “No.”
    “If you did, you wouldn’t tell me anyway, would you?”
    “Since I work for Daughtry’s attorney, privilege exists. But I was being truthful. I don’t know.” Clarence didn’t want to incur the wrath of the sheriff. “Have you ever met Reece Daughtry, Sheriff?”
    “Yes, I have. After I was elected, I paid him a visit. I wanted to meet the man who got out of prison on a technicality to make sure I wouldn’t have any problems with him.”
    “What did you think?”
    “He was building his house—him and another man, a Latino—and living in a small trailer he parked on his property. He set up a tent out there too. What he was doing was downright beautiful. He’s a quiet man, dignified, sometimes bordering on surly. Not one for chitchat, which was okay with me.”
    “Did you get the feeling he was capable of doing what Minette is trying to pin on him?”
    Payton thought for a long minute. He stared at Clarence, sizing him up like a good cop. “You’ve been to his place, right?”
    Clarence nodded. “Last night.”
    “You see all those animals he has out there fitted with collars so they can’t get off the property and get hurt?”
    Again, Clarence nodded.
    Payton leaned back in his chair. “I can’t imagine a man like that could do what they said and then do it again, although it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Murderers can be damn stupid. Daughtry didn’t strike me as stupid. Before I went, I pulled his record. Harvard grad, top grades, the kind of kid every parent would be proud of. I don’t know if that history colored my point of view, but either he’s psycho or he’s been royally screwed.”
    “You want to know what I think?”
    “You’re going to tell me anyway. That’s why you came to see me.”
    Clarence smiled. Payton had good instincts and was plain spoken. Clarence liked him. “I know someone else committed the murder Reece went to prison for. I know it because I know Reece Daughtry. I’ve been poking around to see if I could find something to clear him, let him get his life back. Otherwise, he’ll always be suspect, always have good cops like you checking him out.”
    “Just doing my job.”
    “I’d have done the same thing. I think my poking got someone nervous, and he crawled out of his cave long enough to come down here and kill Rayanne Johnson to incriminate Reece and take the heat off himself. I also think her murder gave Robert Minette the idea that if he could bring Reece to trial, he could get his name in the papers—use the publicity as a stepping stone to who knows what. Run for higher office, maybe, or get himself appointed to the bench.
    “I don’t believe the same man killed Lurena Howe. Her murder doesn’t fit the M.O., but Minette seems to think he can get a doubleheader out of this. I might be reaching, but I think two people are trying to frame Reece. One is the original killer, and the other is Robert Minette.” Now Clarence leaned back in his chair. He let his words resonate before he asked the next question. “Do you think Minette’s the type of man who could do that?”
    Payton blew out a long breath. “You’re asking if I think Robert Minette is either capable of murder or of hiring someone to do it?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    The sheriff opened his desk drawer and withdrew a package of gum. Clarence recognized the stall tactic. Probably wondering if he should answer. Payton pulled out a stick and offered the package to Clarence. He declined.
    “I don’t