Murder Deja Vu

hold much for a man who abuses his wife. It’s a mark of cowardice. Mrs. Minette never filed charges, and I heard why. People talk in small towns. I also heard what he had on her that kept her with him all those years. He made sure everyone knew when she left him.”
    Clarence felt the heat of Payton’s gaze. He hadn’t heard about Minette physically harming Dana, although it didn’t surprise him. Minette fit the profile. What surprised him was that Dana had stayed with him. Payton mentioned he knew why. Clarence would find out.
    “I’m county, Mr. Wright. Regal Falls has a small police department, four men. I have a large staff, good men all. Minette makes his home in Harold County, but his jurisdiction encompasses three counties. After the people elected me sheriff, I watched him prosecute a murder trial—the type more prevalent in these parts. A family argument turned ugly, nothing premeditated. He prosecuted that man like he was Jack the Ripper. I thought then that Minette didn’t like to lose. In fact, I pegged him for someone who’d likely do anything to win. I haven’t changed my mind. Whether that makes him capable of murder, I don’t know. But I’ve been a cop too long to rule it out. I’ve seen men who were supposed to be good guys go bad. Nothing surprises me.”
    “Would you share the medical report on Rayanne Johnson?”
    “Doesn’t take a genius to conclude the cause of death. Someone cut her throat from ear to ear. She bled out. Even us backwoods cops can do that.”
    “I wasn’t insinuating your people don’t know what they’re doing, Sheriff, but I think something more’s going on.”
    “Like what?”
    “Any sign of drug abuse?”
    “Not that we found. Alcohol’s all. Why?”
    “Whoever committed that murder in Cambridge twenty-one years ago drugged Reece Daughtry, and I believe Rayanne Johnson got the same treatment.”
    “You mean a date-rape drug?”
    “Yup.”
    “The only way we’d find out is to do a thorough screen on hair or teeth, and only if we suspected the victim was drugged. I’ll concede it’s a possibility, but even if I ordered the test and the results came back positive, what would it prove? Not that the same murderer killed Rayanne Johnson as the killing up north. Only that you perceive it to be by the same method, which wasn’t proven in the first murder. We’d still have to prove who did it, something the cops in Cambridge have failed to do.”
    Payton was right. If the Cambridge police couldn’t find Karen Sitton’s murderer with all they had working for them, how could Clarence expect a police department a thousand miles away to succeed? “You’re right. But Lurena Howe is a different murder.”
    “Me and my people are working on that. If it turns out Minette’s involved, I’ll see we nail him for it, although it won’t be easy, given who he is.”
    “I don’t envy your dilemma. Have you had any problems with date rape drugs?” Clarence asked.
    “Not in this county, but that doesn’t mean it’s not here. Women don’t cry rape because of the stigma associated with it. Defense attorneys say it was consensual, usually making the victim out to be a temptress or worse. So women keep their mouths shut. Sometimes a family member or two will seek revenge and do my job for me. Some get away with it.” Payton chewed his gum. “If a woman doesn’t complain, it’s none of my business. Besides, if you’re right about the killer, I doubt he’d try to score drugs in the area. More likely he’d bring them with him, don’t you think?”
    “Yes, I do.” Clarence stood. “I’m going to poke around, Sheriff. I want to see if I can match the description of the man Rayanne Johnson left Rudy’s with to some of the people involved in the original murder. I’m sure the guy wore a disguise, but there are physical characteristics like height that don’t change. Might eliminate some of the people I’ve been looking at. I wanted to let you know before I started. If I find anything, I’ll tell you.”
    “Fair enough. As long as you do. What happens up north is out of my jurisdiction. But while you’re down here, you’re in mine.”
    “Understood.”
    Clarence left the sheriff’s office with a clearer portrait of Robert Minette. The district attorney lived up to everything Clarence presumed. Blindly ambitious, unethical, and immoral. Hitting a woman made him despicable. And Clarence believed he contracted a murder.
    He headed to Emory and