The Affair: A Reacher Novel

Lindsay when Shawna was killed. Why is that?”
    Munro said, “Because the army made a bad mistake. There’s no excuse for it. All I can say is it would have been different if I had been involved back then. Or Major Reacher here. Beyond that, all I can do is apologize.”
    She looked at him, and so did I. Then she looked at the picture again and said, “This man’s name is Reed Riley. He’s a captain in the 75th Ranger Regiment. Rosemary said he commanded Bravo Company, whatever that is.”
    “So they were dating?”
    “Almost four months. She was talking about a life together.”
    “Was he?”
    “Men will say anything to get what they want.”
    “When did it end?”
    “Two weeks before she was killed.”
    “Why did it end?”
    “She didn’t tell me.”
    “Did you have an opinion?”
    Emmeline McClatchy said, “I think she got pregnant.”

Chapter
59
    There was silence in the small room for a moment, and then Emmeline McClatchy said, “A mother can always tell. She looked different. She acted different. She even smelled different. At first she was happy, and then later she was miserable. I didn’t ask her anything. I thought she would come to me on her own. You know, in her own good time. But she didn’t get the chance.”
    Munro was quiet for a beat, like a mark of respect, and then he asked, “Did you ever see Captain Riley again after that?”
    Emmeline McClatchy nodded. “He came by to offer his condolences, a week after her body was found.”
    “Do you think he killed her?”
    “You’re the policeman, young man, not me.”
    “I think a mother can always tell.”
    “Rosemary said his father was an important man. She wasn’t sure where or how. Politics, perhaps. Something where image matters. I think a black girlfriend was a good thing for Captain Riley, but a pregnant girlfriend wasn’t.”
    Emmeline McClatchy wouldn’t be pushed any further. We said our goodbyes and walked back to the Humvee. Munro said, “This is looking real bad.”
    I asked him, “Did you speak to Shawna Lindsay’s mother too?”
    “She wouldn’t say a word to me. She chased me away with a stick.”
    “How solid is the information about Sheriff Deveraux?”
    “Rock solid. They dated, he ended it, she wasn’t happy. Then Rosemary McClatchy was next up, as far as I can piece it together.”
    “Was it his car that got wrecked on the track?”
    “According to the Oregon DMV it was. Via the plate you found. A blue ’57 Chevy. A piece of shit, not a show car.”
    “Did he have an explanation?”
    “No, he had a lawyer.”
    “Can you prove he was Janice Chapman’s boyfriend too?”
    “Not beyond a reasonable doubt. She was a party girl. She was seen with a lot of guys. She can’t have been dating all of them.”
    “She was known as a party girl at Tulane, too.”
    “Is that where she went?”
    “Apparently.”
    He smiled. “If all the Tulane coeds were laid end to end, I wouldn’t be in the least surprised.”
    “Did you know she wasn’t really Janice Chapman?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “She was born Audrey Shaw. She changed her name three years ago.”
    “Why?”
    “Politics,” I said. “She was coming off a two-year affair with Carlton Riley.”
    I left him with that piece of information, and walked away south. He drove away north. This time I didn’t cut through anyone’s yard. I walked around the block, like a responsible citizen, and stepped over the wire and hiked across the field and found the dirt track through the trees. I was back on Main Street less than twenty minutes later. Five minutes after that I was inside the Sheriff’s Department. One minute after that I was in Deveraux’s office. She was behind her desk. The desk was covered in a sea of paper.
    I said, “We need to talk.”

Chapter
60
    Deveraux looked up at me, a little alarmed. Something in my voice, maybe. She said, “Talk about what?”
    I asked her, “Did you ever date a guy from the base?”
    “What base? You mean Kelham?”
    “Yes, Kelham.”
    “That’s kind of personal, isn’t it?”
    “Did you?”
    “Of course not. Are you crazy? Those guys are my biggest problem. You know how it is between a military population and local law enforcement. It would have been the worst kind of conflict of interest.”
    “Do you socialize with any of them?”
    “No, for the same reason.”
    “Do you know any of them?”
    “Barely,” she said. “I’ve toured the base and met some of the senior officers, in a