“‘People, places, and things,’” Jed said. “They teach us in AA to avoid slippery places, and the people we used with, and things that remind us of getting high. So I wasn’t going back. Beth helped me decide that. She thought that coming here, working at the Academy, would give me a fresh start.”
“Rhode Island,” Reid said in a musing way, as if he hadn’t heard what Jed had just said. “That’s where Beth’s husband is from. Did you know him there?”
Jed’s lips tightened. “Hell no, I don’t know him at all. And don’t want to.”
“But two guys from Rhode Island? The Ocean State?”
“No,” Jed said and left it there. Reid took note. It was unusual to question someone who didn’t overexplain.
“You’re in AA?”
“Twenty-four months clean and sober.”
“Good for you.”
“Thanks.”
“When did you and Beth begin to have an affair?” Reid asked. He meant it to sound harsh, and it must have, because Jed reacted as if he’d been punched.
“That sounds really sleazy,” Jed said, shaken. “And it wasn’t.”
“You got her to cheat on her husband,” Reid said. “How isn’t that sleazy?”
“No. He had his thing going with Nicola. He had basically abandoned Beth. She was such a good person—even after he hurt her, she cared about him. But there was a breaking point. How could she go on with him after he had a kid with his girlfriend? There was no way. She had already decided to leave when she and I began to see each other.”
“That’s funny,” Reid said. “Because I hear she and Pete decided to reconcile. That they were working it out.”
Jed shook his head hard. “She would never take him back.” He gave Reid a sharp, defiant look. “We were in love.”
“And having a kid together?”
Jed blushed and didn’t speak. Reid watched his discomfort grow. He had boxed himself into a corner.
“Jed. Beth was having a baby. Either you and she were in love and Matthew was yours, or she and Pete were getting back together and he was his. Which is it?” Reid asked. Still no reply. He watched Jed hang his head. Two fat tears plopped down on the picnic table’s weathered boards.
Reid gazed at Jed’s shoulders, which were shaking as he wept. The sounds were barely audible. There was a napkin dispenser on the table, but Reid made no move to pass him a napkin. A full two minutes passed before Jed looked up. His face was still wet, but he had composed himself. He reached for a napkin and blew his nose. He stared at Reid. Reid noticed he wore a silver band on the ring finger of his left hand.
“Are you going to answer my question?” Reid asked.
“This might make you think I’m trying to hide something,” Jed said, speaking slowly, in a very measured and calm way. “But I am not going to discuss that part of Beth’s and my life with you.”
“Well, that does sound as if you’re trying to hide something,” Reid said.
Jed tightened his lips, gave a half shake of his head, as if to say he didn’t care.
“Let me ask you this,” Reid said. “When did you last see Beth?”
“Almost a week before she died,” he said.
“That must have felt like a long time to be away from the woman you loved,” Reid said.
“It did.”
“So, what were you doing during that week?”
“I was on Fishers Island. Teaching art to my friend Lainie’s grandchildren.”
“Did you leave the island?”
