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Baron leaned back against the truck fender. “I went to college and she didn’t. I don’t know why. She was really smart and I kept on her to go. But I think her aunt and uncle laida guilt trip on her to stay in Baronville, get a job, and help them out because they had taken her in after her parents died. Her uncle was a minister and didn’t make a lot of money, and he was really strict with her. But we were still together. I came home as often as I could. We had a plan to have a life together. Then my parents died and I found out I didn’t have a dime. I knew we weren’t rich,of course. But we still lived at the Baron estate and my father always told me that there would be some money for me, which did not turn out to be the case. Then, I blew out my arm pitching, they revoked my scholarship, and I pretty much went into a tailspin. I didn’t have the bandwidth for Joyce or anything else. I could barely keep myself together.” He looked down at his clothes and then at theancient truck. “And some would argue that I failed miserably at that anyway.”
“I saw in the yearbook that she taught Bible school. And that you were into Greek mythology.”
“I barely remember any of that. It was a long time ago.”
“Still into mythology?”
“I have a hard enough time dealing with real life.”
“So, what happened with Joyce after she graduatedfrom here?”
“I dropped out of her life because of my own problems. About four years after graduation she married a guy named Rick Tanner and she had a couple of miscarriages. He was a jerk, he drank too much and beat her up. They finally got divorced. By then, she was a totally different person. No confidence, no ambition. She got into drugs. She got a series of lower- and lower-payingjobs, injured herself at one of them, and got hooked on painkillers like a lot of people in this place.”
“You seem to know a lot about her. Did you two keep in touch?”
“We were still friends. Neither of our lives turned out as expected. That worked to bring us together, I guess, especially after she was divorced.”
“Ever think about getting back together?”
Baron shook his head. “If I married someone, I would like to be able to help support them. I’ve got nothing. And why would I subject Joyce to all the crap I deal with? Making her a Baron? Worst thing I could do to her. When I thought I would have some money, my plan was to move away and we could have had a life where nobody cared what my last name was. I was going to be a big league pitcher, startmy own business. Be successful off my own efforts. That didn’t pan out, obviously. But we did keep in touch.”
“She was laid off from JC Penney some months before her death.”
“I know. Not the future one would have expected for the homecoming queen. But Joyce was also a member of the honor society and also excelled at math. She was no dummy. She could have had a far differentlife. I wish she had.”
“What about you? You weren’t the homecoming king. You got voted best athlete in the entire state and you’re not even team captain of your high school squads?”
“We live in a democracy, Agent Decker. One person, one vote. It’s inviolate.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s right if people are voting for the wrong reasons.”
“Happens every two, four,and six years in this country. And I didn’t care about being homecoming king or team captain. I really didn’t.”
“But you did care about Joyce. Is that why you were supporting her all these years?”
Baron looked at him shrewdly, but said nothing in reply.
Decker continued. “She had no job, but she could pay her rent. She had a car. She put food on the table. And yousaid she was addicted to painkillers. That’s not cheap either.”
“Okay, I gave her some money.”
“I thought you didn’t have any.”
“I don’t have a lot of money. But I havesome. I don’t actually nap all day. I do work. I do have an income. And I have family heirlooms that I can sell in a pinch. I spend virtually nothing on myself. So I could help her. And I wanted to.”
“That was nice of you.”
“She deserved it. And for the record, sheusedto be a pain pill addict. She wasn’t any longer. She kicked it. It was damn hard, but she did it.”
“Did you help with that too?”
“Why does that matter to you?”
“In an investigation, you try your best to get a full picture of what you’re seeing. Those sorts of details round thingsout. Provide motivations on myriad levels.”
“Do you mean motivations to murder? I did not kill Joyce.”
“There are other kinds of motivations.”
