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“But at least I thought it was over. And now Decker is back opening the whole thing up because he’s convinced Meryl Hawkins didn’t do it. But if he didn’t, who did?”
“Did your husband have any enemies?”
“No, nothing like that. I told Decker the same thing.”
“Maybe Don Richards had enemies. Or your husband was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“That’s what Ithoughthad happened, but I also thought that Hawkins had committed the murders. And itwasa robbery or a burglary. Thingsweretaken.”
“That could have just been a cover.”
She nodded slowly but hardly seemed convinced of this.
Mars said, “When you invited me here tonight, it seemed that you had something on your mind. You said you wanted to talk.”
Katz set her glass down and looked over at him. “I’m afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Like you said at lunch, people are dying, Melvin. Hawkins. Susan Richards. That woman from the police department.”
“I know, Rachel. Itisscary.”
“And someone murdered my husband. And…everything from the past just seems to be coming back. It’s like I’m being haunted by ghosts I thought were long buried.” She put a hand to her face and wiped at her suddenly teary eyes.
He put an arm around her shoulders. “Let me tell you something. Not that long ago, I was in a world of trouble. I mean bad, bad stuff. Then Decker came along. And he got to the truth and the man changed my life. After twenty years of people believing that a lie was the truth. But not him. Not Decker. He just keeps digging. Dude never stops.”
Katz shivered a bit. “He sounds like a man to be reckoned with.”
“Oh, he is. And people have tried. And he just keeps rolling.”
“Does…does he understand that there can be different shades of truth?”
He drew a bit away from her, watching the woman closely. “Such as?”
“I mean, there are times when you can tell the truth, but people may not see it as the truth, not the same way that the person telling it does. And…and sometimes people feel they have to do things for, you know, reasons that might seem…”
“Seem what?”
“Wrong, I guess. But not to the person having to do the things. They might think it’s the only thing they can do.”
Mars looked confused by all this. “You’ve lost me.”
“I…look, never mind. I know I’m not making much sense.”
“Take your time. I’ve got nowhere to go.”
She changed the subject. “So, Decker really believes that Hawkins was innocent?”
Mars looked at her for a long moment, clearly disappointed in the change in direction of the conversation. “Let’s put it this way. Hawkins didn’t try to kill Decker twice, because the man was already dead when those events occurred.”
“You mean someone doesn’t want the truth to come out? They’re trying to stop Decker. And they silenced Hawkins because he might know something?”
“That’s the way we see it, yeah.” He paused. “So, doyouknow something that could help us?”
“If I did, I would’ve told you. I would’ve told people thirteen years ago.”
“But there are shades of truth, that’s what you just said.”
