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“He had some things to finish up. He should be here shortly.”
“He works hard, I take it.”
“Yes, he does. Running a small business is more than a full-time job.”
“But you juggle lots of balls, too.”
“I suppose it runs in the family.”
Okay, chitchat done. Let’s get to it, thought Devine. He wanted to get back to Alex as quickly as possible.
“You wanted to talk about something?” he said. “Insights?”
She lowered her wineglass and looked alarmed that her turn on the stage had come perhaps sooner than she had expected or wanted.
“Yes, that’s right,” she began.
“Well, I’m happy to listen to whatever you can tell me that might be helpful.”
“I take it you don’t believe that Earl took his own life?”
“No, I don’t,” he said bluntly.
“Because he couldn’t have managed the chair and all?”
“You’ve been talking to Harper.”
“Actually, Wendy Fuss filled me in on your theory.”
“Harper agrees with me now. But you still think he killed himself?”
“I admit I did not take into account his physical ‘challenges’ in making my conclusion. I was looking strictly at the forensic evidence.”
“But notallthe forensic evidence, because you didn’t run blood or tox screens. You just chalked it up to ‘adrenaline.’”
“I explained that to you. When suicide appears to be obvious there is no need. If he’d been fifty years younger and wasn’t found hanging, then, yes, I would have done a full postmortem.”
“So we’ll never know if he was rendered unconscious so they could string him up.”
“I’m sorry. I wish I could take it back, but I can’t,” she said firmly.
“So...insights?” prompted Devine, who had a feeling now that this evening was going to be a waste of time.
She set her wineglass down and seemed to steel herself. “Putnam, like many small towns, has secrets.”
“The big one is who raped Alex Silkwell.”
“I’m not talking about that, though it does involve the Silkwell family.”
An intrigued Devine took a swig of beer. “I’m listening.”
“Curtis Silkwell.”
“What about him?”
“What would you say if I told you that many here believe he is Annie Palmer’s father?”
“I’d say tell me more.”
