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“There’s the pot calling the kettle black.”
I roll my eyes. “My testimony is what got you locked up, so yes, I blame myself and always will. Anyway, then what happened?”
“The cops showed up, as did everyone in the neighborhood. Nobody pressed charges because it was equally everyone’s fault at that point. The entire town knew about it within hours. It was the gossip for weeks. People took sides. The jock versus the bad boy. Jock won. After that, I quickly became the outcast, which was fine, and Stroud went on to join the police force and eventually become a detective.”
“And you’ve carried bad blood for each other ever since.”
Rhett nods. “And then when everything with your mom went down a decade later, the asshole jumped at the chance to convince everyone that it was me who killed your mother.”
I frown, chew my lower lip. “Okay, so I can see why he was probably biased during the investigation, but do you think he framed you? Do you really think he did it?”
Rhett doesn’t respond.
“If so,” I continue, “you can’t kill adetective, Rhett. My God, there is no way you’d get out of that one.”
“I know that, Sylvia. And I don’t know if he framed me. Yes, we hate each other, but our fight was in tenth grade. Why wait for revenge until I was twenty-two? We’ve been through this, it’s doesn’t add up. He has nothing to gain by doing all this now.”
“Maybe he was jealous that you grew up and made something of yourself? Started your own business. Cohen Carpentry.”
Rhett snorts. “I was on the brink of bankruptcy, Sylvia. I was nothing to be jealous of. He was the big-bad cop who was just promoted to detective. Hell, he made more money than I did.”
“Okay, then maybe he felt like the opportunity was finally there… he was a detective and you were a sitting duck. I’ve thought about this a lot, Rhett—he seems to link to everything, but I couldn’t find a motive. But now, this, revenge; he wants to get back at you.”
Rhett ponders this a moment, then shakes his head. “I really don’t think the guy would hold a grudge for that long. I mean we’d seen each other in town over the years, in bars. There were plenty of opportunities for him to bring it back up—he didn’t. And by the way, why the hell would he kill your mother? There isno wayhe was that desperate to get back at me.”
My brow cocks. “Maybe he knew who actually did it, and was protecting whoever that was. Maybe he and this person were in it together, and framed you.”
“That’s a thought. A crazy longshot, but a thought.”
I nod, feeling like I was onto something. “We need to figure out who Stroud’s close friends are. His girlfriends, past and present. I’m pretty sure he’s divorced. I’ll see what I can dig up.”
“Watch yourself, Sylvia. The deeper you dig the more eyes are going to be on you.”
“I don’t care, Rhett. Stroud is the one constant through all this. We have to exhaust that angle.”
“This isn’t Crest County Newspaper, Sylvia. You aren’t interviewing the winner of the annual hot dog eating contest.”
“It’s apple around here.”
“Right. Now tell me why you freaked out on Crystal.”
“She’s a liar. I can tell. She’s not telling us something.”
“Of course she’s a liar, but she gave us information.”
“I’m going to research her.”
“It’s a fake name.”
“I know, but maybe…” I drag in a deep inhale. “I need to go through my file again.”
“What file?”
“I have an entire folder of everything about my mother’s case, past and present. I’ve been going through everything again, feeling like something is there that will help us figure out what is going on now.”
“You have everything from the trial?”
“Yeah, copies.”
