Justice Delayed (Memphis Cold Case #1)(41)

Her blue eyes widened. “Jimmy Shelton. That’s a blast from the past.”

David laughed. “I believe those are the first words you’ve said that don’t sound like a lawyer.”

“Ha-ha. What about him, other than he’s sitting on death row for the murder of Stephanie Hollister?”

“You have a good memory.”

“I suppose. Hard to forget the details of a friend’s murder.”

“How many details do you remember?”

“It’s been so long, I don’t know. Ask me some questions, and we’ll see.”

A jogger approached, and David moved to one side to let him by. “Had Stephanie been acting unusual or nervous?” he asked when they were alone again.

Maggie’s walk slowed. “We hadn’t been friends that long, and I actually knew Andi better. She was such a cute kid.” She glanced up at him. “Now that she’s grown, we’ve become friends on a different level.”

He laughed. “Yeah, she said she knew your softer side. What else can you tell me?”

“I lived in the house because of Laura Delaney—it was Laura Cole then. We were in a couple of classes together, and I was driving back and forth from Senatobia, Mississippi, and looking for a place to live closer to the university when she told me about Stephanie.”

“That’s about an hour away, with traffic.”

“It is. I lived with my parents. Laura introduced me to Stephanie, and my parents came up and met the Hollisters and approved the arrangement.” She glanced up at him. “Can you see that happening today?”

David tried to picture life with his daughter, Alexis, in a few years. “No, but I wish it did.”

They walked on. “Thinking back,” he said, “what was your impression of Stephanie?”

Maggie looked toward the river, a view she never tired of. “Stephanie was beautiful, but I don’t think she knew it.” At first, she had been intimidated by Stephanie’s poise, but after they formed a bond working with the clay, Maggie had discovered a warm heart. “From what I observed, she was looking for something, and she broke a lot of hearts. Jillian said that Stephanie didn’t date any one man very long.”

“How about her relationship with Jimmy Shelton?” David asked.

“It was an on-again-off-again relationship, but in between beaus, she always went back to him. I think she loved him, but he had a lot of problems. Toward the end, she just wanted him gone. We rarely talked about him. In fact, I probably talked to Stephanie more about pottery than anything else.

“She was a very good sculptor, and actually gave me a discount on the rent for helping her in the studio. I remember a day right before she was killed. It was one of the few times we discussed Jimmy. We’d been working a couple of hours, and I asked her to show me how to make the dancing horses . . .”

Stephanie rolled a small piece of clay between her palms. “First I wrap clay around the wire form, then roll out small pieces and build to it,” she said.

“You make it sound easy.” Maggie picked up a coil of wire that Stephanie used to form the armatures. “How do you make them look like they’re prancing?”

Stephanie paused with the piece of clay in her hand, puzzlement on her face. “I never thought about it. I just twist the wires together until it looks like a horse, then I twist them more to get their legs just right.”

“I would hate to see any horse I built.”

“You can do it.” Stephanie tossed her a small pair of needle-nose pliers. “Try it.”

“I don’t want to waste your wire.”

“Don’t worry, I can always reuse it if you mess up.” She continued to smooth clay over the armature.

Maggie cut several lengths of wire. “I haven’t seen Jimmy around lately.”

Stephanie shaped the withers with her thumb. “You won’t. I broke it off with him again.”

“Because of JD?” Maggie asked.

She jerked her gaze to Maggie. “What made you say that?”

“I don’t know . . . I saw you and JD the other day. He seemed very interested in you.”

“No, not because of JD. There’s nothing going on between us.” She leaned closer to Maggie. “At least not after he got back with Jillian. It’s Jimmy’s drinking, which is all the time lately. When he’s drunk, he’s crazy jealous.” Stephanie pinched off another piece of clay and pressed it into the rump. “I’ve actually started seeing someone new. Jared Donovan. He even asked me to marry him.”

Maggie widened her eyes. “That fast? You couldn’t have had more than a date or two.”

“I know. But that’s the way he works—he sees something, or someone, he likes and goes after it. But don’t worry, I didn’t say yes.”

“I’m glad.”

Stephanie smoothed more clay on the horse and turned the sculpture for Maggie to see. “This one is my diamond in the rough. I think it’ll be the best one yet.”

The studio door opened before Maggie could answer, and Jimmy sauntered in.

“Don’t you ever knock?” Stephanie sniffed the air as he walked closer. “You smell like a brewery.”

Maggie got a whiff of alcohol when he walked by her. “I think I’ll go to the house.”