Justice Delayed (Memphis Cold Case #1)(68)

“I don’t know.” He palmed his hands. “I can’t think anymore.”

“You have to!” Will almost shouted.

Maggie restrained Will with her hand and then turned to Jimmy. “Do you think she could have been smuggling drugs into the country?”

“No! Stephanie wouldn’t touch drugs.”

At least that got a rise out of him.

Maggie leaned toward Jimmy. “If she was involved in illegal activities, do you think she was the only one in her circle of friends involved?”

When he didn’t respond, Will said, “You have to help us here. We can’t do it by ourselves, but if she was involved in something, Jillian and Lacey and maybe Laura were in on it.” He turned to Maggie. “Were they ever secretive, maybe quit talking when you came into the room?”

“I wasn’t there long, and if that had happened, I probably would have brushed it off as being the new person. About the only thing I remember is that Stephanie was really worried about Andi’s operation.”

“She was,” Jimmy agreed. He ran his hand over his gray hair. “I just thought of something. I heard her and Jillian talking once, and Jillian told her not to mess everything up. When I asked about it, Stephanie said it was something about work. I never could get any more out of her.”

“Do you know anyone else who might have had a motive to kill her?”

“I have lain awake so many nights trying to come up with someone who might have had something against her. And I always come up blank. Everyone liked her.”

“None of the women in the house were jealous?” Maggie asked.

He looked toward the ceiling, then at her. “Maybe Laura. She envied Stephanie’s looks, and she always wanted Spencer, and I hear she got him. Steph and Spencer dated, you know.”

Maggie tilted her head. “Stephanie dated Spencer? But she told me there was nothing between them.” She frowned. “Stephanie was quite upset that Spencer had dumped Jillian. That happened before I went to live there, but she and I discussed it once.”

“Jillian never knew he broke up with her because of Stephanie. I’m the only one who did, and only because I happened to see them together when they thought no one was around. But it didn’t last long. I think Steph felt guilty about it. Didn’t bother Spencer—he moved on to someone else. But it wasn’t Laura. I think she was much later.”

“How about Adam Matthews?” Will asked. “Did you know him?”

Jimmy repeated the name. “Was he a pilot?”

Will nodded.

His cousin’s eyes widened. “Oh yeah. He hung around some. Seems like he was interested in Lacey.”

“They married, but it didn’t last long,” Will said.

“I never liked him. He was too slick, even more than Spencer.”





21


AFTER SPENCER LEFT, Andi videoed Laura at her desk, then on the phone. The last shot was a silhouette of her standing at the window looking at downtown Memphis. “Next time I’ll bring someone to video, and I’ll interview you.”

“Send me a copy of the questions you plan to ask,” Laura said.

“Sure thing.” Andi put the camera away. “Thanks for talking about Stephanie with me today. Do you mind if I ask you another question?”

“I won’t know until you ask.”

“You were closer to my sister than anyone, except maybe Jillian. Do—”

“Jillian was not your sister’s friend,” Laura said.

“But they were, had been since grade school.”

Laura shook her head. “Honey, Jillian is no one’s friend, and she was very jealous of your sister.”

That couldn’t be true.

“Ask around,” Laura said.

Andi took out a notepad. “I’d like to do that. Can you give me a list of people to ask?”

“Lacey would have been the first person I’d put on the list—oh, her funeral is at five today, if you want to come. Back side of the cemetery.”

Andi mentally ran through the rest of her day. She could take a change of clothes when she met Will and Brad at three thirty and get dressed there. “I’ll be there. That list?”

Laura looked toward the ceiling. “Talk to Gerald Caldwell, or Madeline Starr, or even Jared Donovan—he was absolutely smitten with Stephanie and asked her to marry him.”

“I know Maggie, but who are the other two? Oh, wait. Are you talking about Jared Donovan, the guy who owns Donovan Jewelers?”

“That’s the one, and Gerald is a private investigator. Both of them were part of the circle.”

“Circle?”

“Stephanie’s castoffs.” Laura’s lip twitched, then she smiled. “Not intentionally. Your sister didn’t know the effect she had on men. Every man she dated fell in love with her, and why not? She was beautiful and kind, but Stephanie was looking for the perfect man.”

“We both know that man doesn’t exist,” Andi said with a laugh.

“Absolutely. And when flaws showed up as they eventually do, Stephanie lost interest and moved on.”

Andi stared at the two names she’d written down. “Where can I find them?”

“Gerald’s office is a few blocks from here on Front Street, and you’ll find Jared at Donovan Jewelers on Union.”