Dead Wrong

“All right,” A

A

“We’re trying to find out if it’s possible that Bradley Evans’s murder now has something to do with what happened to your daughter all those years ago.”

A

“I certainly hope so,” she said fiercely. “I always thought the son of a bitch got off way too easy. I prayed every night for years that he’d die in prison. You see how much good that did. But he’s dead now, so why are you still asking questions?”

“Since Bradley Evans confessed to the crime and also went to prison for it, it’s possible that the investigation into your daughter’s death was something less than thorough,” Joa

“You’re saying Bradley had an accomplice?”

That wasn’t at all what Joa

“Possibly,” Joa

“Was it a woman?” A

“Did your daughter say something that led you to think that might be the case?”

“No. According to what she told me, everything was hunky-dory, except for Bradley’s drinking, that is. She was worried about it. That was the only thing she ever complained about.”

“It may be the one thing she mentioned to you, but she might have said something more to someone else,” Joa

A

“Who was Barbara Ta

“Her parents owned the dry cleaner’s where Lisa worked. In fact, Barbara was the one who got Lisa the job in the first place. She worked part-time there while she was still in high school and then full-time after she got out. Barbara worked there, too, some of the time, but after she went off to college, she only worked on winter breaks and during the summers to help her parents.”

“What about Lisa?” Joa

A

“Do the Ta

A

“What about Barbara?”

“I have no idea,” A

“Did Lisa have any other friends?”

“Not really. She wasn’t a very outgoing person; she was pretty but shy. I thought working in the dry cleaner’s would help bring her out of herself. Instead, she ended up meeting Bradley. He asked her out and that was it. He was the only person she ever dated, and for some reason she didn’t think she deserved anyone better.”

Joa

Joa

A

“Tell you what?” Joa

“Tell me if you find out someone else was involved,” A

“If we find out,” Joa

“Oh, yes,” A

“The families never do get over it, do they,” Frank observed, once they were back in his Crown Victoria. “But I admit, the family resemblance from A

But Joa

“Ms. Markham is in with a client writing up an offer,” Fran, the receptionist, told her. “It may be some time before she’s available, and I’m not allowed to interrupt.”

“That’s all right,” Joa

“What’s the plan?” Frank asked.

“Leslie presumably knows the least about what went on in 1978, but she still may be able to tell us things that will help. She may be aware that she’s adopted. Then again…”

“You’re going to tell her?”

“I’m not sure,” Joa

“Which could take weeks or months to give us an answer.” Frank sighed. “I suppose it would be asking too much to hope that Leslie Markham smokes, too.”

“No,” Joa

“I should be able to manage that much. By the way, Leslie is number four.”

“Number four what?”

“Mrs. Rory Markham the fourth,” Frank returned. “He married Leslie two weeks to the day after his divorce from number three was final.”

“No wonder I didn’t like the guy,” Joa

“More of your good ol‘ woman’s intuition?” Frank asked.

“More like woman’s radar,” Joa

They waited in the lobby of Markham Realty until a quarter past six. When Leslie finally emerged from the conference room and escorted her client to the front door, she frowned at Frank and Joa