Dead Wrong

Joa

“Did Rory know that Lisa had told you what he was doing behind your back?”

“I may have told him, but it didn’t really matter. I didn’t break up with him because of some harmless flirting. It turned out that was just the tip of the iceberg. He actually had a thing for older women-older married women. One of those Mrs. Robinson deals. I probably shouldn’t be telling you this since he’s still around here and ru

“What married woman?” Joa

“I really shouldn’t say,” Barbara hedged. “Really. People could still get hurt. I mean, he’s married now. Knowing about this would probably hurt her feelings.”

“If it happened long before he married his current wife, why would it hurt her?” Joa

Barbara sighed. “Because the woman’s name was Ruth,” she said at last.

“Ruth Houlihan?” Joa

“You already know about them, then?” Barbara asked. “In that case I don’t suppose my two cents’ worth will make any difference. Ruth’s husband was a lot older than she was, and Rory was a real hunk back in those days. Old Mr. Houlihan hired Rory to do odd jobs around the ranch, and he ended up balling the missus behind the old man’s back. The two of them would ride up into the hills to an old line shack and screw their brains out. The Houlihans had a daughter named Aileen who was about the same age as Lisa and me. Ruth and Rory both pretended he was interested in the daughter, but that was just a convenient cover.”

Barbara stopped talking for a moment, then added, “I do feel guilty to be gossiping like this, but even after all these years, I’m still more than a little pissed at the man for what he did to me. Thank God I didn’t marry him, though. I can’t imagine what that would have been like. Rory Markham is a real piece of work.”

J couldn’t agree more, Joa

Her cell phone rang just then. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Petrocelli. I need to take that. Can I call you back later?”

“Sure. Feel free. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

When Joa

“I’m afraid you and I are going to miss the puppy party,” Joa

“Why? What’s going on?” Frank demanded.

“We need to pay a call on Rory Markham,” Joa

Chapter 20

Knowing there was no way she’d be able to dodge in and out of the Justice Center without being photographed, Joa

He looked at her gratefully. “And here’s Sheriff Brady right now,” he said.

As Joa

When Frank reemerged minus the wiggling puppy, Joa

“They’re back up at San Simon,” he said. “But Ernie’s here.”

“Ernie!” Joa

“So did I,” Frank said. “But he turned up first thing this morning itching to go back to work.”

“Where is he?”

“At his desk reading up on everything he’s missed.”

Joa

“I wouldn’t talk if I were you,” he returned. “But yes, I need to be here. Rose said either I came to work or she was getting a divorce. Besides, Frank said you might need some help.”

“It’s the Bradley Evans case. As I recall, you weren’t too thrilled about working it last week.”

“That was before I was stuck at home for what felt like forever. I’ll work whatever needs working. Where are we going and what car do we take?”

Joa

Minutes later, Ernie drove the Crown Victoria up to Joa

“Where to?”

“It’s Sunday afternoon,” Joa

“I’m sorry,” the receptionist told Joa

“Never mind,” Joa

“To the Triple H, then?” Ernie asked.

Joa

“You’re telling me Rory Markham once had an affair with the grandmother of the woman who’s now his wife? What is he, some kind of pervert?”

“The presumed grandmother,” Joa

“This is all gut instinct, though,” Ernie grumbled. “Gut instinct and theory. We’ve got no solid evidence to back any of this up.”

“You’re right,” Joa

“You take the lead, then,” Ernie said. “I can’t see how this is going to pull together.”

Joa

But here was Rory Markham caught up in the middle of it. And not, as Lawrence Tazewell had so readily assumed, as Aileen’s sometime boyfriend, but as Ruth’s. And who was Ruth? Someone cold-blooded enough to want her daughter to abort a child rather than give birth to one at risk of developing Huntington’s disease.

“What if Aileen never knew about any of it?” Joa

“Never knew what?”