He moved cautiously around the living room area, feeling as if any sudden gesture would set loose the pain that clawed at him.
Jonas made his own circuit. He stopped at the massive fieldstone fireplace that took up much of the outside wall. He squatted. Someone has had a fire here. The hearth was clean and empty the last time I looked.
Trey looked for himself. Jonas was right. So someones been here, but not the usual teenage party crowd. Theyd make more of a mess than this.
Ja, they would. A tramp, you think? Chust looking for shelter?
Could be. Trey frowned. That didnt feel right. They didnt have tramps any longer, and Lancasters homeless wouldnt be likely to come clear out here to find a roof.
Jonas had moved on to the kitchen, and Trey forced himself to follow. The memories were out in the open now. His mothers worries when Dad didnt come home that night. His own conviction that Dad needed a little time alone to deal with the bad news the doctor had delivered. Cancer. Serious, but something that could be fought.
But Dad hadnt chosen to fight. The man Trey had always thought the bravest person he knew had put a gun to his head instead of battling the cancer. It didnt make sense to him. It never had. Hed spent months trying to find a way to make that fact fit, but he couldnt. If there had been something else troubling his father-
Trey looked at the table. Hed come in the door cautiously that morning, calling his fathers name, embarrassed at intruding on what hed thought was a spiritual retreat on his fathers part. And found him dead.
The table and floor had been scrubbed clean since then, the table moved to a slightly different position. Jonas must have done that-Trey had certainly been in no shape to think of having it done.
He cleared his throat. You cleaned up in here, after. Thank you.
Jonas looked embarrassed at being thanked. Ach, it was little enough to do for him. Your father was a fine man. Everyone knows that.
Trey could only nod. Yes, everyone had known that.
Trey- Jonas hesitated for a moment. It seems to me that only God can know what was in your fathers mind and heart in the last moments of his life. Only God can judge.
Endless comforting platitudes had been aimed at Trey when hed been in no shape to listen to them. Now, oddly enough, he found comfort in Jonass simple words.
Thank you.
Jonas was already turning away, with the typical Amish reluctance to accept thanks or compliments. He moved to the sink and stopped. Look at this.
Trey looked. An empty wine bottle lay in the sink. A moderately expensive bottle, not the sort of thing hed expect the local teenagers to favor.
Someone has been here, Jonas said again.
Yes. But I doubt were going to know who. Or why. Some married man, meeting with a girlfriend on the sly? The thought sickened him-that someone would use the place his father died for such a purpose.
He straightened abruptly, leaving the bottle untouched. Ill get a new padlock and drop it off at your place, if you dont mind putting it on. Thats all we can do.
Jonas nodded. It makes no trouble. I will take care of the lock.
Turning his back on the table, Trey headed for the door. Maybe the best thing would be to put the place on the market. He didnt see the family wanting to spend time here ever again. Let someone else worry about break-ins.
He was nearly at the door when a shaft of sunlight from the side window picked up a pinpoint of light reflecting from the leg of a wooden straight chair. He bent, running his hand down the leg.
His fingers touched a rough spot, jagged enough to snag a piece of fabric. He pulled the fabric free and looked at it.
A tiny red scrap, maybe an inch long and not more than an eighth of an inch wide. Tiny red sequins glittered when he moved it in his fingers.
Nothing. It meant nothing. It was the sort of thing someone who liked cheap finery would have worn. An image of Cherry Wilson popped into his mind, and he pushed it away. This had nothing to do with her.
CHAPTER FIVE
THANK YOU, MR. FROST. Jessica held out her hand to the elderly attorney. I really appreciate your sharing your expertise with me. Her interview with Frost had been helpful, and hed been cooperative. Because of the Morgan connection with the case? Maybe, but she still appreciated it.
Gray eyes twinkled behind wire-rimmed glasses. For a small-town fuddy-duddy, you mean.
Was her embarrassment showing? That had been exactly the impression shed had when shed entered an office that looked as if it hadnt changed since the 1930s and met the white-haired, stooped gentleman whod risen from his rolltop desk at her approach. It had only taken a few minutes of conversation to realize how wrong she was.
Youre as up-to-date as I am, and you have years more experience, as well. Im surprised youre not defending Thomas yourself. An unpleasant thought occurred to her. Is it because youre convinced hes guilty?
Frost shook his head. Even if I did, Id still think he deserved a fair trial, unlike some people I could name, such as our esteemed district attorney.
He sent an annoyed glance toward the newspaper lying on the corner of his desk. Shed already seen it. It contained a front-page interview with the district attorney, who seemed, by the way he spoke, to have Thomas already convicted and on his way to the state penitentiary.
Is he usually that- she considered several words and eliminated them -outspoken?
Preston Connelly is ambitious. A case like this has already drawn regional attention. Hell make the most of it, Im sure.
Does that mean it would hurt your practice if you took on the case? That would be a very good reason for bringing in an outsider.
No, Im stepping aside on doctors orders. Frost patted his chest. The old tickers been acting up a bit. Oh, Im fine for routine jobs, but Im afraid a high-profile murder case is too much.
Im sorry. She wasnt sure what else to say.
Dont look so mournful. He chuckled. Im not going to drop dead yet, but I am in the midst of retiring. Still, if you need any help, you can come to me. Strictly in confidence. Henderson, Dawes and Henderson dont have to know a thing about it.
Thanks. I just might take you up on that. Somewhat to her surprise, she realized she meant it. It wasnt in her nature to trust easily, but Leo Frosts integrity seemed to shine through everything he said.
She walked out of his office smiling, and there was Trey, waiting for her. Her smile faded, and she went toward him with a sense of inevitability. Of course he would show up. Just as well. Before much more time passed, she was going to confront him about what hed been holding back.
He stood, laying aside the well-thumbed magazine hed been looking at.
She lifted her eyebrows. A little late, arent you? I expected you to be lying in wait the minute I arrived in town.
I hadsomething else to do this morning. His normally pleasant expression went somber, and she thought she saw pain in his eyes. Before she could react, the impression was gone. How did your meeting with Leo go? he asked.
Fine. She wanted to confront him, but she could hardly do that here, with Frosts elderly secretary pretending to look through a file while she listened to every word. Hes meeting me at the jail at one oclock to talk with Thomas.
Good. His tone was brisk, as if whatever bothered him had been swept away. What are you going to do until then?
I have a reservation at Willow Brook Motel in Springville, since Ill be staying until after the arraignment, probably longer. I may as well go check in.
She caught an expression of distaste on his face. Was he really that bothered by her presence? Something wrong?
He shrugged. Not if you like faux Pennsylvania Dutch tourist traps. You might be more comfortable at one of the local bed-and-breakfasts, or at the Springville Inn.
Was that really all that was behind his reaction? She couldnt trust anything he said, knowing hed already lied to her once.
Ill be fine. After all, Im here on business, not a vacation.
They had reached the ground floor of the building, and Trey continued walking with her down the hall toward the parking lot in the rear where shed left her car. They were alone, doors closed on both sides of them. This might be the best chance shed have to confront him.
Tell me something, she said abruptly.
He halted, looking down at her with a quizzical expression. What?
Why didnt you tell me you own the barn where Cherry Wilson was found dead?
If she expected an explosion in return, she didnt get it. Trey simply looked blank for a moment.
Didnt I? He frowned. Maybe I didnt. I suppose I didnt think it that important.
Not important that the murder happened in your barn? Do you really expect me to buy that?
His face hardened at her tone. Im not sure what to expect from you, Counselor. But that happens to be the truth. And its not exactly our barn. Our barn is the one behind our house.
But you own it. The police had to have questioned you about that.
They did. He bit off the words. I didnt even realize the crime happened on a piece of land our corporation owns until they brought it up. I told them just what Im telling you. The barn where Cherry was found is on an abandoned farm my father bought years ago, miles from our place. Anyone could have had access to it.
That person would have to know it was there, and that he could get in.
A muscle twitched in his jaw. Meaning Thomas? Thats what the police think, I suppose. But almost anyone in the township might know as much. Country people are aware of things like that.
You said it was abandoned. Doesnt anyone use it? Her suspicions couldnt be allayed that easily.
No one, much of the time. A neighboring farmer sometimes uses it for storage, but I dont think he has anything in it right now.
So you just let it sit there.
Believe it or not, we do. The land is too cut up to be good farmland, but eventually it may be ripe for development. Look, this is not really that unusual, no matter how it might seem to you. That land is one small parcel out of hundreds of acres Morgan Enterprises owns in the county. A large part of our business is involved in real estate. I dont necessarily know the details of every parcel. Naturally I looked it up, once the police told me.