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“I’ve been going through old cases whenever I have a spare minute. You remember much about the Grover murder?”
“Franklin was my second cousin.” She took a deep breath. “The dearest man who ever lived, and he had so many plans to make this town a better place. There’s not a person here who doesn’t remember him.”
“Clay said the case was open and shut.”
“How much more proof could there have been? Daniel had the motive, opportunity, and the murder weapon in his hands when he was caught.”
“Motive?”
“To steal Frank’s wallet, I suppose. Or maybe things weren’t going well with Daniel’s new job at the factory. No one found any reprimands in his personnel files, but Frank wasn’t a confrontational sort of man. He would quietly take employees aside and give them a hundred chances before letting them go.”
“Opportunity?”
“Hanrahan got off at eleven. Franklin had been at a late meeting at the plant and was the last to leave at about midnight. He left through the back entrance, but then his car broke down on Dry Creek Road. We figured he must have started walking back to town.” Ollie’s voice broke. “For a billfold and thirty bucks, Daniel destroyed a brighter future for this town and devastated our family.”
Nathan reached over to rest a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
She looked up and gave him a watery smile. “Twenty-five years, and it’s just like yesterday.”
“Hanrahan’s daughter turned up in town last weekend.”
Ollie stiffened, stepped away. “Her brother was trouble. Theft, joyriding, booze and drugs. Teetered on the edge of being sent away for years. All we need is another Hanrahan around here to stir up trouble.”
“She seems nice enough. It’s hard to believe she has family history like that.”
Ollie’s voice hardened. “That family is bad news. If you’re thinking the wrong man was blamed back then, think again. Opening old wounds will only bring back all the anger and won’t change a thing. Leave it alone, Nathan. We’ll all be better off.”
CHAPTER TWO
“YOU SURE WALK your dog a lot. Can I help?”
Eight-year-old Josh Shueller, son of Sara’s landlord, stood at the door of her apartment and looked up at her with such hope that Sara grinned down at him. “I can’t let you take him by yourself, but you could come along. If it’s okay with your mom.”
“Be right back!” He spun around and thundered down the outside flight of stairs from the one-bedroom apartment Sara had rented over the garage.
Maybe taking him along was a good thing, Sara decided as she sat at her kitchen table and tied her running shoes. The boy’s presence might add a further air of innocence to her reconnaissance travels through town.
