“You were so cute that it would have been.”
Jack groaned. “Cute. The death word for a man’s libido.” He put three cans of artichoke hearts in the cart. “If Cheryl liked Alastair Stewart, I never heard a hint of it. If I had, I definitely would have dyed my hair to look like his.”
“What about Dan Bruebaker?”
“I don’t remember him specifically. All those football guys hung out together. In their eyes, we little kids didn’t exist.”
“And when you were a senior, were you the same way?”
“Oh, yeah. My one and only year of being king of my realm.” He ignored Kate’s snort. “Have you learned anything that points to a murderer?”
“No. It’s getting worse. Suspects are piling on top of each other.” They were in the paper aisle and she was filling the bottom shelf of the cart. “Why wouldn’t her boyfriend acknowledge a hottie like Cheryl?” When Jack didn’t answer, she looked at him. “Oh. Her mother. He wouldn’t have wanted to be associated with them—might’ve affected his reputation.”
Jack nodded in agreement.
Kate paused with a big pack of paper towels in her hand. “I wonder who started the gossip? Who inflamed it? Who kept it going?”
“Yet another good question that we don’t have an answer for.” He took the towels from her, put them in the cart and started moving.
“Cheryl wanted to do better in life—but she felt she had to do it here in Lachlan. I think there was someone in this town who made her want to stay.”
“And Verna was the same way. She could have left town,” Jack said. “I mean, she had a good job in a big city but she gave it up to return to Lachlan. Why?”
Kate was putting packets of bacon in the cart and she halted. “I don’t remember hearing about her having a good job and giving it up.”
Immediately, Jack looked guilty. “Get the thick-cut kind.” He swallowed. “Maybe Cheryl told me. I’m not sure.”
“And you’re just now remembering that important fact?”
Jack gave a weak smile. “Guess so. You want some hot dogs?”
“No. They’re poison.” Kate pulled her cell out of her bag.
“Calling anyone I know?”
“Your mother. You deserve a time-out. I cannot believe you forgot to tell us that. What else—? Hi, Heather. Could you help me find out something about Verna?” She told her what Jack had said about the job Verna had given up, adding in her annoyance with Jack for keeping it from them. From the look on Kate’s face, Heather agreed with her.
When she hung up, he was smiling. “You and my mom get along well, don’t you?”
“Better than you and I do. Wait until I tell Aunt Sara this. What kind of cheese do you want?”
“All of it. Did we get any crackers? I like it when you make a plate of things. You do it so it’s very pretty. And tasty.”
She knew he was complimenting her so she wouldn’t be angry at him. She started tossing packets of cheese in the cart. “Come on, let’s go. We need to get to Mr. Niederman before the sheriff talks to him and he runs away in terror.”
“That would be difficult, since he can’t use his legs.”
She glared at him. “So help me, if you just remembered that, I’ll throw that big round of Gouda at you.”
“Somebody told me recently,” he said. As Kate grabbed the end of the cart and began pulling, he added, “I think.”
SIXTEEN
By the time they got home, Kate was seeing Jack’s side. They must protect Sara. With the sheriff’s threat that he was going to do what he could to stop their investigation, things could get very unpleasant.
“I don’t want to see her locked up,” Jack said as he drove them home.
It flashed through Kate’s mind that her mother would love to hear that Sara had been thrown into jail. She made herself stamp down that idea. Of course her mother wouldn’t be happy if that happened. But it was guaranteed that she would go into such hysterics that Kate would have to return home to calm her down.
