I stepped up to his side. “Do you mind going with me?” It seemed that sometimes people forgot to ask Pauley what he liked, so I always made the effort. Maybe being the youngest kid came in handy that way for me.
“No.” He opened the door and slid onto the seat. “I am hungry.” He looked straight ahead, his dark brown eyes staring out the window.
I walked around to the driver’s side and sat, starting the car. “What sounds good, P?” I drove away from the curb.
“Lil Bear,” he said, drumming his fingers on his pants in a familiar three times, two times, three times set of taps. “I would like a cheeseburger with ketchup, pickles, and tomatoes. No onions or mustard or mayonnaise.”
“Okay.” I knew how Pauley liked his burgers but let him set things right in his head, anyway. We made it through the drive-through and back to my cottage without any more discussion, and then we ate contentedly on the outside deck watching the action on the lake.
Finally, Pauley finished his fries, which he did not like with ketchup. “I saw the picture of you in the paper.”
I sucked down my vanilla shake. “Yeah? I didn’t know the photographer was there.”
“You are dating Aiden again.” Pauley neatly folded the paper that had covered his burger into perfect squares.
“Yes. I like him.” I crumpled up my paper and tossed it into the takeout bag. “I hope he’s not a criminal.”
Pauley reached for his strawberry shake, which he’d saved until he’d finished his lunch. “The article said that he’s a convicted felon, so that makes him a criminal.”
I swallowed more of my shake. “Huh.”
“Huhis not an appropriate answer.” He drank his shake. “You do not seem like you would date a criminal.”
“Thanks?” I stirred my straw to break up some of the frozen brew. “I feel like he isn’t a criminal. At least not anymore. People can change, right?”
Pauley watched a couple of jet skis on the lake. “I do not believe people truly change. I could be wrong.”
I grinned. “You rarely are wrong.”
“That is true.” He set his wrapper and now empty French fry container into the bag. “How are you doing proving that neither Tessa nor Aiden killed Danny Pucci?”
Apparently Pauley had read the entire article. “Not well,” I admitted.
“Would you like my help?” he asked. “I am much smarter than you.”
I chuckled. “Although that’s true, it’s not polite to say it.”
“You do not mind.” He stood and carried the garbage into my kitchen to properly dispose of it.
I ran through what was on the murder board. Nothing gory or any bad pictures. I followed Pauley inside. “I have a case board set up. Maybe you can see connections I haven’t.” I led him into the laundry room and hopped up on the washing machine to wait.
Pauley stood against the dryer and studied the connections across the board. “This is weird in the laundry room.”
“I didn’t have any other wall that would work except my bedroom, and I didn’t want this in there.” The last thing I needed to see in the morning was Danny Pucci’s face on a murder board. Plus, Aiden spent time in my bedroom and had never set foot in my laundry room, which also mattered for some reason I couldn’t quantify. He didn’t need to know all of my business. “Do you see anything?”
Pauley didn’t so much as twitch. “You are missing one person.”
I straightened as anticipation lanced through me. “I am?”
“Yes.” He reached for his wallet and took out a picture. I already had Tessa on there but couldn’t see past his back to the picture. Moving forward, he placed it on the board and drew connections between it, Aiden, Tessa, and Danny Pucci. Then he stepped back.
I exhaled. It was a picture of me that he’d taken at a family picnic a couple of years ago. My heart started thundering for no good reason, so I took several deep breaths like I’d been taught. In through the nose and out through the mouth. “I know my connections to Tessa and Aiden, obviously. Why Danny?”
“He was in court with you, and he hurt your sister. Also, you were the first person through the door before the police, and you are a witness that Aiden and Tessa were in the room.”
Pauley really had read the entire article.
I didn’t like seeing my picture on the board, but Pauley had a point. “I don’t have a connection to the Lordes or Rich Pucci, or the Walker sisters.”
