“Who’s Gary Beaumont?”Selena asked.
Connor rubbed a hand along his jaw.“Local guy.Late forties.He drowned about a year ago.”
“Suspiciously?”
“Not officially,” Arnold answered.
Arnold came away from the filing cabinet.“It wasn’t suspicious at the time.Gary got drunk while fishing at Porter’s Pond.Alone, far as anybody knew.Theory was he passed out or lost his balance and fell in.”
“Who found him?”Selena asked.
“Couple of teenagers the next morning,” Connor said.“They were cutting through the trees to smoke where their parents wouldn’t catch them.”
“Was there an autopsy?”
“Dr.Blethan handled it.”Connor gave her a look.“Cause of death was drowning.Alcohol in his system.No obvious signs of assault.”
“No obvious signs?”
“Gary had bruising.But a man falling near rocks and roots can bruise himself.”
Selena wrote Gary Beaumont in her notebook.“Was he married?”
Arnold nodded.“Renee Beaumont.She reported him missing when he didn’t come home.”
The name snagged in Selena’s mind.
For a moment, the room seemed to quiet around it.
“Renee,” she said.
Connor watched her.“What?”
Selena flipped back through her notebook, moving past the Ray Parkinson interview, Amanda Lee, Carl Higgins, Sandra Holt.Then she found the page from Warren’s house.
Sandra Holt.Janet.Renee.
She tapped the page with her pen.“Sandra Holt had a friend comforting her after Warren died.Her name was Renee.”
Connor’s posture changed.
Arnold looked between them.“Same Renee?”
Connor stepped closer.“Yes.Renee Beaumont.”
Selena felt the board shift in her head.Not physically.The photographs stayed where they were, but the connections between them changed shape.
“Her husband drowned a year ago,” she said.“Now her friend’s husband gets murdered.Do we know if Gary was ever accused of cheating on Renee?”
Connor was quiet for a moment.“Wait, who was that baker?”
“Baker?”Selena asked.
“Yeah,” Connor said with a nod.“Oh… She was here for a year or so… Mavis…
“Turnberry,” Arnold said proudly.
Connor snapped his fingers together.“Bingo.Mavis Turnberry.I remember Gary being a bit smitten with her.Just rumors though.”
