Jori frowned. “Where did you get that information?”
“It was in the affidavits presented to the grand jury looking into Rogers’s death. In her interview, Foster says Rogers came to tell her that he’d broken off his engagement to you, that he said he’d been having second thoughts for a while.”
She was blinking hard. “That’s so like Brody!” She paused and jerked her head as if tossing off some burden.
Law was losing patience. “And your counsel never thought it might be a good idea to follow up and see exactly what they were doing together?” He saw her face. “I don’t mean screwing each other, Jori. Rogers was high the night he died. Think about it. Some people drink their troubles away. Addicts get high together. Didn’t you ever wonder who Rogers’s customers were?”
Jori nodded slowly. “I used to lie awake in my cell and think about that.”
“My guess is he was the friendly campus drug dealer. The popular frat boy, a known quantity welcome at all parties. He was safe, exclusive.” Law fed another bit to Argyle without even thinking about what he was doing. “No clandestine buys on corners in not-so-nice neighborhoods. It must have played well with everyone involved.”
Jori’s jaw began to work. “Every friend I had deserted me. In the beginning I thought it was because they were shocked and didn’t want to be associated with someone who’d been accused of dealing drugs.”
“Or maybe they just didn’t want their own secrets outed.”
She looked at him for confirmation. “They thought I was guilty because they were?”
“That’s a fair guess. They must have expected you to start naming names to cut a deal with the D.A. and save yourself.”
“But I couldn’t.”
He gave it to her raw. “They didn’t know that, did they? Not until you went to prison, anyway,” he added under his breath.
She had sharp ears. “You mean they knew I was innocent only because I was found guilty?”
Law couldn’t answer that. But it made sense. He did have another theory.
“Don’t you think it’s odd that no one else was arrested behind the revelation of Brody as a drug dealer? Not one client was discovered? Why didn’t your defense attorney at least go after Erin? She could have been drug-tested.”
Jori opened her mouth to reply then snapped it shut. For five long seconds she stared at him with a hard expression. He held her gaze with dogged determination. He owed her that.
“Why are you telling me all this now? And what’s in it for you?”
Law had to smile. She had finally caught up with him. Smart. He liked that. Liked her. A lot. He owed her his trust, even if it blew up in his face.
“I think there’s a connection between Brody, your case, and Tice Industries. Tice and I go way back to my early years as a state trooper. We’ve suspected them for over a decade of transporting drugs. Twice while I was on patrol we caught a trucker for Tice with contraband. Both times, the trucker was an independent. Tice attorneys successfully claimed the company couldn’t be held responsible for what a contract worker did in his spare time. The truckers went to prison and kept their mouths shut. That kind of loyalty requires incentive of both the financial and the physical kind.”
“You mean they were paid to go to prison?”
“And/or threatened. That’s speculation. That’s all the state police ever had.”
“What has any of that to do with me?”
“I was hoping you could tell me. Rogers was a Tice relation. And he worked for the family business. If they’re running drugs, he’d have had an inside track.”
“That can’t be true. Maybe Brody was dirty, but Luke Tice always was such a straight arrow his frat brothers called him Mr. Clean.”
“The guy now running for the state senate?” When Argyle made a move to hop up on the table and help herself, Law pushed her back into his embrace with a hand.
“Yes. I never knew Luke well. He and Brody were six years older. And they’d had a falling-out by the time we met. Brody said Luke was jealous that he was working with Luke’s dad at the company headquarters while Luke spent his time in the D.A.’s office at much lower pay. But Luke will inherit the major portion of the company, so that never made sense to me.”
“So Rogers lied to you.”
“He didn’t lie … Right. He lied to me a lot, in a lot of different ways.”
“Don’t beat yourself up about that. Sociopaths like Rogers are masters at not being caught. You never know you’re being lied to because you’re never not being lied to.”
That statement brought her up short. She turned a gaze on him reflecting her own suddenly darker thoughts. “What about you? You just said that you’re after Tice Industries for drug dealing. Is that why I’m here? You hoped I’d be able to name names and give you the inside scoop on how they deal drugs?” Her outrage grew as she said the words aloud. “Oh my God! I’m such an idiot!”