I stared at his left hand. He wasn’t wearing the gold wedding band I’d placed on his finger on our wedding day. I wasn’t sure if this was new or if he hadn’t been wearing it for months and I had simply refused to notice. It wouldn’t be the first time I had been deliberately oblivious. I took a long sip from my wineglass, hoping it would help soothe the hurt that had begun to radiate throughout my body.
“Her sister,” Thomas said, his voice dragging me back to the conversation.
“Veronica?” Jayne asked, having mastered the one-word question.
Thomas nodded. “Yes. Lynda—the roommate—said that it seemed that Adrienne needed to tell Veronica something important, but she didn’t want to tell her over the phone. Each conversation was the same, with Adrienne telling Veronica she needed to see her to tell her in person and Veronica saying if she couldn’t tell her over the phone, then it would have to wait until the weekend because Veronica was on a work deadline and she couldn’t get away to meet with her.”
Jack tapped his fingers on the table, something he always did while thinking, except now that I’d noticed the absence of his wedding ring, it seemed to me he was stretching his fingers to see how it felt for the third finger to be bare. “Did they ever get to meet?” he asked.
Thomas shook his head. “No. Adrienne was killed that Friday. Veronica never saw her alive again.”
Something Veronica had said flashed through my brain. I can’t let her down again. I took a large bite of fish and chewed slowly so I could think. Veronica was my friend, and I wasn’t willing to give up any confidences before I’d had a chance to speak with her first.
“That’s awful.” Jayne put her fork down on her plate and sat back, pressing both hands against her heart. Now that she was focused on a subject of discussion instead of Thomas, she was able to speak normally. “No wonder she’s so desperate to find out who killed Adrienne. She probably feels responsible.”
I took another gulp of my wine as Jack continued his bare-finger drumming on the table. It took all of my self-control not to smack his fingers down with my hand.
After we’d finished and the dishes were cleared, Jack asked, “Anything new on the yearbook and CD player?”
“Oh, yes,” Thomas said, watching as our waiter placed my peanut butter bar in front of me.
No one else had ordered dessert. I held my knife and fork for everyone to see so that they’d take Jack’s earlier warning seriously.
Thomas continued. “That’s why I wanted to meet in person instead of doing this over the phone. I hoped Veronica would be here. She didn’t answer her cell phone, and when I called the house phone, Michael answered. I gave him the message that I had new information and to have Veronica call me. But she didn’t.”
I hesitated a moment before putting the first bite of dessert into my mouth so I could answer. “She’s having a date night with Michael, so that must be why.”
He nodded. “Must be. I’ll try again tomorrow. I also need to ask her about Adrienne’s involvement with the sailing team. Her name isn’t on the roster, but I’m pretty sure she’s pictured with the team in the yearbook. If she was a part of the team, that could be a whole new source of people I should talk to. Assuming it’s her, that is. It doesn’t appear that any team members were interviewed after the murder.”
“Well, that’s certainly something new to go on,” Jack said while glancing at my dessert plate. I moved it an inch closer to me.
Thomas continued. “We also found a new fingerprint on the CD player. I had the whole thing redusted, although with all of the new handling, I had doubts that we’d find anything useful. But I figured if we were going to reopen this case, we didn’t want to leave any stone unturned.”
“And?” Jayne asked.
Thomas looked at her and grinned. “And I was right. There is a single and very clear thumbprint on the inside of the lid. Not where a person would usually touch, which is probably why it was overlooked. I compared it to all of the other fingerprints discovered on the first go-round and it’s definitely a new one. I’m having it run through AFIS now to see if it shows up. If the person has ever been fingerprinted, we should get a hit.”
Jack stopped his drumming so he could pick up his cup of decaffeinated coffee—his version of dessert. “Do you remember whose fingerprints were identified originally?”
Thomas nodded. “Yep—Adrienne, of course; her roommate, Lynda, who liked to borrow the Discman; and also Adrienne’s boyfriend, Chris Kelly. He would sometimes hang out in their room, listening to music while Adrienne was in class. As I said, Lynda had a solid alibi, and so did Chris.”
I watched as Jayne took a deep, calming breath. “What about the CD—the one with ‘O Superman’ on it? Did you find it?”
“It’s on the inventory list, but it hasn’t been located. It could have been misplaced. Or it could have been taken.”
“Or it was intentionally destroyed as an act of mercy,” I said.
“I’ve never heard of it,” Jack said as he lowered his cup to the saucer.
“Consider yourself lucky.”
I looked up in surprise at Michael, who stood behind my chair. Jack stood and extended his hand. “Michael—good to see you. Is Veronica with you?”
“She had to go powder her nose. It’s our anniversary, so we’re painting the town. We just had drinks at the Ordinary, and now we’re ready for dinner.” He looked pointedly at Thomas and then at the remains of our dinner. “Was this business or pleasure?”
“Oh, a little of both,” Jack said vaguely. “We’d invite you to join us, but we’re just finishing up.”
“That’s a shame.” Michael turned his attention to me. “I need to talk with Melanie. About coming up with a timeline for listing our house. It’s like the renovations will never end.”
I slid back my chair, stood, and placed my napkin on the seat. “Just call Jolly at my office and we’ll set up a meeting. I have all my sales data there. I believe I have some openings at the end of the week. Now, if you’ll please excuse me.”
“Me, too,” Jayne said as she pushed back her chair.
Jack remained standing and Thomas stood as we left the table to find the ladies’ room. As we walked, Jayne nudged me with her elbow. “Are you thinking the same thing I am?”