“Go run him down for me, will you, son? I want to gather up the dirty dishes.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Bowie said, and left the kitchen.
Jesse was already outside on the porch, but when Bowie came out, Jesse backed up against him.
“I don’t know this man,” Jesse said.
“It’s okay. I do,” Bowie said. “Go tell Mama the constable is here.”
“Yeah, the constable,” Jesse said, and headed into the house as Riordan approached.
“Afternoon, Constable. Did you come to tell us you have the killer under arrest?” Bowie asked.
Riordan sighed.
“Not yet. I need to talk to your mother. I’m hoping she might have some insight into her family that would help us.”
The screen door opened behind Bowie.
“Come in, Constable Riordan, and take a seat,” Leigh said.
Bowie stepped aside as Riordan followed Leigh into the house.
Jesse was sitting in Stanton’s chair, ready to visit.
Leigh glanced at him. “Jesse, would you like to take the peelings out and feed them to the chickens? Remember to close the gate behind you when you go in and when you come out.”
Jesse beamed. “Yes, ma’am. I like to feed the chickens.”
“I know you do. The peelings are in the blue tin bowl on the cabinet. When you’re done, come right back, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am. Close the gate in and close the gate out.”
Leigh ran a hand over Jesse’s head to smooth back a strand of hair. As she did, she felt the ridges of scar tissue beneath.
“Run along now,” she said.
“Do you want me to go with him?” Bowie asked.
“No. I want you to stay with me,” Leigh said, and sat down on the couch opposite the chair where Riordan was sitting.
Bowie sat beside her.
“I’ll make this brief,” Riordan said. “First of all, I want to tell you again how sorry I am for your loss. The reason I’m here is that I’m hoping you can shine some light on your family for me.”
“I haven’t talked to any of them in over thirty years,” Leigh said.
“How did you keep from running into them in Eden?” Riordan asked.
“Because they don’t lower themselves to shopping where people like us would go. They have people to handle the mundane things in life,” she said.
“Your children never ran into Charles while they were in school?”
“I don’t know who Charles is,” Leigh said.
Riordan didn’t bother to hide his shock.
“He’s Blake’s son.”
She shrugged. “I homeschooled my boys.”
“You must be a very intelligent woman, Mrs. Youngblood.”
She shrugged. The fact that she’d graduated college by the time she was seventeen was immaterial. Being the brain of the family had gotten her nothing but disdain. She’d had it drummed into her from her youth that her smarts were wasted on a girl.
“Stanton helped tremendously. He already had his college degree in business and economics before we married. He was an online broker and licensed for quite a few years. He had his own clients.”
“What will happen to them now?” Riordan asked.
Bowie touched his mother’s arm and answered for her, because he knew she wouldn’t.
“Mama took over the investment part of Daddy’s business years ago. She and Daddy’s clients will all be fine.”
Riordan eyed Leigh with renewed respect.
“That’s good to know. Meanwhile, as to why I came... Now that I understand the distance you kept between you and your family a little better, I want to know if you suspect any one sibling in particular. Is there anyone you think is capable of murder?”
She rolled her eyes. “Any of them. All of them.”
Riordan grunted softly. “Seriously?”
Leigh sighed. “Our father was a hard taskmaster. He never liked to fail, and he drilled that same fear into all of us. I guess if I had to pick one, I’d pick Justin.”
Bowie was surprised and let it show. “Your twin brother?”
Riordan frowned. “He’s your twin?”
“I’m older by a minute and a half,” Leigh said.
“Why Justin?” Riordan asked.
“He holds grudges, and he’s mean like our father was,” Leigh said. “Do you have any evidence against him?”
Riordan sighed.
“The evidence I have doesn’t point to anyone in particular, or I wouldn’t be here. Telling you that is highly irregular, as I’m sure you know. Normally we don’t admit there isn’t much of a lead to follow.”
Leigh’s hands curled into fists.
“You aren’t telling me they’re going to get away with this, are you?” she asked.
“Not if I have anything to do with it,” Riordan said. “I’m hoping someone panics and gives up the guilty party, or the killer panics and makes a mistake.”
Leigh frowned.
“The only one who might panic is Nita, but unless it’s common knowledge among them as to who did it, the guilty one will never tell.”
“Why not?” Riordan asked.
“Because the others would turn him or her in just to get the monkey off their backs,” she said.
Bowie was stunned. He couldn’t imagine having that kind of relationship with family.