Page 102 of Forever Dead

“What exactly did you say?” Selena asked.

“I don’t remember conversations from eight years ago.”

“Did you say Eleanor Marsh was living on stolen Cutler land?”

Ray stared at her, then glanced toward Connor.

“Maybe,” he said. “I was pissed off.”

“What about Jack Tully?”

“Same kind of thing.”

Selena adjusted her grip on the cane. Her knee had started to pulse again, but she ignored it.

“Did you ever say someone should make them give the land back?” she asked.

“I said legal things. Court things.”

“Come on, Ray,” Selena said.

Ray’s voice sharpened. “I never told anybody to hurt them if that’s what you mean. Besides, this Patricia Vanes person. I don’t even know who that is. Why would I murder some stranger on Jack’s property?”

Selena held his gaze.

“Who might have thought you meant more than a lawsuit?” she asked. “Someone, perhaps, who would have taken it on themselves to right a wrong.”

The color seemed to drain slightly from his cheeks.

Connor seemed to notice, too.

Ray stepped away from the railing and paced two slow steps across the porch before stopping.

“This is crazy,” he said.

“Maybe,” Selena said. “But someone killed Eleanor Marsh at one former Cutler property and Patricia Vanes at another. If there’s a person who knew your grievances and took them seriously, we need a name.”

Ray shook his head. “There isn’t one.”

“You answered quickly,” Selena said.

“Because there isn’t.”

“Family?”

“No.”

“Employees?” she asked.

“No.”

“Could Morimer have organized it as a favor?” Connor said, his gaze as unchanging as stone.

Ray’s anger returned, but it did not completely cover the unease now.

“I told you,” he said, “Morimer has nothing to do with my property disputes.”

“That wasn’t the question,” Selena said.