Page 26 of Shadow of Death
“I try,” she murmured. “I just wish... I don’t know. I believe the children saw him a few months ago. I was better with them—I swear. I think it’s the worst thing in the world for one parent to degrade another in front of the children—because no matter what the problem, that person being denigrated is still a parent. Am I making sense?”
“Perfect sense. And again, Loretta, that’s a truly fine way to make the best life for your kids.”
“Loretta, we will find out who did this and hopefully bring closure to your children and to you. Do you know who he was sending the texts to?” Hunter asked.
“I do. Jasmine Drew. I don’t know her well—I was told by a mutual friend he met her at a strip club, so I am assuming she’s far sexier than I am.”
“Do you know where she worked?”
“Fanny’s Fancy Females,” Loretta said. She let out a long sigh again. “I wanted him to find out he’d stayed with me all those years for nothing. I wanted him to realize when we were done with all the attorneys, he’d be dead broke. I didn’t want him to be dead! I wanted him to hurt in something like the way he’d hurt me—not by dying slowly in misery in a mud pit!”
“Your children have been informed?” Amy asked softly.
She nodded. “They’ve known he’s been missing, of course. They’re hurting, but when they didn’t hear from him...they knew something was very wrong. They’re brokenhearted, but I’d convinced them into going back to school and now...well, they’ll be home, and I’ll make funeral arrangements with them and help them find out when the medical examiner will release the body.”
“Of course.” Hunter handed her a card. “Please, we will need to speak with them, and if you think of anything, any little detail that might be helpful, let us know.”
“Right,” Loretta said. She smiled bitterly. “I will call you and let you know when Ted and Candy get here. And I know they will be eager to help in any way. But you might do better talking to Jasmine Drew.”
“Oh, we will talk to her,” Hunter assured her.
“What about work?” Amy said.
“He had friends at the college, of course. We attended teas and things like that through the years. He was in the History Department. I don’t know if they can help you, but a number of people in his department knew him fairly well. I wouldn’t know who to say exactly, but if you just speak with the dean, I’m sure he can tell you more.”
“We will follow up with everything,” Amy assured her.
Loretta managed something of a smile. “Thank you,” she told Amy. “You made me feel...a little better about myself.”
“Good. Because his death is certainly not your fault. We can never hate ourselves for feeling pain when we’ve been betrayed. I’m hoping the very best for you and your children.”
“Thank you,” Loretta whispered.
“And thank you for the coffee,” Hunter said.
The woman managed a real smile. “I do brew a great cup of coffee!”
“That you do,” Amy agreed. She and Hunter rose. Loretta saw them through the house to the front door and waved.
“Am I driving?” Hunter asked.
“You are. Something about that name...”
Amy had her cell phone out and pulled up her email. She looked at one of the lists Andy Mason had provided for them, and then quickly looked over at Hunter.
“We’re not going to find Jasmine Drew—not at Fanny’s Fancy Females, anyway.”
“Oh?”
“I believe she’s on this list. Not as Jasmine, but as Jennifer. Jennifer Drew. And she was reported missing by her boss—Thomas Mallery of Fanny’s Fancy Females. She has been noted as missing... She’s down as having been gone at about the same time as Gavin Peterson.”
“Two sinners,” Hunter said, glancing briefly at Amy. “Two sinners—guilty of lust.”
Brenda Hayes greeted them at the door to the row townhouse she had shared with Estelle Benedict. She was composed, but her face was drawn and weary, as if she had spent a great deal of time crying in the last hours. In her midthirties, she had straight shoulder-length dark hair and, in contrast, bright green eyes. She had evidently been having an “at-home” day, but even so, the velour sweats she was wearing somehow appeared almost tailored on her.
“Please, come in. I—I’m sorry, forgive me, I’m still trying to accept...to believe. And yet I knew in my heart Estelle was gone. We... Well, she was the love of my life,” she said flatly, eyeing them, as if waiting for judgment.
“I am so, so sorry!” Amy said. “I wish so badly there was something I could say that would comfort you—but she is gone, and the best that we can offer anyone is our determination to see her killers face justice.”
