Page 88 of To Have and to Hold

“And what does that have to do with Dexter?” she asked.

“We’ve learned of a conn—”

“I was hoping DA Abrams could assist us in that,” I said, cutting into Knox’s sentence. “It’s becoming a high profile case and I’ve mentioned it to him before. If you have any idea where he is, we’d appreciate it. We’ve already checked his office.”

Her stare beamed down on me and I attempted not to squirm. “I’m no prude, and I don’t appreciate what you’re insinuating.”

Knox turned to me. “I’m sorry, what are we insinuating exactly?”

“You’re assuming my husband is out with a woman, are you not, and that is why I don’t know where he is?”

“Ma’am, we are asking no such thing,” Knox said.

“Nobody calls me ma’am except for the delivery boy,” Eugenie said, and if she had the power of murder by derision, she would have done it. “And that is only because I tip him.”

“It is by no means a late hour for a lawyer like himself,” I said, the sweetness cloying. “Is he possibly out for dinner with a client? Or drinks at the Harvard club?”

“Your partner had the better idea,” she clipped out.

“Forgive me for the clarification, but are you saying your husband is having an affair?” Knox asked.

“Can you hear?” she retorted.

“Eugenie.” I leaned forward. “I’m sorry we have to barge in here and get so personal. The last thing we’re here to do is dig up dirt about DA Abrams and yourself.”

“If it doesn’t relate to the investigation, there is no need to disclose the information,” Knox added.

Eugenie’s attention on Knox could only be described as withering. “You think I don’t know how investigations work? How the law works? My only issue is why Dexter is being searched for in the first place. And why you”—she leveled her gaze on me—“are a part of this scuttlebutt. Dexter is your superior and I’m shocked he’d allow you to be tramping around with a detective when you have piles of casework on your desk that should be your priority. I remember Dexter at your age, and he didn’t let anything get in the way of his rise. Still isn’t. And you boys sit here thinking it was on his own steam; but I’ll tell you right now, without me, he’d be reading the dregs of a whiskey glass as his career guide.”

“You knew DA Abrams when he was fresh out of law school?” I asked.

“We met in the first year of college.”

My mouth twitched at the similarity to Emme and I. “So, you must’ve been well acquainted with his friends.”

“His friends were mine.” Eugenie hooked her teacup and hovered it near her lips as she pinned me over the rim.

“Then you know Jack Beauregard,” I said.

“Of course. Rough around the edges, that one. A farm boy. I was shocked when Dexter hit it off so well with him. Jack was a regular on our couch.”

“You and DA Abrams were living together?” I asked.

I swore a gleam of amusement caught her eye. “In sin, yes. Dexter didn’t want to marry me until after he completed law school. I assume it was because that was when all his loans were due and he needed my money.” She sipped at her tea, her pinky finger raised high.

I tried not to react to her frankness, as I suspected that was exactly what she was looking for. “It sounds like Jack and Dexter—DA Abrams—were close pals, but they can’t’ve gotten along all the time. There must’ve been quarrels sometimes.”

Eugenie’s eyes became smaller over the rim. “If you’re asking if they ever fought over a girl or had the kind of argument that ruined their friendship, I think you know the answer to that.”

Knox shifted beside me, and I hoped he read body language in his peripheral vision because I sent him the stiff mental command to stay relaxed.

“A few years after graduating, Jack quit his lucrative career in the city and moved to Wyoming with his wife. As far as I know, he and DA Abrams never spoke again,” I said.

“Quite correct.”

Knox chimed in. “Do you know what that argument was about?”

“What are fights between men always about?”

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