Page 44 of The Promise
"It's a small town. Guess everyone knows everyone's business."
"Did you know she was murdered?"
"Heard tell of that too." This was going to be like pulling teeth.
"So you know she thinks Amos Striker did it?"
"A man would have to be deaf to have missed the fact. It was talk around town for quite awhile."
"I didn't know about it." Pete shrugged, and Patrick bristled. "I want to know if you agree with her."
"Ain't got nothing to go on. But I wouldn't put anything past him."
Patrick nodded, glad to know Pete shared his assessment of the man. "Seems, Loralee thinks that Striker might have had something to do with Corabeth's death, too."
"Wouldn't surprise me none." He turned his head, spitting out into the dark. Patrick wondered if the man slept with tobacco in his mouth. "There are certainly similarities."
"There seems to be one major difference, though."
They rode along in silence and it took a moment for Patrick to realize that Pete was waiting for him to elaborate. "According to Ginny, Striker had been hanging around her daughter for quite awhile. She says the girl fancied herself in love with him. Loralee says that Corabeth and Striker hadn't… I mean they didn't know each other…"
"In the biblical sense?" Pete's voice held a hint of laughter.
"Right." Patrick had to get over his inability to talk about sex. But truth was, he didn't have a whole lot of experience, and well, it was just hard to talk about. "The point is that if Corabeth didn't even know Striker, what the hell was he doing with her in the first place? According to Loralee, he's usually not interested in the girls on the line."
"Crib whores ain't his style, true enough." They took the path that snaked off the main road, heading for Clune. "You sure it was Striker and not just suicide?"
"I'm not sure of anything, Pete. But at the moment I'm inclined to believe Ginny and Loralee. Besides the set up at Corabeth's was the same. Right down to the laudanum."
"So then there's got to be a reason." The lights of Clune shone in the distance as they rode down the crest of the hill.
"Loralee and Ginny seem to think it's got something to do with my father's death."
Pete bent his head, a muscle working in his jaw, a sure sign he was thinking it all through. "Don't see how, unless it has something to do with Loralee."
"Loralee?"
"Yup. Arless said it was Loralee."
Patrick's patience was growing thin. "Pete, I've got no idea what you're talking about."
Pete let out an exasperated sigh. "In the Irish Rose, we were talking about Duncan, and Arless said he'd heard about it from Corabeth."
A light went on. "And Corabeth got it from Loralee."
"And here I was thinkin' you were slow." A crooked smile spread across his face, his teeth shining white in the darkness.
"Very funny." Patrick pulled his jacket tighter, shivering in the brisk night air. "I still don't see why any of that would interest Amos."
"Silver."
"What? You think that Amos killed my father because he claimed to have found silver?"
"Men have been killed for a helluva lot less. And Striker seemed to think that it was a good enough motive for Michael."
"He did, didn't he?" Patrick frowned. "But then how the hell do Corabeth and Loralee figure into it?"
"If Arless happened to run his mouth in front of the sheriff, then I'd say that would explain a whole lot."
