Page 11 of All the Little Truths

“Being so damned perfect and doing way too much for me.”

He laughed. “I am far from perfect.”

Not true, but she let it go. He would never accept such a compliment.

They cleared the table and did the dishes. She washed and Matt dried. He had reorganized the few cabinets so things would fit in a more user-friendly way. Her method of kitchen organization was nonexistent because she never bothered to cook when it was just her in the house.

“So, come on. Tell me about this new—sketchy according to Nita—client.”

Finley laughed. Couldn’t help herself. “Is there anything that woman doesn’t tell you?”

Matt grinned as he propped himself against the counter. “Not much. She likes me.”

Finley leaned next to him. His arms went around her and pulled her closer. “Nita’s not the only one. Everybody likes you.”

He was the one who should be running for DA. Matt would win on his smile and charm alone. The fact that he was a stellar attorney would be icing on the cake.

“You are too sweet.” He kissed her on the temple.

She relaxed, could stay like this all night. “You remember the Lucy Cagle murder?”

His brow furrowed. “I do. Damn, that was a while back.”

“Yeah. I was a freshman at Vandy, and you were a sophomore.” She smiled, remembering the long hours they’d spent pretending to studywhen they were actually dissecting the dynamics and politics of university life. Even then they were like attorneys brainstorming.

“Feels like a long time ago.” His voice sounded distant. He was remembering too.

“No kidding.” She sighed. “Raymond Johnson Senior—our client’s father—used to be big into construction, then he downsized into the real estate sales side of things. His son and namesake, Ray, took over for him about twelve years ago.”

“The father made several fortunes with suspect backing,” Matt noted, no doubt recalling details from criminal cases where Johnson had been a suspect but never charged. “The son only had to step into his shoes and maintain the status quo to keep the money rolling in.”

“That’s the one. Anyway, one of the warehouses he recently sold to a developer has become a crime scene. They found Lucy’s handbag. Allegedly, it has been there all this time. The case has been reopened based on the find, and since there were a couple of cigarette butts in the vicinity, they want Ray to agree to a DNA test. Purportedly the test is to rule him out as a suspect, considering the warehouse belonged to his family at the time of the murder and until its sale.”

“Can they extract DNA from cigarette butts thirteen years old?” Matt swiped at her cheek. “Marinara.”

She grinned. “Thanks. It’s been done successfully. No reason to believe it couldn’t be done in this situation.”

Matt gave a nod. “All right, then, if he’s innocent, what’s the problem?”

“Good question,” Finley agreed. “Ray doesn’t want to give a DNA sample. He insists he’s innocent in the Cagle case, but the results would possibly connect him to other criminal cases.”

Matt laughed, a quick burst that perfectly summed up her feelings on the matter as well. “That could definitely be problematic.”

“The thing that I can’t figure out,” Finley said, thinking about the research into both the Cagle and the Johnson families she’d done beforeleaving the office and then while waiting in the hospital, “is the victim’s mother—Louise. Remember she used the byline Louise Scott?”

“Oh yeah, big-time investigative journalist. Is she still alive?”

“Don’t know. Her husband died suddenly only a few weeks after the daughter. Not even a month after his death and with the case having gone nowhere, the mother just fell off the face of the earth. I found zero about her after mid-November that year. I thought I would knock on some doors tomorrow. See what I can find out from former colleagues, neighbors. That kind of thing.”

“Who’s the detective on the case?”

“That’s the upside. It’s Eric Houser.”

“The two of you work well together,” Matt pointed out.

“We do.” Finley liked Houser. He was one of the good guys. “I’m hoping to review the official case file ASAP, and maybe I’ll find something more there. For now, I’m in gather mode.”

“Johnson is lucky to have you and Jack on the case.”

---