Gail or Linda? Was Barnes conflating the two women? Because it sounded an awful lot like what they’d been told about Wendell’s wife.

“One more question. Did you or your wife have any enemies, Mr. Barnes? Someone who might want to hurt your wife or maybe you?”

A sickly grin crossed the man’s face and even Lynn Barnes seemed to stiffen in reaction.

“When a man makes money he also makes enemies, although I never took the time to catalog them. Perhaps I should have. Linda might be alive today. As for her, she could be direct and honest which ruffled a few feathers here and there, but no, I don’t know of any enemies that would want to hurt her. I’m not sure why the police can’t admit that it was a robbery gone bad. That’s all. We were supposed to go to a party that night but cancelled at the last minute.” Wendell Barnes stood, indicating that the interview was done. “I’m tired of answering the same questions over and over. There was never any evidence that I was guilty. I want to live my life in peace.”

In his lookalike house with his doppelgänger wife.

“I’m sorry to have troubled you.” Jason and Brinley stood as well. “I hope we don’t have to trouble you for another twenty years, Mr. Barnes.”

They walked to the front door and Wendell gave them an odd look. “I’m not sure what all the interest is in this now. I told the same thing I told you to that young man.”

Jason stopped in his tracks, and pulled his hand from the doorknob. “Young man? Do you remember his name by any chance?”

“Of course I do,” Barnes answered briskly. “Roger Gaines. He came here about a month ago asking the very same questions plus a few more. Nosy fellow. He wanted to talk to Damian too.”

Barnes knew that Roger was on the trail of his wife’s killer. That was motive.

Son of a bitch.

Chapter Twenty

‡

Brinley rubbed the goosebumps on her arm as they drove away from Wendell Barnes’s home. She’d stayed quiet during the interview just as Jason had requested which gave her a front row seat to the myriad of expressions that had crossed his features as he’d answered each question.

The man appeared guilty about his son finding Linda’s body but talked about her murder as if discussing the weather. His offhand manner had been shocking to say the least despite the twenty years since the incident. Brinley couldn’t help but think that if something happened to Jason talking about it years later would still upset her.

And they weren’t even in love. At least she didn’t think they were. Her emotions were all mixed up these days and just being near Jason made it hard to think.

“That was one of the creepiest things I’ve ever seen,” she declared, shivering at the memory of Wendell and Lynn Barnes. “She looks just like Linda. They could be sisters.”

“Or mother and daughter. I wonder when he met Lynn. I’ll have Jared check out her background. If he met her before Linda was shot then that would be another motive, besides money and unhappiness.”

“Isn’t that enough?”

“It never hurts to see why a criminal is highly motivated to do what they do. Love is a powerful motivator. Honestly, I’m more interested in the fact that he’d met Roger Gaines. He knew he was being investigated again by someone with nothing but free time. Maybe Gaines was getting too close.”

“So you think Wendell Barnes is our guy?” The man was weird but Brinley wasn’t sure he was a killer, but then she didn’t think she’d ever met one.

“He’s the best suspect we’ve got. Right now Jared is digging deep into this guy’s finances.”

“He didn’t have to tell us about Roger Gaines but he did,” Brinley pointed out. “There’s also the possibility that whomever shot Roger knew all about this investigation. It sounds like he wasn’t keeping anything a secret. And the murderer could be using this old case to hide what they’ve done.”

Jared chuckled and pulled into the parking lot of a barbecue joint, putting the truck in park. “You’re starting to sound like a cop. So I’ll ask you this, Officer Snow. What is your gut telling you?”

Good question. She rooted around in her psyche for a strong feeling one way or the other but couldn’t find one. Mostly she was plain confused.

“Right now, nothing. There are too many people that could have shot Roger. His brother, his sister-in-law, even his friend Brad. Could Wendell Barnes have done it? Yes, he gave off a slimy vibe that makes me want to take a shower but that doesn’t mean he’s a double murderer – triple if you count the attempt on Anita’s life. So I pretty much have no idea who killed Linda Barnes. Do you know?”

“No, and I wish I did. But my gut is telling me there’s still plenty we don’t know and that means we continue to dig for information.”

“Where to next?”

The only way to get her life back to normal was to solve this case. Failure? Not an option.

“We’re going to have lunch.” Jason swung out of the truck and came around to her side to help her down. “Did I mention that Gail was joining us?”

Just once she’d like to be one step ahead of Jason but it was proving impossible. He had some sort of law enforcement mojo that kept him moving forward, plowing through the evidence and uncovering truths.

“You know you didn’t.” He linked her arm with his and escorted her through the entrance. “I have to admit I’d like to meet her though. She did live in my house for twenty years. I wonder if she’d approve of the changes.”

His green eyes were twinkling as he waved to an older woman with silver hair and sensible shoes sitting in a booth about halfway down. “She probably would. Just a word about Gail before you meet her. She’s just as Barnes described her – blunt and honest. But what he didn’t say was she was a sweet woman who fully embraced life. I think she’s a real sweetheart.”

“She baked you cookies or something, didn’t she?” Brinley asked suspiciously when Jason slid his hand under her elbow to escort her to the table. “You’re a sucker for food.”

“Gail doesn’t bake cookies, I can assure you. She may not even know what the oven is for.”

That explained the pristine condition of the old-fashioned double oven that Brinley adored. It looked like it had barely been used.

The older woman stood and hugged Jason before being introduced to Brinley and shaking her hand. Gail’s eyes had lit up when Jason told her that Brinley was the new owner of the house. That had earned Brinley her own hug.

For a woman who had moved into an assisted living apartment Gail looked pretty spry. The hug hadn’t been some wimpy, weak thing. She still had some arm strength even at sixty-five. They slid into the booth across from Gail who was drinking an iced tea.

“I hope we haven’t kept you waiting. Actually we talked to your brother-in-law this morning.”

Jason ordered sodas for himself and Brinley. She flipped open the menu, keeping one eye on the woman who had lived in the house. She’d never met Gail and had only dealt with a broker for the transaction, but this vital woman didn’t look much like the house she’d left which had been a haven for cabbage rose wallpaper and chintz draperies.

Gail made a sour face. “Last time I talked to Dell was nineteen and a half years ago when I moved into their old home. He said the place had too many bad memories and he needed a new start.”

And then he recreated the entire thing right down to the woman by his side.

“He said you wouldn’t have much good to say about him,” Brinley responded. “Did you and he not get along?”

“Not in the least,” the older woman said bluntly. “He was a miserly, petty, vindictive son of a bitch then and I doubt he’s any better now. Richer than God but too cheap to spend a dime of it. He held onto his money with both fists unless it was for that son of his. And that boy was a narcissistic, whiny brat thanks to his father. I told Linda not to marry Dell but she was in love, and you can’t reason with that.”