“Brianna and I decided against children,”
Tony said. “We met in
our late thirties, by which time our lives were simply too full for children.”
Jesse nodded, looking at the big room, taking it in.
“Any family at all?” Jesse said absently.
“No,” Tony said. “We are all the
family each other
has.”
Jesse nodded, obviously dazzled by their wealth and taste, as they walked back to the living room. He sat and picked up his coffee and sipped it.
“Where’d you two meet?” he said,
making
conversation.
“He picked me up in a bar,” Brianna said.
“In Cleveland of all
places.”
“It was an upscale bar,” Tony said with a smile.
“I’ll bet it was,” Jesse said.
“Are you both from
Cleveland?”
“I am,” Brianna said. “Shaker
Heights. Tony was doing his
residency at Case Western.”
“What did you do?” Jesse said.
“I was a lawyer.”
“How long have you been married?”
“Fifteen years. I don’t think
we’ve ever had an
argument.”
“That’s great,” Jesse said.
“Do you have any leads in this serial thing, other than the fact
that the victims were shot with a twenty-two?” Tony said.
“Nothing much,” Jesse said.
He made a rueful little smile.
“That’s why I was pinning my hopes on you,” he
said.
They all laughed.
“Oh well,” Brianna said.
They laughed again.
“Would you like more coffee?” Tony said.
“No, I really should be going,” Jesse said.
“If it had been us,” Tony said,
“why on earth would we want to
do such a thing?”
“Everybody needs a hobby,” Jesse said.
They laughed.
“Seriously though,” Tony said.
“Why would we do something like
that?”
“Both of you?” Jesse said.
Tony shrugged and nodded.
“A shared sickness, I’d guess,”
