Duke nodded. His gaze had grown distant, as if he were searching his own memory. “I don’t know if my Ben Williams was gay. But if he was, military life must have been damn near unendurable. The changes in policy didn’t change much on the ground. Some things can only become hidden, but never change.”
She sat for a few minutes, sipping coffee, absorbing what he’d said. Eventually she asked, “Is it widespread?”
“The bigotry? I can’t quantify it. One thing I know is that peer pressure is strong, and in a military unit more so. You live and die by the people you serve with, and sometimes it takes only one bad apple to affect everyone. It doesn’t help when the command structure flips back and forth on gays in the military.”
Duke sighed. “Anyway, a lot of those bad attitudes disappear under fire. Some people quickly realize that all that matters is whether you can trust the soldier beside you to have your back.” He offered her a half smile. “Incoming fire can change your perspective on a lot of things. Or not.”
Cat tried to imagine what it must be like for a commanding officer—at least she assumed Duke was at his rank—to have to deal with so many different problems. Not just how to fight and when to fight. Not just the stuff that sprang to mind when she thought about the Army.
“You have a lot on your plate.”
“All I can do is be thankful for NCOs. They handle most of the nitty-gritty. Still, we’re dealing with a lot of very young men. More hormones than brains, I sometimes think, but that’s part of what makes them damn fine soldiers.”
She laughed quietly. “You were that age once.”
“Yeah, I was. I remember and shake my head at some of the crazy things I did.” Then he zeroed in on his main concern. Not an easy man to divert. “Can we call Ben?”
She hadn’t expected him to drop it, but she’d been hoping to avoid it for a while. She’d have liked to speak to Ben first and tell him Duke wanted to meet him. That would give Ben a chance to refuse, and he should have it. Ben had to be drowning in his own grief.
Allowing her a private conversation wasn’t going to work with this man. On the other hand, she could see why. Was Duke supposed to trust her not to tell Ben to keep silent?
Cat twisted a little and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She kept related phone numbers on her contacts list while a case was ongoing and removed them later. Ben was there.
He answered on the third ring. Cat immediately identified herself.
Ben said almost eagerly, “What have you found out?”
“We’re still looking for more evidence. I called because I need to ask you something.”
“I told you I was out of town. Didn’t you verify that?”
“That’s not what I’m calling about, Ben, but yes, we verified your alibi.”
A bitter laugh came over the phone. “Yeah. My alibi. That sounds so good, doesn’t it?”
“It’s a criminal investigation,” she reminded him, trying to keep her tone kind. He was going through hell.
Ben’s impatience came through. “Just find the killer. So what did you want?”
“Larry’s brother would like to talk to you. Major Daniel Duke.”
“I know who he is.” Ben fell silent, the quiet conveying his reluctance. “Yeah. Okay. Why not?”
“You don’t have to.”
“Then you don’t know Duke.”
Cat was beginning to know him. She understood Ben perfectly.
Ben spoke after another hesitation. “Look, I don’t know what I can tell him. I don’t know what Larry was working on. He never, not once, talked about it. That was the toughest part about caring for him. He gave new meaning to the word secrets.”
But Cat felt her heart thunder. “You think his murder had something to do with his work?” She wasn’t sure anyone had considered that possibility. Larry had been here writing a book. Had his work followed him all the way from Baltimore?
“I don’t know what else it could be. It sure as hell wasn’t your ordinary burglary. But yeah, I’ll talk to Duke. Where and when?”
“Privacy?” Cat asked.
Ben sighed. “That would be good, I guess. Bring him out here. I’ll put the coffee on.”
“Thanks, Ben. See you in a bit.”
After she disconnected, she looked at Duke. “Let’s mount up. He’ll see you now.”
Ten minutes later they drove through the rain toward Ben’s house, an older structure on what could be called a mini ranch. In the past, a piece of a much larger ranch had been carved out for one two-story house surrounded by about forty acres. Cat suspected the subdivision had occurred for the benefit of one of a rancher’s children. She couldn’t imagine why else that could have happened.
Maybe one of these days she ought to go to the library and talk to the librarian. Miss Emma, as everyone called her, was reputed to be a truly great resource when it came to county history. Her family had been among the first to settle here in the late nineteenth century. Her father had also been a judge here.
Someday, she promised herself.
Beside her, Duke said nothing. Either he was lost in his own thoughts or he just didn’t speak idly.
That might be difficult to get used to. No casual chitchat? She wasn’t accustomed to people who could remain silent for long. On the other hand, she admitted she wasn’t much for it herself.
A half hour brought them to Ben’s house, set back a few hundred yards from the county road. Tall evergreens towered along the property line, a useful windbreak.
Ben, a slender man wearing jeans and a gray sweatshirt, met them on the porch. His face, ordinarily attractive, now looked gaunt. To judge by the dark circles
