“That article?” she reminded him.
“I didn’t forget.” He rubbed his nose and sighed. “It’ll give you some idea of the kind of reporter he is. Was.” The past tense came with obvious difficulty to him.
Cat waited, giving him time to shift his thoughts around. Grief was doubtless weighing heavily on him since she’d brought up the matter that had caused him career problems. More important, it had caused a rupture between him and his brother. He probably didn’t want to talk about it at all.
But she was hoping for something, anything, that might provide a clue to Larry’s killing. She doubted Matt was going to be able to provide it while they talked this evening.
She’d known Larry herself, the whole time he’d lived here, and had learned very little about him. Maybe, just maybe, some of the poker players might have learned something over the cards and chips. The kind of free-ranging conversation that could happen with a few beers and having a good time.
But how would they know it was significant? The department had already questioned them, and nothing useful had come up.
Then another thought occurred to her. It wasn’t that they might feel freer talking to Larry’s brother. No, maybe Duke knew enough about Larry to elicit other kinds of information. Maybe he had some questions to ask that the cops hadn’t thought about.
Maybe.
She was still waiting for Duke to speak when her front doorbell rang. Matt had arrived ten minutes early, jacket open despite the cold, still wearing the short-sleeved white shirt and jeans he wore at the organic food market he owned.
Cat introduced the two men and this time guided them into the living room. She asked Matt if he wanted coffee or beer, but he said he was fine as he settled on the edge of her recliner.
Duke took the couch and Cat sat on the Boston rocker again. During her mom’s last month, Cat had added some cheerful pillows to it, to cushion her mom’s shrinking bottom and back. Cat didn’t want to remove them. There were few enough good memories left in this house.
“How’s business?” she asked Matt, trying to ease past the initial moments of strangers meeting.
“Good enough.” He flashed a smile. “Plenty of kitchen gardens around here, especially on the ranches. They provide a lot of our produce, and it sells as fast as they bring it in.”
Cat arched her brow. “I have to admit I wouldn’t have thought organic foods would be popular here.”
“You need to keep up with the times. Now the grocery store is carrying them as well.” His smile turned crooked. “I suspect they want to put me out of business.”
“I hope not!”
“Me, too.” Then he turned his attention to Duke. “I’m very sorry about your brother. He was a good guy, lots of fun. A shark at poker, though.”
Duke managed a faint grin. “If he played it, he was good.”
“Yeah, he had something of a reputation for darts, too. Anyway, it didn’t matter that he was fantastic at Hold’em. We all just had a great time, and since it was only for chips, nobody went away annoyed.”
“So no money?” Cat asked, although she had already guessed the answer.
“Not even penny stakes. No, it was just for fun.”
“Did Ben Williams ever play?”
“Ben?” Matt looked pensive. “I know him, but I don’t recall ever seeing him at the games.”
Cat fell silent, hoping Duke would ask his all-important questions.
Duke spoke. “Larry ever tell you what he did?”
“Yeah,” Matt answered. “Said he was a reporter, some paper back East. He said he was working on a book. But I don’t remember him talking about it much. Just in passing.”
“So you weren’t curious?”
Matt shook his head. “Not my business. I don’t pry, Duke. A person tells me what they want me to know. God, it feels funny calling you Duke. How’d you get the last name and not Larry?”
Another smile tried to be born on Duke’s face. “My military career,” he said. “Everyone started calling me Duke. It stuck. Before that I was Dan.”
“Larry mentioned you once. He was awful proud of you.”
That seemed to startle Duke a bit. But he said, “I was proud of Larry, too. Tough career.”
“That’s something, coming from an Army Ranger.” Matt sighed, then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He looked down at his folded hands. “There must be a reason he was killed, but damned if I can figure it out. As far as I know, no one around here was mad at him. I guess that leaves kids who wanted something valuable and went too far.”
“There was another break-in,” Cat remarked. “Just the other day. No one was home.”
Matt nodded slowly. “I heard about it. Burglaries have never been a common problem around here, but they happen every so often. Still, a group of kids wanting electronics or valuables... Why would they kill Larry?”
“I think we’re all wondering that.”
“Yeah.”
For a half minute or so, they all remained quiet. Cat wanted to make sure Duke had a chance to ask any questions he needed to, so she let matters rest.
Duke spoke again. “My brother was an investigative reporter.”
Matt sat upright. “Really? Hell, he must have had some stories to tell. He never said. Was he good?” He caught himself. “That didn’t sound the way I meant it.”
“It’s okay,” Duke answered. “I was just wondering if he’d said anything about his job, more than just that he was a reporter.”
“Not around me.” Matt put his hand to his chin, then dropped it. “You think it had something to do with that?”
“I don’t know,” Duke replied. “I wish I did.”
“But doing investigative stuff...he must have run afoul of people.”
“It’s possible.”
Matt thought about it, then shook his head. “He didn’t say anything to me about his work. Not even what he was writing a book about. Maybe it had something to do with his reporting?”
Duke gave a small shrug. “I wish I
