Jenny shrugged.
Annie said, “Okay.”
Stevie moved his meat loaf around with his fork. “I miss Aunt Rose.”
“It will only be for a little while,” Cork said. “She’s only a few blocks away. She’ll come to see us, and you can visit her at the rectory anytime you want.”
There was a knock at the side door. Cork got up to answer it. In the kitchen, he flipped the switch to the light outside and opened the door. Solemn stood there blinking, darkness hard against his back.
Solemn looked at Cork, then past him. “Is Mrs. O’Connor here? I’m ready to talk to the sheriff.”
Jo practiced law out of an office in the Aurora Professional Building, but she also maintained an office in her home, on the first floor of the O’Connor house. She led the way, and Solemn followed. Cork brought up the rear. When they were all inside, he closed the door behind them.
“Have a seat, Solemn,” Jo said. She switched her desk lamp on, pulled a legal pad and a pencil from her desk drawer, and sat down. “Does your mother know you’re here?”
“No. I don’t want her to know. This doesn’t involve her.”
“She has a different view. But we’ll worry about that later. What we need to try to figure out now is why the sheriff wants to see you. Any idea?”
“He does.” Solemn poked a finger at Cork, who stood near the bookshelves.
“I know what Cork thinks, but I also want to cover any other possibilities. Is there anything that, as your legal counsel, I should know?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re sure?”
“I told you. Nothing.”
“All right. Then let’s think about you and Charlotte Kane. Cork believes the sheriff has come up with something that connects you in some way with Charlotte’s death. Any idea what that might be?”
“No.”
Jo glanced at Cork.
Cork spoke to Solemn. “If Arne’s thinking clearly, he knows there are three essentials in making a case. Motive, opportunity, and a physical connection with the crime.”
Jo said, “Let’s begin with motive. It’s no secret, Solemn, that you and Charlotte were seeing each other for a while last fall.”
“We broke up.”
“When?”
“Couple of weeks before Christmas.”
“Why?”
“You know.” He shrugged.
“I don’t know. Tell me about it.”
“We just broke up, that’s all.”
“Was it a mutual decision?”
“It was Charlotte’s idea.”
“Was she seeing somebody else?”
Solemn shot a dark look at her but said nothing.
“Who was she seeing?”
It was a few moments before he answered.
“I don’t know. Some married guy, I think.”
Jo and Cork exchanged a glance.
“Why do you think he was married?” Jo asked.
“She wouldn’t talk about him. Acted like it was some big secret thing nobody could know about. Married, I figured.”
“Okay. How did you feel about it when she broke up with you?”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Motive, Solemn,” Cork said. “Jo’s trying to think like the sheriff so she can stay ahead of him. If he’s pegged you for Charlotte’s death, he has to have a motive. Scorned love is pretty classic.”
“I got over her. Long time ago.”
“Back then though,” Jo said. “How was it?”
“Hard. Okay? It was hard.”
“You loved her?” Jo asked.
“I was into her pretty heavy.”
“Charlotte’s death occurred following a New Year’s Eve party at Valhalla. Were you there?”
“Yeah.”
“Invited?”
“No. I heard about it. I showed up, had a few beers.”
“Did you see Charlotte?”
“Sure.”
“Did you talk to her?”
“Yeah.”
“About what?”
“This. That. You know.”
“About the breakup?”
“Yeah. A little.”
“Was it a civil conversation?”
“What’s civil?”
“Like we’re having right now.”
“She didn’t ask me so many questions.”
“Did you raise your voice?”
“It was a loud party.”
“Did you threaten her?”
“I might have called her a bitch. Something like that.”
“Did you touch her?”
“I may have bumped into her. It was crowded.”
“You didn’t touch her in any other way?”
“I took hold of her arm. She pulled away. But that was it, swear to God. Why are you asking all this?”
“When Charlotte disappeared, did the sheriff’s people talk to you?”
“Yeah. They talked to everyone who was at the party.”
“Did you tell them what you told me?”
“Maybe I didn’t say anything about touching her.”
“My guess is that they’re talking with everyone again, this time a little more thoroughly, and I’ll bet if they didn’t know before about your interaction with Charlotte, they know now. I’m just making sure I know what they know. What happened after you argued?”
“I left.”
“What time was that?”
“Around eleven.”
“Where’d you go?”
“Benoit’s Bar. I had a couple more beers there, then took off.”
“They served you?” Cork said. “You’re underage.”
“Like they care.”
“Did anybody see you at the bar?” Jo said.
“Yeah, I could rustle up a few.”
“What time did you leave Benoit’s?”
“Few minutes before midnight. That stupid ball in Times Square hadn’t dropped yet.”
