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Chapters (73)
  1. Goodbye to the Dead
  2. Also By Brian Freeman
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. CONTENTS
  8. PROLOGUE
  9. THEN
  10. 1
  11. 2
  12. 3
  13. 4
  14. 5
  15. 6
  16. 7
  17. 8
  18. 9
  19. 10
  20. 11
  21. 12
  22. 13
  23. 14
  24. 15
  25. 16
  26. 17
  27. 18
  28. 19
  29. 20
  30. 21
  31. 22
  32. 23
  33. 24
  34. 25
  35. 26
  36. 27
  37. 28
  38. 29
  39. 30
  40. 31
  41. 32
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. NOW
  46. 36
  47. 37
  48. 38
  49. 39
  50. 40
  51. 41
  52. 42
  53. 43
  54. 44
  55. 45
  56. 46
  57. 47
  58. 48
  59. 49
  60. 50
  61. 51
  62. 52
  63. 53
  64. 54
  65. 55
  66. 56
  67. 57
  68. 58
  69. 59
  70. 60
  71. 61
  72. FROM THE AUTHOR
  73. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

He yanked his keys from his pocket. She made her way to the front door, and he followed her silently. His head was hung low in shame. He felt bad, and she was glad. All she wanted to do now was hurt him. Punish him. Having Al betray her was worse than anything else, because she’d begun to count on him being there for her. He’d let her think that a boy could be with her for who she was and forget about who she’d been.

Instead, he’d proven what she always believed.

Nothing good ever lasted.

48

48

Stride studied the photograph of the opaque black pearl enrobed in twines of white gold. The ring was unmistakable. Once upon a time, Janine Snow had worn it on the third finger of her right hand. He’d seen a photograph of her from a hospital ball a decade earlier, adorned in matching black pearl jewelry and a revealing sequined burgundy cocktail dress. The night of Jay’s murder, according to Janine, this very ring had been stolen from her bedroom by the man who killed her husband.

Then it vanished, never to be found again. And now, like the gun, it was back.

The timing was no coincidence. The gun. The jewelry. Something had happened to bring them into the light.

‘I talked to Pat Burns,’ Stride told Serena and Maggie in his office.

Pat Burns had taken over as St. Louis County attorney from Dan Erickson two years earlier.

‘What did she say?’ Maggie asked. ‘What did the judge decide?’

She sat with her legs dangling in the chair immediately in front of Stride’s desk. Serena sat on Stride’s sideboard with her back against the office wall. The two women in his life avoided looking at each other.

‘He signed off on Archie’s motion and ordered Janine’s release,’ Stride told them. ‘She’ll probably be out tomorrow. The judge ruled that a third party clearly had control over the murder weapon all these years and that the violent history of the gun before and after Jay’s death makes it impossible to sustain the original trial verdict. He agreed with Archie that if the evidence of the gun had been available to the jury back then, Janine would have been acquitted.’

‘So she gets out,’ Maggie said.

‘She gets out. Pat will have to decide whether she can mount a new trial. And whether she even wants to, given the evidence.’

Serena spoke from the credenza. ‘I know you guys don’t want to hear this, but isn’t the most logical explanation that Janine really was telling the truth? Somebody had the gun back then, but not her. Whoever it was killed Jay Ferris and stole the jewelry.’