“I know I’ve come in at the tail end of this. I wasn’t around for the trial, I wasn’t part of the investigation, so the point I’m about to raise may have been addressed. This may be nothing, but right now, it seems like something.”

“Okay,” Grant Finch said slowly.

“I let Jeremy drive my car today.”

“Oh. I don’t know if that was such a good idea. Operation of a motor vehicle violates the provisions of his probation. His license is suspended.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I figured that. But we were on a pretty deserted road, no one around this early in the season.”

“Are you in some sort of vacation area?” he asked.

I’d made a slip. “Like I said, on the move.”

“Well, go on with your story, but I must caution you, Jeremy should not be driving.”

“I get it. The thing is, I wanted to give him a chance to try driving a standard.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“A stick. You know. I’ve got a Japanese car. It’s got a standard transmission.”

“I know what you mean by stick, Mr. Weaver. I’m just not getting the point yet.”

“He was pretty terrible at it.”

“That’s not at all surprising. Most cars these days are equipped with an automatic transmission. You and I may have learned that whole clutch and gas thing back in our youth, but it’s not something they teach in driver’s ed, far as I know. My daughter is twenty and she’s never driven a car with a stick shift.”

“Exactly,” I said.

There was a pause at the other end. “Tell me where you’re going with this.”

“Jeremy wasn’t just terrible at it. He stalled the car repeatedly. Just about shook my teeth loose, we did so much bucking. It was clear to me he’d never driven a stick in his life. Did this come up at all during the trial?”

“I can’t say that it did.”

“You know Galen Broadhurst’s Porsche is a stick?” I said.

There was a pause. “I can’t say that I know that one way or another.”

“You and Galen are friends, right? You’ve known each other a long time.”

“It’s true that we’ve known each other a long time. I’ve acted on his behalf for years. And yes, we are friends. But that friendship is related to our business relationship.”

“Had you ever had a ride in that Porsche, before the incident?”

“I . . . I can’t recall.”

“Well, take my word for it. The car is a stick. I saw Galen drive away in it, and I called him earlier today to confirm it.”

“Mr. Weaver.” Grant Finch took a deep breath. “Surely you’re not going to suggest that Jeremy did not drive that car.”

“I’m not quite sure what I’m suggesting. But it crossed my mind.”