“I wasn’t surprised. I can tell you that.”

“Were you suspicious of anyone?”

“Besides Foley? No.”

“You don’t know of anyone she might have run off with?”

He shook his head.

“Sergeant Schaefer tells me the locals were all present and accounted for. He says the rumors about Violet having a lover were all traceable to Foley, so if he did something to her, he’d provided himself a smoke screen.”

The waitress reappeared with his breakfast: waffles, fried eggs, link sausage, a side of hash browns, and a second side, of grits with a pat of melting butter.

“Makes a certain amount of sense, assuming Foley’s smart enough, which I tend to doubt.”

“At the time, did you think he might have killed her?”

“It crossed my mind. I know he decked her on more than one occasion, but it was usually behind closed doors. None of us would tolerate his abusing her in public.”

“People tell me the two of them got into wrangles all the time at the Moon.”

“Only for as long as it took me to get out from behind the bar with my baseball bat. I’d have been happy to clobber Foley if he put up resistance. He was usually cooperative if I made matters plain.”

“Was she abusive as well?”

“She went after him sometimes, but she was such a tiny thing she couldn’t do much harm. They’d get into it like two dogs, snarling and snapping. I’d go out there and separate them, put her on one side of the room and him on the other.”

“Did you ever hear her talk about leaving him?”

“Now and then,” he replied. “You know, she’d be crying and complaining, feeling sorry for herself. But it’s like I told her, I’m a bartender, not a damn marriage counselor. I did what I could, but it didn’t amount to much. Problem was, they were so used to brawling that as soon as it was over, they went about their business like nothing had gone on. Next thing you know they’d be at it again. I’d have thrown ‘em both out for good, but I felt as long as they were in the Moon, at least I could keep an eye on them and intervene if necessary.”

“Did they fight about the same thing or was it different every time?”

“Usually the same. She’d be flirting with some guy and Foley would take offense.”

“Who, though?”

“Who’d she flirt with? Any guy in range.”

“What about Jake Ottweiler?”

“I’ll correct myself. Not him. The man was married and his wife was on her deathbed.”

“Sorry. I didn’t think Violet made many subtle moral distinctions.”