“Most restaurant owners I know have struggled the last few years. And yet Jack is sitting on a pile of cash.”

“When did you become so attuned to Jack?”

“He dated your sister at the time of Clare’s death. I looked into him and found he’d served time in juvenile detention for breaking and entering and theft. If he’d been a couple of years older, he’d have done serious time. And then a few years later he did real time in state prison.”

“He might be sketchy, but he’s Jo-Jo’s problem. I’m focused on who killed Clare.”

“Why now?”

“I’ve been half-assing my life for the last thirteen years. Young, drunk, fill in the blank, but I was out of touch. Now I’m dialed in, and I won’t let this lead go.”

That prompted a laugh. “You haven’t been half-assing it. You struggle, but who doesn’t?”

She shoved out a sigh. “You busted my chops enough times when I came to see you.”

“Tough love,” I said. “Holding your hand and telling you it’ll be okay wasn’t going to get you on the right path.”

“It might have,” she said.

I arched a brow. “You believe that?”

“No.”

“And through it all, you’ve been the one that’s continued to ask me about Clare. Not your father when he was alive or your sister.”

She twisted a ring on her pinkie. “I kept hoping you’d solve this.”

“So did I.”

“The police know how to do this kind of thing and have more resources than me. But maybe it takes someone on the outside to figure this out.”

“Okay, Nancy Drew, what do you think happened?”

She glanced down into the milky depths of her coffee, swirled it. “Like you said, I got drunk while I was visiting Brit at college. David, by the way, was a junior at the same school. I wake up in a dorm room, lying fully dressed on a perfectly made bed. I stagger back to Brit, and we go shopping. We don’t get back to Richmond until late Saturday. I remember being annoyed because I missed the art show.”

“Did Clare know about it?”

“We were supposed to meet there.”

“How would David know about it?”

“I’d had the art show flyer in my pocket but couldn’t find it the next day.”

“You’re saying he took it?”

“Maybe.”

“It’s a stretch.”