And The Winner--Weds!. Robin Wells

Celeste shuffled from the room, looking old and wan.

      Rafe gazed after her for a long moment, then turned to Frannie. “Thanks for the coffee.”

      “You’re more than welcome.” Frannie smiled at Gretchen. “It was nice meeting you, Gretchen.”

      “Nice meeting you, too.”

      “Good luck with your investigation.”

      “Thanks. With a thirty-year-old murder case, we’re likely to need it.” Gretchen tucked her pen and notebook into her tote bag, then looked at Frannie. “Has your aunt ever told you anything about that night?”

      Frannie shook her head. “She never talks about Jeremiah.”

      “Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”

      Frannie lifted her shoulders. “Celeste is very superstitious. She used to live in Baton Rouge, and she picked up a lot of Cajun beliefs about spirits and such. She’s probably afraid Jeremiah will hear her talking about him. My mom said all of them were afraid of Jeremiah. He evidently had quite a temper.”

      “Hmm,” Gretchen murmured. “Well, I’m sorry if we upset your aunt.”

      Rafe followed the detective out the front door, then paused on the porch. He turned to Frannie. “Have a good day. And thanks for your time.”

      “Any time.”

      The sheriff paused, his hand on the door. “We’ll probably need to come back and question Celeste again.”

      “I understand.”

      Frannie leaned against the door as soon as she closed it behind the sheriff. Aunt Celeste was one of the kindest, warmest, most helpful women she’d ever known. She was a natural-born nurturer, and she’d always been open and straightforward.

      Her reluctance to talk about Jeremiah and her inability to recall the events surrounding Raven’s death struck Frannie as highly unusual. The sheriff and his new investigator seemed to think so, too. There was more to the story than Celeste was telling, and Frannie couldn’t help but wonder what it was.