"Well, Loraine hasn't confessed, and all the evidence isn't in yet."

"I never cared much for her. Of course, I'm certainly shocked she'd do it. I'm so happy for you, Ray. Now they must drop the charges."

He wished she wasn't smiling. He wasn't certain he could go through with it, if she was smiling. "Sandy and I had a long talk with Chip last night. He was confused about an old boyfriend of yours, the sheriff's deputy you dated. You told him the guy's name was Carl Richards." It helped to talk down to the table and not directly at her.

"I don't remember what I told Chip."

"Well, that's what he wrote down. He went looking for him and found him working in Georgia. Except his name wasn't Carl Richards, it was Chet Richman. Chip thought for a minute you were trying to mislead him."

"Richards, Richman, potato, potahto. How many dates have I had since high school?"

"I know what you mean. I have a couple of old girlfriends I wish I could forget. Anyway, Richman is now a deputy in Macon. He said he once bought you a Smith and Wesson .38 revolver for protection for your birthday. Do you still have it?"

She appeared surprised at being asked. "He's wrong, must have been some other girl. I never had such a gun."

"That's the same caliber used to shoot Towson. Some coincidence, huh."

"What are you getting at? The police found the murder weapon in Loraine's safe. I have nothing to do with that gun."

"Wrong. Ballistics proved the fatal shot didn't come from Loraine's gun. The police haven't released that information."

"Then Barner must have used a different gun. You're acting strange, Ray. What's all this have to do with me?"

"At dinner you mentioned I was a history expert. Where did you pick that up? And how I was knowledgeable about Chinese porcelain, and therefore I'd appreciate your giving it to me. How did you know Towson and I talked about those cups?"

"I guess I read it in the paper."

"No, that detail wasn't released either. How did you know Towson showed me that rare Chinese Trader's directory, the catalog as you called it? Only Towson could have known we discussed that."

"You must have told me, Ray."

"No, you and I have never discussed the cups or the directory. And I never mentioned any of that to the police. In fact, I'd forgotten about the directory until you remarked about it the other night at dinner."

"Ray, stop it! What's going on here? Obviously, somebody mentioned those things to me. So what?"




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