"Is there any way you can make it cornier?" Moran said. "Your theory is all wrong because it's unexciting. I can't stand before the national media and tell such a boring little tale of romance gone wrong. It won't get air time."
The chief said, "But we've got the killer, we just need to nail down some more evidence."
"We have enough right now to confuse the idiot jurors I get in this town. Even so, I'm not happy because I want to land the big fish behind this plot. Don't you get it? The victim was a state senator going to be the next Governor of Florida. Someday possibly President. It's a political assassination. Think big...murder, money, conspiracies and influence. There's much ore to this affair. And it's here in Park Beach, right here in my district! And what do you do? You hand me a tidy little love triangle? You're missing the big picture."
Goddard knew the state attorney dreamed about this case developing into some notorious national intrigue that would propel him into the U.S. Senate.
"This isn't an impulsive killing or a crime of passion," Moran continued. "Towson was an important person. When they bump off big people, there's always money and power in the mix. Anyone can get himself killed over a boneheaded love triangle and some mixed up sex. Forget cherchez la femme. With the big cats, look for the money and power. Find the big connection. There's something there! Has to be. What do we know about the third woman in the statement, Norma Martin? I hear she's Latina. I suspected there was a foreign angle to this."
The chief answered, "In this case, the total of your foreign angle might only be a quiet Cuban-American restaurant nine miles away. Have you eaten out at the Jardin? Rice, beans, all that good stuff. Norma Martin fronts for the owners and runs it. National crime has nothing on her."
"Not good enough," Moran snapped. "We know Cuban-American money interests were opposing the election of Towson. Where there's smoke there's fire. What does she actually have to say, Goddard? Let me see her statement."
Goddard realized he had his priorities wrong. Moran had him. He should have talked to her much sooner. "She's on my list. I haven't met with her."
"You haven't met with her! Damn it to hell, you've been fiddling around with old-lady neighbors and the local exterminator. Meanwhile, the hit man from Philadelphia drops the name of Norma Martin, who fronts for unnamed Cuban interests. How many times would she have to bite you on the ass, before you'd turn around and investigate?"