LITMIR.BIZ

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hair combed to a sharp-edge, the front tips brushing her collarbone. She tucked the left side behind her diamond-studded ears, her wedding ring big and gaudy. A woman of perhaps sixty, she kept herself in great shape, as did her husband. He wore a dark suit and tie, his salt-and-pepper hair cut short. He read from a menu with reading glasses.

      “I don’t see Glenn,” Kendra said.

      “We’ll talk to them first.” There were three settings on the table and all looked to have been touched. Before the empty chair, a crumpled cloth napkin sat beside a plate and crooked silverware, and the water glass was three-quarters full.

      As Roman weaved between tables ahead of Kendra, he spotted Glenn returning from the men’s room, his big body taking long strides and the lapels of his silky jacket flapping.

      “Mr. and Mrs. Franklin?” Roman queried.

      Melody looked up, not appearing surprised someone would approach their table. They were a couple in the public eye. Hudson studied Roman and then Kendra as though trying to identify them. Glenn arrived at the table, briefly eyeing them with annoyed blue eyes before sitting.

      “I’m sorry, sir.” The hostess stopped near Hudson, looking frightened. “They barged right in.”

      Hudson held up one hand as though to soothe the girl. “It’s all right, Emily.” Then he looked up at Roman. “What brings you to our club so urgently?”

      “I wouldn’t call it urgent so much as a good opportunity to catch you and your son.” As the hostess reluctantly turned and headed back toward the entrance, Roman introduced Kendra and identified himself as a private investigator.

      “Private investigator?” Melody asked.

      “Yes. I hired him to look into the death of my twin sister, Kaelyn Johnston.”

      “Oh, yes, I remember that,” Melody said with eyes expressing sympathy. “That was so long ago.”

      “I tried for years to get police to look into her death in more detail but no one ever did with any real effort, so I finally decided to get outside help.”

      “You think she was murdered?”

      “Yes. That’s why we came to see Glenn.”

      Glenn looked up from the menu he had picked up, having dismissed them as soon as he sat down.

      “I’m sorry...what?”

      “Did you know Kaelyn Johnston?”

      He glanced from Kendra to Roman. “Why are you asking me?”

      “You did know her then?” Roman asked.

      “No. I knew of her, though.”

      “Kaelyn spoke of you, which is why we wanted to talk to you.” Roman turned to Kendra, cuing her to interject.

      “She called you Bear.”

      Glenn’s eyes shifted toward his parents and then back to Kendra. “She never mentioned a twin sister to me.”

      “You did know her?” Melody asked, growing concerned, as though the thought of her son lying about knowing Kaelyn offended her.

      Glenn ignored her and continued to stare at Kendra.

      “She was planning to move back to Chesterville,” Kendra said, “to escape her husband. She must have failed in her attempt. Did you know she was coming back here?”

      Glenn again said nothing, although he blinked in a telltale way.

      “You did have an affair with her,” Roman said. “Didn’t you?”

      Glenn had to see it would be pointless to deny the affair. His lack of response revealed as much.

      “My Bear didn’t have an affair with anyone.” Melody turned to her son. “Did you, Glenn?”

      Glenn glanced at his mother, and then lowered his eyes. Again, his lack of response answered for him.

      “You didn’t.” Melody’s distress intensified. “What about your wife?”

      “I had no intention of leaving her.” He looked at Kendra. “I’m sorry. I was going to break things off with your sister, but I didn’t get the chance before she...”

      “Thank you for not saying ‘committed suicide,’” Kendra said.

      Melody’s mouth still hung open in shock. “Do you have any idea what this could do to our family? Any chance you have of following a successful political career would be ruined if news of this spread.” She took a few deep breaths.

      Glenn looked solemn. “What happened between me and Kaelyn was unexpected.”

      “It usually is,” Hudson said. “A man doesn’t wake up one morning and decide he’s going to seek out an affair.” With Melody’s gasp, he added, “Not that I speak from experience.”

      “It was a onetime thing, Mother. It won’t ever happen again. I promise.”

      “I remember when she committed suicide.” Hudson didn’t seem to care what Kendra thought of his choice of words. “I ran into her mother a few weeks after.”

      “Did you attend her funeral?” Kendra asked. “Her body was transported back here for burial.”

      “No. I didn’t know the family very well.”

      Melody had slowly begun to emerge from her shock and listened now.

      “Did you attend her funeral?” Roman asked Glenn.

      Glenn shook his head. “I visited her grave afterward. I had my own private goodbye with her.”

      He hadn’t wanted to risk his wife asking too many questions, apparently.

      “Were you here in town when she died?” Roman asked.

      Glenn had to think a moment. “I didn’t leave town, I know that much. I can’t remember what I was doing when she died.”

      “I do,” Melody said. “Hudson and I flew to New York that day to catch a Broadway show. I remember because Hudson told me about running into Kaelyn’s mother when we arrived back home. It struck me because I had never heard of anyone killing themselves before.”

      Glenn nodded with recollection. “I do remember that. The day you flew to New York, I had a cold.”

      “You were home all day?” Roman asked.

      “Yes.”

      “Can anyone verify that?”

      Glenn frowned. “I can’t remember if I talked with anyone on the phone. Why?”

      “Your wife was home all day?” Roman asked.

      “I can’t remember.”

      Roman abandoned that line of questioning for now. “When is the last time you saw her?”

      “When she came to town. Maybe a week before that.”

      “What did you talk about?”

      “I can’t recall exactly. Nothing unusual. Nothing that would have indicated she intended to kill herself, or that she was in some kind of trouble. I almost told her I wanted to break things off then, but I didn’t.”

      So, he had had a regular secret encounter with Kaelyn a week before she died. He claimed not to remember much, but did he?

      “I think that’s all we need for now.” Roman prepared to leave when Glenn stopped him.

      “Why do you doubt it was suicide?” he asked.

      “Kaelyn and I were in contact for months before she died,” Kendra said. “I think she was going to try to talk me into moving here, maybe come to Chicago first and then the both of us could move together. Every time she spoke of Chesterville, of moving back here, she lit up. And she

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