undergarments to prove what we were doing.”
“So today you were…?”
“Not buying underwear or a hot tub?”
“You know what, forget it. Did you know the guy?”
“Not personally, but I recognized him from a photo. He was part of the rodeo crowd Tiffany hung out with when she was in high school.”
He stared at me for a second, then ran a hand through his hair. “Rodeo crowd?”
I nodded, knowing he was processing the pieces as they fell into place.
“You don’t think Liam was her accomplice,” he said.
“Do you? Really? What does your gut tell you?”
He blew out a breath. “That Liam is going to get the short end of the stick all over again because of his dad unless I figure out how to get that information to Casey without her asking questions.”
“May I make a suggestion?”
He held out his hands. “Why not. You seem to be full of ideas lately.”
“Only lately? Never mind. Anyway, call Detective Casey and tell her that your girlfriend and a couple friends from town were shopping in New Orleans today and saw Tiffany come out of a hotel with this guy.”
“Do you have the guy’s name?”
I nodded and gave him the information.
“She knows who you are, you know?” he said. “She insinuated as much when she reminded me how much her captain hates PIs. Probably did a background on me before she headed this way.”
“There’s no law against shopping in New Orleans. People do it every day.”
“People don’t accidentally run into murder suspects while they’re shopping. What happens if Casey decides to sweep her car?”
“For all we know, Gil could have put that tracker on there because he suspected Tiffany was about to make a break with another guy.”
He sighed. “Anything else you think I need to know?”
“Not that I could find a viable explanation for knowing myself,” I said.
“Why am I not surprised?”
I shrugged. “Detective Casey is going to have to do her job. The information isn’t that difficult to find. But where does all of this leave you with the Headless Horseman case?”
“Waiting on her. But honestly, I don’t think it matters. If she has a solid case for murder one against Tiffany—and it’s looking that way—I don’t see the point of adding the Headless Horseman ride to it. Tiffany will be lucky to avoid the death penalty as it is and I don’t have any evidence for that stunt. So unless one of them flips on the other…”
I nodded. “You know, I’m glad that Liam is probably going to be left out of this as soon as Detective Casey tracks down Tiffany and her real side man. But I have to say, I’m a little disappointed with the outcome.”
“You wanted it to be someone else?”
“Not necessarily. I guess I just wanted something other than the trite crap I see on the news every night. Or on every other episode of those forensic shows. Doesn’t anyone kill any more for something other than money or to get out of their marriage?”
“There’s a reason the spouse is the first suspect.”
I studied him for a moment, frowning. “Those stats don’t make marriage out to be that good a deal, do they?”
He leaned forward and took my hand. “It’s not for a lot of people. But then there are people like my parents. Their marriage was the kind that makes me think it’s worthwhile.”
“I didn’t know your father, but I guess I can see that knowing Emmaline.”
He rose from his chair and I stood with him. He pulled me into a hug and gave me a soft, sweet kiss.
“Now that all this is behind us, do you have anything on your schedule for tonight?” he asked.
“As a matter of fact, I do. We’re going to the festival. This whole mess has us kind of tired and a little down, especially being worried about Liam caught up in it all. I guess now, we can enjoy the downtime since we won’t have this hanging over our heads anymore. Or maybe ‘head’ isn’t a good choice of words here.”
He smiled. “Then I guess I’ll see you there.”
“And that thing with Tiffany’s side man?”
“I’ll get it passed along to Casey, but I can’t see any way around telling her where I got the information as the three of you will probably have to testify.”
“That’s fine,” I said, but a slight feeling of unease and sadness passed over me.
After everything I’d learned about Tiffany, I’d started to feel sorry for her. She hadn’t asked for the horrible changes in her life