like she’s on the same page as Detective Heather and thinks Dan killed her daughter,” I said. She scowled at Dan as she offered him a cursory greeting before she took a seat at the opposite end of the row.
“I’m actually beginning to feel sorry for him,” Dinah said. “It’s not like he’s been convicted. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?”
“What happened is everyone thinks he did it and is getting away with it. Detective Heather will keep investigating and trying to get him to confess, but if he doesn’t, it’ll be shelved like the cases Barry’s working on. He said in one of the cases they knew the maid did it, but could never get enough evidence to charge her. There’s no statute on murder, so Dan will forever be in limbo unless they get evidence that he did it, or evidence that he didn’t do it. In the meantime, they might be treating him like he’s guilty, but he’s still a free man.”
“But the important thing is, are we convinced he’s the guy?” Dinah asked.
“I keep going back and forth. With no real evidence, I’m not sure who did it,” I said as we went back to watching the first row. Even from a distance I recognized the family dimples of the two little girls who walked in with their father. The girls seemed confused and unhappy and the man with them seemed distraught. “He must be Kelly’s first husband,” I said. His greeting to Dan consisted of an angry head shake as he kept his arms protectively around his daughters.
“How about him for a suspect?” Dinah said.
“No motive. Even Dan said there was no problem between her first husband and Kelly. The divorce has been settled for a while and there weren’t any custody issues.” I continued to watch the family drama in the first row. An older man had joined the group. He had the trademark dimples and I was sure he was Kelly’s father. He was a little wooden in greeting his granddaughters. It might have had something to do with the young woman with him. By the rock on her finger and the way she was hanging on to him, I was guessing she was his wife and also guessed he probably didn’t like being called “Gramps.”
Stone came in last. I was glad to see he’d worn long pants and a dress shirt instead of his usual shorts and Aloha shirt. He’d even replaced his sandals with loafers. He moved down the row talking to his father and then his mother. The only seat left was next to Dan.
A few more people came into the chapel. I noticed Nanci Silvers take a seat in the back. The service was short and referred to a life cut off in the middle, but made no mention of her death being murder. I wondered who’d planned it.
Dinah and I left early to meet up with Commander who had picked up the food. We’d just pulled up in front of the Donahue house when Dan drove into the driveway.
He seemed distracted as he let us in. More cars arrived and the living room filled up with neighbors, the Hookers, Dan’s store employees and some of Kelly’s family. I had wondered if they would even come, but I suppose it was more out of respect for her than sympathy for Dan. Dan sat on the couch staring off into space and didn’t act as the host. Commander was particularly good at playing host and worked the room to make sure everyone went into the dining room and helped themselves.
I had hoped to get a chance to talk to Kelly’s family, but they stayed only long enough to make an appearance and then left en masse.
I looked around the living room and wondered if anyone would notice if I took a little side trip. I had never been alone in Kelly’s crochet room and I wanted to poke around in it without watchful eyes.
The room seemed dimmer than I remembered and I realized the sheer curtains had been drawn across the sliding glass door. It seemed eerie and still and I suddenly wished Dinah had come with me. The computer was sitting on the library table and when I hit the power button, it came on. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I was curious about her business. Nobody seemed to know the name of it. I sorted through the folders and came across one called