Page 88 of Little Last Words

“How much do you know about Dean?” I asked.

“I know everything. At least, I think I do. It was hard to be out with her sometimes. She’d get jumpy, staring out the window like she expected him to show up. She was aware it was just a matter of time before he found out she was back in Cambria.”

“Would you say she was afraid of Dean?”

“Afraid? No. She just wanted to avoid a confrontation.”

“Did Penelope ever talk to you about the boyfriend she had in high school?

“You’re talking about Zachary, right?”

“I am.”

We locked eyes, and I wondered if he’d worked out why I asked the question.

If Aaron had witnessed a stolen kiss shared between Penelope and Zachary, Becker could have too.

If he had, how would it have made him feel?

“Zachary still had feelings for Penelope,” I said. “Were you aware?”

He nodded. “I know all about what happened between them. Zachary kissed her, and then he said something about how he’d always had feelings for her. Penelope didn’t feel the same way. She told him to go home to his wife.”

“When did she tell you about it?”

“As soon as Zachary left. She knew what I’d been through with my ex-wife, and she wanted to be sure there was complete honesty between us.”

He could have been telling the truth.

Then again, there was no one to back up his story.

The one woman who could was dead.

“How did you feel when Penelope told you what happened?” I asked.

“Zachary didn’t know about us, so I was fine with it. If he had, it would have been a different story.”

Becker glanced at the time. “I better get a move on. I need to leave soon. Before I do … we’ve cleared everything up, right? What happened to Penelope, it had nothing to do with me.”

Becker didn’t display the type of grief I expected for a man who’d just lost the woman he’d reconnected with after so many years. If everything changed for him the moment she walked back into his life, why didn’t he seem more emotional about losing her?

“It’s hard to know what to believe right now. You and Penelope had just reconnected when she died. Even so, I thought you’d be more affected by her death than you seem to be.”

“We all grieve in different ways, don’t we? You don’t seem like an openly emotional person yourself.”

I supposed he was right.

I hopped off the barstool.

“I didn’t mean what I said earlier, by the way, about you thinking about slicing me with a knife,” I said. “I wouldn’t have let you sit so close to me if I had.”

“Am I off your suspect list then?”

“I’ve been watching you and everything you do since I arrived. You’re left-handed and the killer is right-handed, so … yes, you are off the list for now.” I shot him a wink. “One last question before I go, if it’s okay?”

“Shoot.”

“One of Penelope’s friends met up with her right before she died. She noticed Penelope was wearing a ring. When the friend inquired about it, Penelope said a neighbor had given it to her. I assume that neighbor was you.”