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.She made the date, not Felix, and he didn't seem to know much about it either.""How were things between them?""There was a certain distance, like with any divorced couple, but on the whole they seemed on better terms than most.""Was there any chance of a reconciliation?" he said, watching her closely.It was an unpleasant question for Laura to answer.By admitting earlier that she had seen Felix socially, and by saying that she was Cynthia's friend, no matter what she said now her answer would make it seem as if the three of them were some sort of tacky love triangle.A damned—if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation.She looked at Sloan."She wanted to think so.""But you don't agree—""Look, I don't know Felix well enough to agree or disagree.I've seen him three times.once in a group at Lagniappe, once at dinner to interview him for the article, and once for breakfast."Even as she disclaimed their relationship she knew that by mentioning breakfast she made it sound like she'd spent the night with Felix, but she didn't care.Let him think what he wanted, as long as it didn't hurt Felix or jeopardize the case."At Lagniappe? That's twice it's come up.You were introduced to him there, and Cynthia was supposed to meet him there.Sounds like he hangs out there.""Well, he's new in town, but Justin Fortier, he's the owner of Lagniappe, is his friend so I believe he does go there quite a bit.""You said he'd only been here about three months.""Since late July, I believe.At least that's when his project actually started.He may have been here a little earlier.George, come on, why do you keep questioning me about Felix? He couldn't have done it—""At the moment it seems he was the last one to have had contact with the deceased, and he is her ex-husband, and there was bad feeling between them at one time.Plus we ran a quick check on him this morning.He's been in prison, for manslaughter.That's not like running a traffic light.It's for killing someone.We sure as hell have to check him out and consider him at least a suspect.""But he was pardoned.It was an industrial accident that turned out to be his partner's fault.His partner confessed to the whole thing and Felix was pardoned.""But his partner got his religion in prison after an unknown assailant damn near beat him almost to death.That's when he changed his story about Ducroit's involvement."As he talked, Laura remembered the scars on the back of Felix's hands where his knuckles had been broken, and how Felix wouldn't talk about them.She felt sick.Sloan was building a case against Felix, but he was wrong."It could have been anybody, prisons are violent places.""Wait here a minute," Sloan said, and went across the store to the counter and returned with something he had taken from a purse on the counter."George," she said, "nothing you've said is evidence, but you seem all ready to convict him.You don't have one concrete thing that ties him in to Terri's and Marie's deaths—""We do.It's not much, but added on to the rest, it's one damn strong circumstantial case.Sure, with the right alibi it could come tumbling down, but we won't know about that until we question him."Sloan, she knew, was not the sort of man to bluff or grandstand.lf he said he had something he had it."What is it?" said Laura, anxiety now clear in her voice."I swear to God it goes no further than right here.No newspapers, nobody.Not unless you say so."He looked hard at her."One word to anybody and I guarantee I'll charge you with obstruction.I'll make it stick, too; I know your editor.You follow?"She nodded vehemently."Okay, when we found Terri's body, we also found in her purse a pack of matches from Lagniappe.We knew they sure as hell couldn't have belonged to her, not to a South Philly kid wet behind the ears.We figured they might belong to the killer; he gave them to her to light a cigarette or something, and she kept them.""But that doesn't mean they were Felix's—""True, but at least it establishes a link between Society Hill and South Philly, and more important, between Lagniappe and the killings.Between the killer and someone who'd been at Lagniappe.""It doesn't prove a thing—""That's right," he said.He showed her something else from the purse.It was a wallet."This belonged to the deceased.There are some photos in it.I'd like you to look and see if you can identify anyone."The first photo was of Felix and Cynthia.In the background she recognized Jackson Square in New Orleans, but that wasn't what held her attention.It was Felix.His dark, bearded looks eerily matched the description of Peter.CHAPTER 23MISSY DIDN'T know how she would have made it through the afternoon but for a second ten-milligram Valium.Nothing after Kaleidoscope had gone right.Her next stop had been Bonwit Teller.She had only been there a little over an hour when her morning Valium failed her.It didn't just fade, allowing anxiety to replace calm, it evaporated, vaporized.One minute she was fine, all calm serenity, the next her pulse was racing and her body was drenched in sweat.The sense of panic that had filled her as the anxiety dug in hard had made her want to cut and run, but she had fought it, forcing herself to stand her ground.She excused herself from the gray-haired saleslady with the perpetual glasses hanging around her neck and quietly took her second of the day, swallowing the bitter pill without water.Then she had walked out of the store and around the corner to the Commissary on Sansom Street, where she sipped her way through a double vodka while she waited for the Valium to kick in, thinking about what a nervous bride she was going to be, and for the first time in years wishing she were closer to her mother.Once she was calm again she had walked to the State Store on Chestnut where try as she might she could find no champagne to her liking.The same happened at the one on Walnut Street, but there the manager was kind enough to call a couple of other stores and did locate a bottle of Dom Perignon blanc de blanc at the State Store in the Bourse, which meant she had to drive to Fifth Street.The caviar had been difficult, too
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