Joanne Fluke by Devil's Food Cake Murder

Author:Devil's Food Cake Murder [Murder, Devil's Food Cake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-11-15T20:53:16+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

“Look at these,” Norman said, after Mike had left, laying four pieces of photo paper out on the metal surface of the workstation. “All the school yearbooks are online at the Jordan High Web site. I found Paul’s photo and printed it out. And Matthew’s senior photo is right here next to his cousin’s.”

“They look like twins!” Lisa said, her eyes traveling from one to the other and then back again.

“This one,” Delores tapped one of the photos.

“That’s Paul,” Norman answered her unspoken question.

“Paul has more prominent cheekbones, but perhaps that’s because he’s thinner. You probably could tell which was which if you saw them together.”

“Which one is the youngest?” Andrea asked.

“Paul,” Norman answered her. “He’s two years younger than Matthew.”

“Why do they look so much alike?” Lisa asked.

It was Hannah’s turn to explain. “Matthew’s father had a younger brother and Matthew’s mother had a younger sister. The two younger siblings met at their wedding and got married a year later.”

“I wonder if they still look alike,” Andrea mused. “I think Reverend Matthew looked like an older version of his yearbook photo. I wish we knew what his cousin Paul looks like now.”

“We don’t have any way to find out,” Hannah told her. “If the private detective Matthew hired to find Paul couldn’t do it, our chances aren’t very good either.”

“Here’s the rest of Matthew’s senior class,” Norman informed them, pointing to the third photo. “And here’s a picture of Matthew at the senior prom. He’s with his high school girlfriend, and everybody thought they’d get married right after they graduated. Her name was Alice Roste.”

“Now it’s Alice Roste Vogel,” Delores told him. “And they didn’t get married. According to one of my telephone sources, Matthew broke Alice’s heart and she married the oldest Vogel boy on the rebound.”

“And that’s our Alice?” Hannah was surprised.

“That’s right,” Delores confirmed it. “That’s what I was going to tell you when I came in this morning. Then I saw Mike, and I decided I’d better wait. I didn’t want him bothering Alice with a lot of questions. This must be terribly hard on her. My source said Alice never really got over loving Matthew.”

Andrea reached out to grab Hannah’s arm. “Mother’s source is right, Hannah. Remember when I told you that I was going over Claire’s sales information?”

“I remember.”

“Well, one of the invoices was for Alice Vogel. She bought a new dress the day after Reverend Matthew arrived in town.”

“That’s a big leap to a conclusion,” Hannah warned her sister. “What does that sales receipt really prove? Hasn’t Alice ever bought a dress from Claire before?”

“No, at least not in the past twelve months. I went through a whole year’s worth of invoices, and I think the only reason Alice bought such an expensive dress was so she’d look nice for Reverend Matthew.”

“That does make sense,” Delores said. “It’s natural to want to look good when you’re meeting an old flame after all these years.”

Hannah turned to stare at her mother. Delores

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