Murder Buys a Lemon by Christy Fifield

Author:Christy Fifield [FIFIELD, CHRISTY]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781946199010
Publisher: Tsunami Ridge Publishing

Chapter 23

Karen had continued her tapping while Riley told his story. "Well!" she exclaimed before Riley could respond. "I think we have something here."

I scooted over closer to look at the open laptop, and both Riley and Jake came to lean over the back of the sofa to see what she had found.

I scanned the screen full of tiny print, but I couldn't figure out exactly what Karen was looking at.

Impatient, I glared at her. "Would you like to share with the rest of the class, Miss Smarty-Pants?"

"Sorry," she replied, though she didn't sound very sorry. "I went looking for records in Leon County between September 1986 and June 1987, when Fowler was in Tallahassee. Kind of a long shot, but I think I've struck paydirt."

She pointed at a line in the middle of the page. "Matthew Fowler and Louisa Melissa Frances Pope filed for the annulment of their marriage on May 14, 1987."

"Annulment?" Riley said. "I thought that meant the marriage never happened. How is a marriage that didn't happen even part of the public record?"

Karen fidgeted, opening another browser window and typing in "Louisa Pope."

"It kind of isn't..." she muttered.

"Karen." Riley's voice held a note of warning.

"It's okay, Riley. The annulment isn't in the vital statistics like a marriage or divorce, but the petition and the order are part of the court records. You just have to dig a little deeper."

The whole time she was explaining her fingers were flying over the keyboard. A few seconds later the image of a young woman with long blonde hair and the megawatt smile of a beauty queen filled the screen.

"Louisa Pope, ladies and gentlemen. Miss Leon County, 1986."

We all stared at the woman, as though just seeing her picture would somehow give us some insight into the woman who had been, however briefly, Matthew Fowler's first wife.

"He always was one for pretty girls," Karen commented as she opened yet another search.

Behind me I felt Jake shrug. "Was always partial to brunettes myself," he said, squeezing my shoulder. The gesture made me smile.

"And here are her parents. Leland and Marjorie Pope. Pillars of the community." She scanned quickly, the page scrolling by faster than I could read. "Looks like Leland passed away this spring. Hmmm," she continued reading. "Marjorie moved to West Palm, turning over the family business," she paused dramatically, then continued in her best announcer's voice, "an automotive sales empire, to her only child, Louisa Pope Cleveland and her family."

We all exchanged glances. "I don't believe in coincidence," Riley said at last. "So how did their former son-in-law, their only child's spouse for about a nanosecond, establish his own little automotive empire just a few months after his marriage to that child was annulled?

"Does anyone in this room believe for a second that these two things aren't connected?

"Anyone?"

Karen stopped her tapping and looked around at her husband. "You know how I feel. The real question is what are we going to do about it?"

"Time for a road trip?" I said lightly.

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