Page 53 of A Rose of Steel
I couldn’t tell.
Mr. and Mrs. Hackett were sitting on the first row pew. I knew they hadn’t done it. Leastways, I hoped they hadn’t.
Both had red eyes, but weren’t crying. They sat quietly and to themselves. It was the first I’d seen of Mr. Hackett since the day of the wedding. He wore the same expression, bewilderment, as if he didn’t exactly know why he was there. He didn’t sit next to his wife, but at the end of the pew and nodded at whomever came by without saying a word. Gaylon, the niece we’d met the other night, sat to one side of Mrs. Hackett, a box of tissue ready in hand, just in case the tears did start to tumble. On the other side sat Jorianne.
From what I could tell, Mrs. Hackett liked her son’s choice. I’d noticed how she referred to her as “Jori,” not a familiarity I’d heard others take. And Jorianne seemed to cling to Mrs. Hackett for comfort and support. Mr. Alvarez, Jorianne’s father sat next to her. And in the two rows behind them sat what had to be the future linemen for an entirety of future NFL teams. All guys. All big. All with red-rimmed eyes.
The next row didn’t yield any faces who were familiar to me. That brought my attention quickly around to where were Piper and Bonnie Alvarez? Seemed like they would be part of the family and sit up front.
The two of them were at the top of my suspect list, and two I felt I should keep my eye on. But they were nowhere in sight. I wondered would I be able to pick up any clues from them even if I could locate them. I didn’t have to wonder long.
Piper slid in the pew next to me, her mother next to her.
“We thought we were going to be early,” Piper leaned over and whispered to me. “There are so many people here.”
The church was packed and the service wasn’t scheduled to begin for another fifteen minutes.
I turned to Piper and smiled, then leaned forward and reached a hand toward Mrs. Alvarez. “How are you doing?” I said.
Mrs. Alvarez nodded at me, then pulled a fan from her purse and started to fan herself, not giving the slightest recognition to my gesture.
I pulled my hand back. It was going to take some effort to get a confession out of her.
“I saw Jorianne up with Mrs. Hackett,” I said to either one of them that cared to comment.
“Yeah, she rode in the family car.” It was Piper who answered. Guess I was going to talk to her.
“Oh,” I said. “Did your dad ride with them, too?”
“No. He rode with us. We went to the restroom before finding our seats.” She leaned in and smiled. “Didn’t want to have to go in the middle of the service, you know.” She nodded and sat back up straight. “But Jorianne was up at the crack of dawn,” Piper said. “Had everyone else up with her. She didn’t want to be late.”
“That’s understandable,” I said.
“First time in her life,” Mrs. Alvarez said. “Perhaps one good thing will come out of this.”
I leaned forward. “Excuse me,” I said, although I’d heard her, I just couldn’t believe her words.
Piper whispered, tilting her head toward me. “Probably the first responsible thing Jorianne’s done in her life.”
I saw Mrs. Alvarez give a curt nod and mumble, “I would do anything to see her more responsible.”
“So what do you think about it being murder?” Piper asked me.
“Shhh!” Mrs. Alvarez swatted at her daughter. “Not that conversation here.
“I wonder if it was someone at the wedding,” Piper said, ignoring her mother.
“Of course it was,” Mrs. Alvarez said, despite her warning. “But no one will ever catch whoever did it. The killer is properly long gone.” She nodded, her pronouncement making a search for the killer unnecessary.
“Can you imagine, coming to the wedding, knowing you were going to kill the groom? That’s got to give you a rush.”
“I don’t know if I’d think a rush...” I gave a little snort. “Who do you think did it?”
“Don’t answer that, Piper,” Mrs. Alvarez said. “That’s for the sheriff to figure out.”
Piper whispered to me. “It’s usually women who like to use poison.”
“How do you know he was poisoned?” I asked. That tidbit hadn’t been released.
