Steve company while he eats.â
She smiled and filled the empty glasses on the table.
When they were alone again, the chief asked, âYou have a problem with Jolene?â
âProblem?â Steve shrugged. âShe was on the museum board with me. Millie thought sheâd make a good replacement for the board member we lost.â
âShe didnât?â
âI think her attitude made Danielle Boatman change her mind about donating the Thorndike emerald. Weâre a nonprofit, and we canât afford to be alienating any wealthy members.â
âI heard something about that.â
Steve shrugged. âI suspect Joleneâs attitude toward Danielle was out of jealousy. Danielle has money, and Jolene had lost hers.â
âI heard she was having money problems.â
âShe came to me for a loan. She was about to lose her house.â
âThat bad?â
Steve nodded. âYeah. Her estate was tangled up with Rentonâs. Money she had loaned to the law practice. Whoever wrote up the loan agreement didnât protect Joleneâs interests.â
âRenton maybe?â
Steve shrugged again. âDoug was still alive back then. It doesnât matter now. Joleneâs dead. I imagine her daughter will have to sort it all out.â
âYou said she came to you for a loan? I assume your answer was no?â
Steve picked up his beer and took a sip before answering. âThere was no way I could give her a loan. She simply didnât have the assets or the income.â
âLast night, did you see who left after Jolene?â
Steve downed the rest of his beer. âThat would probably be me. I donât remember anyone else leaving the restaurant after Jolene. But I could be wrong.â He picked up what remained of his hamburger.
âWhen you went outside, did you see Jolene? Maybe walking on the pier?â
âWhen I went outside, she was nowhere around.â
âDid you see anyone on the pier?â
âThere were a couple of guys fishing.â
âDo you know who they were?â
He shook his head. âI really didnât pay any attention, and there wasnât much light. Might have been someone I knew, maybe not.â
âAnd you never heard anything suspicious?â
âNo. Nothing. Like I told you before, thatâs why I didnât think it was a big deal if I didnât get right back to you. Nothing really to tell.â
Chapter Eleven
T he next morning , Chief MacDonald sat at his office desk, reading the newspaper and drinking his coffee, when he heard a knock at his open door. He looked up and saw Joe Morelli standing in the doorway.
âI see youâre reading the paper,â Joe said as he walked into the office and took a seat.
MacDonald shook his head and slammed the paper on the desk. âCanât we ever keep anything out of the damn paper?â
âItâsââ
âDonât say it!â MacDonald snapped. âIf I hear itâs a small town one more time, Iâm going to do something weâll all regret!â
âWell, it is,â Joe said with a shrug.
âHow did the paper find out about Joleneâs rings?â
âCome on, Chief, there were people on the pier when you recovered them. You didnât really expect to keep that under wraps.â
âIt would have been nice. At least for a while. Now the killer knows weâre onto him.â MacDonald downed the last of his coffee.
âI wish they could have found something at Joleneâs house. Anything.â
MacDonald set his empty cup on the desk and shoved it to the side. âThere really wasnât much in the house. She had hardly any furniture and relatively few personal items. It didnât take them that long to go through it.â
Joe frowned. âI donât understand that.â
âI called Melony to tell her we were going to go through her motherâs house. She