Page 78 of The Happy Month

“Would you like some iced tea? I made it fresh this morning.”

“Um, sure.”

We followed her into the kitchen/dining room. Everything was messy but clean. There was a desk in a corner of the eating area with a computer and printer on it. She caught me taking it all in and said, “No one should have children after thirty-five. It’s just a terrible idea.”

“I wouldn’t know,” I said.

She pulled three mis-matched glasses out of a cupboard, took a plastic pitcher out of the well-stocked fridge, and poured us each a glass of tea.

As she did all that she said, “So, I wrote an article about Pete Michaels’ murder.”

“You did. Do you remember?”

“Of course. I was only an intern there for a year and it was the biggest thing I got to work on.”

“You wrote an article about two days after the murder in which you referred to a source saying that Pete Michaels was engaged. I’m trying to track down your source for that.”

“Hold on,” she said, then put her tea down and walked out of the room. She disappeared into one of the bedrooms. A few minutes later she came back carrying a cardboard box. She pushed the breakfast dishes aside and set the box on the dining table. She began digging through the box.

I must have been gawking at her, because she asked, “What? Are you surprised I’m going to give you my source?”

“Very. I thought I’d have to beg.”

“Number one, an innocent man is in prison. That’s what you said, right?”

“I did.”

“More importantly, number two, does it look like I’ll be returning to journalism any time soon?”

“You do have a computer right there.”

“I write a newsletter for the Inland Orange Growers Association and one for Kaiser Permanente. Doesn’t sound like much, but with the kids it keeps me busy. I’m officially done with journalism.”

She found what she was looking for. “Here we go.” She pulled out a small, girly, notebook and flipped through it. Found the right page and said, “Kelly Hawley.”

“Really?”

“You know the name?”

“I do,” I said. “Do you remember the conversation?”

“Yes. But not well.”

“She didn’t tell you who Pete Michaels was engaged to, did she?”

After double-checking her notebook, she said, “No.”

“So, you can print something like that without corroboration?” Ronnie asked.

“That’s why you add things like, ‘according to a source.’ That means we’re not sure. Our source could be lying.”

“Which they were in this case,” I said.

“If I’m remembering correctly, the engagement came up at trial.”

“Another lie. Do you remember anything else about the murder that might be helpful?”

“I doubt it. The narrative formed quickly. I was surprised it even went to trial.”