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that, although the time that passed had made it harder to believe that she’d set him up. She’d been as involved as he was.Maybe even more. But no matter how hard he worked at it, he simply couldn’t forget that she’d tried to have his best friend arrested for Henry Garner’s murder. He turned back to the elevator and reluctantly pressed the down button again. He didn’t like leaving with unanswered questions between them. He wanted… He sighed. Maybe he just wanted to sit and look at her for a while. The sight of her opened old wounds, but it also made a warm place in his heart.
    He turned from the elevator and went back down the hall.

CHAPTER THREE
    S imon Hart studied Josette quietly as she walked into his office and put the file folders down on his desk. She explained the information she’d gathered for the investigation.
    â€œI know this may be painful for you,” he told her quietly. “Since you were dating Jennings two years ago.”
    â€œWe were friends, that’s all,” she assured him. “I’m sorry he was killed, and in such a way. I never thought he murdered Henry Garner in the first place.”
    â€œYou paid a high price trying to defend him,” Simon said solemnly.
    â€œYes, but I’d do it again. He was innocent. Someoneframed him. The only thing that puzzles me is why he didn’t try harder to fight the conviction. It was as if he just gave up the minute he got in the courtroom,” she recalled pensively.
    â€œDid you see Marc Brannon on your way in here?” he said abruptly.
    Her heart jumped. “I saw him.” She forced herself to smile carelessly. “He still can’t believe that his best friend, Bib Webb, would be involved in anything underhanded. That was what put us on opposite sides of Dale’s trial. Marc’s loyal, I’ll give him that.”
    â€œToo loyal. He can’t be objective.”
    â€œIt doesn’t matter. Everyone who could be hurt already has been,” she said philosophically. “Now there’s a new murder to solve.”
    He motioned her into a chair. “I want to know what you think.”
    She leaned back in the chair and crossed her legs, frowning thoughtfully. She was still shaken by Marc’s unexpected appearance, but her mind was sharp and she focused on the matter at hand. “According to my research, Dale Jennings has a mother, a widow. She’s practically an invalid. Just recently she fell for some sort of financial scam. She lost her life savings and her home. She was going to be evicted this week. Dale knew. Ican’t help but think his murder has something to do with that. Maybe he was trying to get money for her in some way.”
    â€œYou think he was blackmailing somebody, and his victim hired a killer to stop him?”
    Josette nodded slowly. “It’s conjecture, of course. But what if he had information that would hurt somebody? Bib Webb, for example. And what if he demanded money for his silence? Webb stands to lose everything if he’s involved in another scandal. Nobody would believe that he was an innocent bystander if he was connected with a second murder. Besides, he’s ahead in the polls in the senate race. Being proven guilty of murder would sure sour his chances of election.”
    â€œHe’s the lieutenant governor, and a successful businessman,” Simon reminded her.
    â€œOnly successful because his partner, Garner, died,” she reminded him right back.
    â€œYes, and Garner was a widower with no children. Webb was named sole beneficiary.”
    â€œHe inherited those millions and used his inheritance to buy into a successful agricultural concern and the balance went into the coffers for his political campaign. He won the lieutenant governor race two years ago, although a lot of people said he won it by default,by having his staff dig up dirt on his opponent and forcing him out of the race with