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suffers from insomnia. When she can’t sleep, she goes out for a drive. She says she saw Jenny at a stop light by the convenience store on Main Street, and that Jenny had blood on her face and wouldn’t look at her, when the light changed, Jenny sped off.”
    “What’s Jenny say about all this?” I said.
    “She denies everything, says there was never a fight, no knife and no blood, says she doesn’t know why Doc and the mayor would say what they’re saying.”
    Mama shook her head slightly. “None of this makes sense.”
    “Well, it could,” Sheriff Matt said.
    Mama stared at him. “How’s that?”
    “Maybe, maybe Jenny suffered a break of some kind, a mental break. If she murdered Tommy in a fit of rage or jealousy, she may have blocked it from her mind.”
    “That’s crazy!” Mama shouted.
    “Crazier than Doc and the mayor making up stories to frame her? Why would they lie, Maggie?”
    “I don’t know.” Mama said quietly.
    I didn’t know either, but if they were lying, I was going to find out why.
    ***
    M ama and I were allowed to visit with Jenny in a small, windowless room. I was surprised to see her dressed in what looked like a set of orange hospital scrubs, but then I realized that they would have taken her clothes for processing.
    Jenny sent us a weak smile as we settled across from her at a gray metal table.
    “I didn’t do it.” She said.
    “Tell us what you remember about last night.” I said. “Did anything out of the ordinary happen? Was Tommy worried about anything, maybe afraid of something?”
    “No, actually, he was in a very good mood, he said the story he was working on was about to break open.”
    “What story?”
    “I don’t know, but Tommy wasn’t a crime reporter or anything, he wrote for the Lifestyle section, plus the occasional human interest story.”
    “That doesn’t sound like an area where a story could ‘break open’; maybe he was working on something more serious.”
    Jenny began to cry and mama reached over and held her hand.
    “What is it baby?”
    “Tommy, I think I was falling in love with him, mama. Goddamn whoever killed him; I hope they rot in hell.”
    “First, we have to figure out who that is,” I said. “What do you remember about your ride home?”
    “It was quiet; I didn’t see another car until I reached the highway. I don’t know why Doc would say Tommy and I fought, and the mayor, she was nowhere in sight, but why would they lie? I don’t understand why they would lie about me.”
    I stared at Jenny.
    “Hey Jen, think hard before you answer me, but are you certain that you remember the ride home?”
    Jenny screwed up her face in thought.
    “Yes, I remember Tommy kissing me goodbye, I remember sitting at that damn long light on Maple Street and then heading up the ramp and merging onto the high—”
    “Maple Street? You took Maple Street home, not Main Street?”
    “Yeah, I know it’s a little longer drive, but it puts you up farther along the highway, why?”
    “The mayor claims she saw you on Main Street, not Maple.”
    “Well then she’s definitely lying, even if I somehow missed seeing her, she couldn’t have seen me on Main Street; I was never there.”
    “I need to go have a talk with Doc and the mayor.”
    Billy Joe Tently stuck his head in the room. He was a muscular man of average height with a toothy grin. He’s the youngest of seven brothers and his father had been my math teacher in high school. One thing about growing up in a small town is that you know just about everyone’s history.
    “Time’s up ladies, but you’ll be able to see her again in the morning.”
    I smiled. “Okay Billy Joe, but just give us a second, huh?”
    He smiled back, “Sure thing Blue; I’ll be right down the hall.” and then he took out his phone and fiddled with it.
    After Billy Joe left, I spoke to Jenny.
    “Hey big sis, we’re gonna get you out of here, you got that?”
    “How?”
    I stood up.
    “Don’t you worry about