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I’m there.”
    Jason would always know Brinley was near. She was a woman you couldn’t miss or ignore.

Chapter Six
    ‡
    T he resemblance was strong between Stuart and Roger Gaines. Both had a pallor that spoke of an indoor lifestyle plus a slight paunch around the middle that suggested hours of sitting per day. Both had the same hooked nose at the bridge and dark brown hair with a receding hairline. The only difference was that Stuart’s – being the older brother – had marched back a few more inches than Roger’s.
    Stuart Gaines and his wife Lisa sat across from Jason and Brinley at the couple’s kitchen table. Stuart was holding his wife’s hand while drinking a cup of the coffee Lisa had served when they all sat down.
    “We’re very sorry for your loss, Mr. Gaines. I know this is a difficult time for you and your wife but I do need to ask you a few questions. Your information could help us find the person that did this to Roger.”
    Brinley held her tongue as Jason tried to alleviate the tension in the air. She’d never talked to anyone whose loved one had been murdered. Lisa and Stuart both had red-rimmed eyes indicating they’d been crying. It felt strange and a little rude to intrude upon someone’s grieving with nosy, personal questions but she and Jason had little choice if they wanted to find the killer.
    “It’s okay.” Stuart squeezed his wife’s hand and nodded. Lisa’s lips trembled and she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “We want to help if we can.”
    “I appreciate your cooperation.” Jason flipped open a small notebook, pen poised. “What can you tell us about your brother, Mr. Gaines? What were his usual daily habits? Who were his friends? That sort of thing. Please, take your time.”
    Husband and wife quickly glanced at one another before Stuart spoke. “Roger was currently unemployed. He’d been having some trouble finding full time work since he graduated.”
    “That was from the University of Montana, correct? In psychology?”
    “Yes, that’s correct. He was planning to go to graduate school but he hadn’t gotten around to filling out the paperwork and so forth.”
    While Jason and Stuart Gaines discussed the mundane topic of Roger’s educational goals, Brinley allowed her gaze to wander around the room. The kitchen was bright and sunny, scrupulously clean and tidy. The living room they’d walked through when they’d entered the home had been the same, barely looking lived in. Brinley’s own home was always clean but cluttered with books and newspapers in the living room and socks on the bedroom floor.
    “So how did Roger spend his time when he wasn’t looking for a job?”
    Lisa’s lips thinned and Stuart shifted in his chair. “Well, that’s an interesting question. The last several months Roger wasn’t really looking for a job. Not seriously anyway. He spent most of his time on his laptop. Pretty much all day and most of the night too.”
    That sounded boring as hell but then Brinley was used to talking to people all day, even if those people happened to be short and about seven years old.
    “Did Roger have any enemies? Anyone who might have wanted to hurt him? Anyone he may have owed money to?”
    “He only owed money to us,” Lisa said, sitting up straighter in her chair. Stuart gave her a quelling look but she shook her head, rejecting whatever silent message was passing between the two of them. “What can it hurt now? Roger was a good boy but he had very little ambition since he graduated. The fact is I don’t think he wanted a job. When we would ask him about it he would talk about making YouTube videos and making a living that way.”
    Brinley hadn’t even known you could make a living doing that. Apparently Jason hadn’t either because his brows had shot up and he was intently scribbling in his notebook.
    “So you had to lend him money? But he didn’t borrow from anyone else?”
    “Not that we know of. I asked Roger and he said he