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said, and reached into her purse, pulled out a business card, and handed it to him.
    He saw the confused look on her face and squeezed her hand once more. “Are you going to be okay?”
    Dani finished her drink and made an effort to smile. “Yes, I’ll be fine.”
    “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
    Liam stood and left his beer and food on the table. He moved in a straight line across the pub toward Nut, who had an overfull glass of beer clutched close to his chest. The older man spotted Liam when he was two steps away; his eyes widened and a bit of beer slopped from his glass onto the floor. Liam saw the indecision on the bum’s face and wondered if he would have to pursue him out of the pub.
    “I need to talk to you,” Liam said when he was within arm’s reach of the man.
    “Uh,” Nut said.
    Liam jerked his head toward a corner table in the back of the pub and saw the bum’s shoulders slump. Liam let him go first, and as they made their way to the back of the bar, he saw Dani rise from her seat and walk toward the door. He felt her eyes on the side of his head, but he locked his gaze on the back of Nut’s dirty coat. Nut set his beer on a wobbly table and sat in the chair closest to the wall, while Liam took a seat beside him, effectively blocking the vagrant’s only escape route.
    “Listen, I don’t know what this is about, but—”
    “How much did you get from the reporter for giving her my name and what I looked like?” Liam asked.
    Nut opened his mouth to protest, but Liam reached over and pulled the glass of beer out of the other man’s hand. Nut watched Liam drag the glass away and frowned.
    “Fifty bucks,” Nut said. Liam pinned him to the wall with a glare until Nut squirmed. “I’m sorry, okay? You make do with what you have, and I was short this morning.”
    “Short on beer funds.”
    “Yeah, well. How the hell did you know anyway?” Nut asked.
    “You’re the only person outside of the investigation that knew I was in town.”
    Nut nodded, dropping his head so that he looked at the pitted tabletop. Liam slid the beer back in front of him, and Nut raised his eyes again.
    “I want to ask you a few things,” Liam said.
    A smile broke out on the man’s stubbled face, and he grasped the beer. “Sure, whatever you want to know, buddy.”
    Liam glanced around the room to see if their table was being observed. The rest of the diners and drinkers seemed to be immersed in their own conversations; he caught no one eavesdropping or even looking in their direction.
    “Tell me about the Shevlins.”
    Nut tipped the glass to his lips and sucked down almost half its contents in a few swallows before wiping his mouth on a stained sleeve. “Rich as rich could be,” Nut said, lowering his voice. “Kind of the flagship couple for Tallston—old money and good looks combined. Jerry was born with two silver spoons, one in his mouth and one up his ass. His daddy was a land baron of sorts, owned thousands of acres across the river. From what I understand, he leased it to crop farmers, mostly wheat if I remember right.” Nut paused to slurp more beer. After stifling a belch, he continued. “His daddy sold most of the land about twenty years ago, and Jerry became a businessman before he was twenty-five.”
    “What did he do for a living?” Liam asked.
    “One of them day traders or some shit,” Nut said. “Invested in God knows what.”
    “How about his wife, what was she like?”
    “Easy on the eyes, Karen was. Don’t remember quite when she moved here. Don’t recall seeing her around much before she became Jerry’s girl in high school. They were homecoming king and queen, got married right out of school. Only thing that marred their perfect life was the death of their first child.”
    “What happened?” Liam asked.
    Nut finished the last of his beer and set the glass down on the table next to Liam’s elbow, staring at it until Liam motioned to the waitress to bring another. When the empty