19. Jayne

I wasn't looking forward to Charlie's funeral. It was going to be a sad occasion, made sadder by the sense that Sin and I were outsiders. For a reason I couldn't quite put into words, I felt like we almost didn't belong. We'd barely met Charlie.

Her friends would be grieving her, and grief was such a personal thing. I guess I just didn't want our presence to upset anyone further. Maybe that was it. We'd be respectful, obviously, and we'd be with Matt, so that should help, but I was definitely feeling sensitive about the whole thing.

Probably pregnancy hormones acting up again. Nothing I could do about that. Well, not exactly nothing .

I was taking my big purse so that I could bring supplies with me. A couple of purse packs of tissues and a large Ziploc bag that I'd filled with the remaining pralines and the last chocolate-covered Oreo. There'd probably be food after the service, but I didn't want to singlehandedly decimate the dessert table.

If I filled my plate the way I typically did, people would think I'd come for the food. So I'd just decided to bring my own to help keep my appetite at bay. It was for everyone's benefit, really. When my stomach got to growling, it was loud.

Jack Jr. kicked. I put my hand on my belly and smiled as I finished getting dressed. I had on the stretchy black knit tank dress I'd gotten in Nashville with a black cardigan over it and my black ballet flats. I kept the jewelry simple. Diamond studs, my diamond bracelet and my wedding ring set.

Sin was in his charcoal-colored pinstripe suit with a black dress shirt, black belt, black shoes, and the crazy expensive watch he only wore for special occasions. He looked like he'd just stepped out of a fashion magazine.

If I'd stepped out of any magazine, it was Blimp Monthly . This boy was getting big. I could feel my center of gravity changing. I took one final look in the mirror and determined I was as ready as I could be. Spider and Sugar were sleeping on the bed. I kissed my hand, touched them each on the head, then went out to the lounge, where Sin was sitting on the couch, reading on his tablet.

He looked up. "You look great. Are you allowed to look that hot for a funeral?"

I gave him a look. "Settle down. I do not look hot."

"Um, yeah, you do." He glanced at my purse. "If you don't want to carry that big bag, I can probably fit your stuff in my pockets."

"Really?" I pulled out the bag of pralines. "Even these?"

"The purse is a better idea." Amusement obvious on his handsome face, he set his tablet aside and got to his feet. "You think you need all of those?"

"Better to have them and not need them than not have them and get hangry."

"Enough said."

"You look very handsome, by the way." I took hold of the front of his suit jacket and leaned into him. It was getting harder to reach him with Jack Jr. between us.

"Thanks." He kissed me. Then, in a softer voice, "We should go meet Matt, huh?"

I nodded. "I hope he's going to be okay today."

"He will be."

"Even with Isla there?"

Sin grimaced. "We might have to run some interference if that happens."

"Do you think she'll actually show?"

"I do. I'm just hoping she leaves him alone."

I already knew that wasn't going to happen.

We went to Matt's and walked in, as he'd told us to do. Sin called up the steps, "We're here."

Matt called back, "Down in a second."

Slim was on the living room rug, half under the coffee table so that just his rump stuck out. I laughed at his silliness. "What are you doing, big man?"

"Probably has a toy under there."

"Or a bug," I said. This was New Orleans. Bugs weren't in short supply.

"Or that," Sin said. "Think I should get down there and have a look?"

I slanted my eyes at him. "Not in your good suit."

Matt came down the steps in a black suit with a white shirt and black-and-gray striped tie. He looked nearly as handsome as Sin. "You guys look great. You especially, Jayne." He gave us a weak smile. "I really appreciate you guys going to this with me. You don't have to, you know."

"We want to," Sin said. "To support you and for Charlie."

Matt gave a nod, his mouth tightening. "We should get going."

The funeral home was packed. It was heartening to see how many people had turned out for Charlie. I spotted Molly and gave her a little wave. She waved back from across the room. We got seats near the back, which was fine with me, because I was desperately searching for Tony, and being in the back gave me a better vantage point.

Hard to tell if any of the men in front of me were him, though. I'd never seen the back of his head. I'd have better luck at the reception to follow, but I wasn't giving up that easily. I picked out a few who had potential, then watched in the hope they'd turn to talk to someone. From their profiles, I was able to eliminate two of them right away.

I found Theresa. She and Molly were sitting together. As I looked around the room, I tried to pick out who was a friend, who was a relative, and who had been a client.

I glanced through the program. Her brother was giving the eulogy, and a woman whose name I didn't recognize was playing a piece of classical music on the piano. There was also time set aside for any member of the audience who wanted to say something about Charlie.

Movement caught my eye. I looked toward the center aisle. Isla was standing at the end of the row of seats, looking expectantly at Matt.

He glanced at her and gave a subtle shake of his head. She frowned and nodded sort of insistently. There weren't any seats available in our row. I didn't know what she thought was going to happen. Did she want Matt to move to sit with her? Did she think one of us was going to get up to make a spot for her?

Matt turned his attention to his program. Isla stood there a few moments longer, then, with a frustrated snort, went to find a place to sit.

I turned to watch her, which gave me a chance to see the crowd behind us. Still no sign of Tony. I let out a frustrated snort of my own.

Sin shifted his eyes at me.

"I'm fine." I leaned in and spoke softer. "Trying to find Tony."

"Ah." He nodded. "Hard to tell. There's quite a crowd."

"There is. I'm glad of that, though."

"Me, too."

The service was lovely, her brother did a great job even while visibly emotional, and eight people got up to say nice things about Charlie. There were tears and laughter at some of their stories, and I was very glad we'd come.

Afterwards, there was a reception at a nearby community center. We arrived before most, because Matt wanted to avoid Isla. I was okay with arriving early. I ate a number of pralines in private, but there was a nice spread being set out. Not that food was all that mattered. Not by a long shot.

Sin got me a ginger ale because they didn't have Dr Pepper, then I found a seat where I could watch people come in. I brought up the picture of Tony on my phone, just to refresh my memory. I was pretty sure I'd recognize him, unless he'd done something drastic like shave his head or grow a beard.

Sin and Matt stood near the bar, chatting, but Sin glanced toward the door every so often, telling me he was looking for Tony, too.

People filed in sparsely at first, then in larger groups, waves of black and navy clad mourners, their expressions mostly somber. The occasional smile was often accompanied by a sympathetic head tilt.

Isla came in alone, scanning the room. She saw Matt standing with Sin and frowned. Then, like a chameleon changing its colors, put on a smile and walked toward him. I was not getting in the middle of that, but I was thankful Sin was there.

I went back to watching the entrance.

Behind another group of people came a man who made my heart nearly stop. I double-checked the image on my phone. It was Tony. It had to be. He was red-eyed and unshaven, but it was him. I froze.

I couldn't just confront him, but I did want to speak to him. I looked toward Sin, but he was deep in conversation with Matt and Isla. Mostly Isla, really. Matt seemed about as disinterested in the conversation as could be.

My gaze went back to Tony. He was making his way to the buffet. That might be all the opening I was going to get.

I set my ginger ale down, left my purse on my chair, grabbed a plate, and got in line behind him. As soon as he grabbed for the tongs of the salad, I did, too, running my hand into his on purpose. "Oh, I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "No, it's okay. You go ahead."

I took enough to be convincing, but salad was not my favorite thing. "It was a nice service, wasn't it?"

He nodded, eyes downcast. "Woulda been nicer not to have it. I mean, you know, if Charlie was…" He exhaled.

"I know. It's so sad. Did you know her well?"

Another nod as we moved on to the rice and chicken. "We'd been seeing each other for a while."

I made a sympathetic sound, tipping my head. "This has to be really hard for you."

"Yeah," he said softly.

"I'm Jayne, by the way." We couldn't shake hands, because we had plates in one and silverware bundles in the other, but I was all right with that. For all I knew, he was the one who'd put the GBH or whatever in Charlie's almond milk or protein powder. If that's what had killed her.

"Tony," he said.

"Were you and Charlie serious?"

He gave me a quick look as if assessing my intent. I put on my most innocent, sympathetic expression while also making sure my belly was noticeable. Pregnant women, I'd learned, got away with a lot.

"We were," he answered.

I took a helping of rice. "You have my sympathies, Tony."

"Thank you."

We were at the end of the buffet, and there wasn't much time left to talk, but I had to get one more question in. "Do you really think she took her own life?"

His eyes narrowed. "No. I don't. And anyone who thinks that is an idiot. Charlie would never have done that. We had plans. Plans for…"

With a grunt, he stormed off, leaving me standing there. I kept an eye on where he went. He went to a table near the corner. I took a seat at one off to the side, giving Sin and Matt a quick wave so they'd know where I was.

I sat down once they'd acknowledged me. I had a decent view of Tony from the side, but unless he turned, he wouldn't see me. He seemed pretty sure that Charlie hadn't done herself in. The talk about plans made me think about her passport. Was she really planning on going somewhere with a guy she'd broken up with? I was confused. But in my view, if he'd killed her, he'd want to push the suicide angle, and he hadn't.

So were we wrong in thinking he was involved? My gut said no. But the pieces of the puzzle weren't any closer to fitting now than they had been when we'd first started looking into this.

And if Tony and Charlie really had been dating for a while, why hadn't Charlie been more open about the relationship? Molly thought Tony had been out of the picture for a while. There were no couple photos of Charlie and Tony on her social media.

That raised another question. Why would Charlie want to keep things with Tony a secret? Was she ashamed of being associated with him for some reason? I'd asked the wrong questions. I should have found out where he worked, found out what he did.

Maybe he worked at a lab that tested things on animals. That seemed like the kind of thing Charlie wouldn't want to be associated with.

But I was speculating. I needed facts. Solid, concrete proof that he wasn't the bad guy. There was only one thing I could think of to do.

Sin and Matt joined me with plates of their own. Sin smiled at me. "Need anything?"

"I could use another ginger ale."

"Be right back."

I kept my eyes on Tony. He poured himself a cup of iced tea from the pitcher on the table, taking a plastic cup from the stack next to it.

"You okay?" Matt asked.

I nodded without looking at him. "Just keeping an eye on someone."

"Who?"

"The man I think was Charlie's boyfriend."

"Seriously?" Matt's word came out like more of a hiss.

"Yep." Tony was just about finished. He downed the last of his tea and pushed his plate away, dropping his paper napkin on top of it. He seemed to be leaving. Now was my chance. "Be right back," I told Matt.

I hitched my purse straps onto my shoulder and inched my way toward Tony's vacant seat. I had to get there before one of the servers milling about cleared his place.

I reached the table just as a female server did. "Wait."

She gave me an odd look.

I took the last praline out of the plastic bag in my purse and stuffed it into my mouth. Then, using the bag like a glove, I scooped up Matt's drinking glass, emptied the ice into another cup, and zipped his used cup into the bag.

"Thanks," I told the server around my mouth full of praline.

She watched me like she thought I might take something else, but I smiled like my actions were perfectly normal, wheeled around, and went back to my seat.

My only hope now was the police commissioner would be able to get fingerprints off the cup and that those fingerprints would reveal Tony was the third person who'd been in Charlie's apartment.

Whether or not he'd had a hand in her death, I had no idea, but there was definitely something about the guy that I didn't like.