Free The Trophy Exchange by Diane Fanning Page B

meat on top of the cheese, folded the bread in half and took a bite before heading into the living room.
    She plopped into the recliner, raised the leg rest, picked up the remote and clicked on Nancy Grace. Nancy ’ s hour of emotion-laden, judgment-filled crime reporting usually eased her stress and took her mind away from the nagging worries of her caseload. Tonight, however, her thoughts about Kathleen Spencer ’ s murder kept churning in her head. She was oblivious to both the audio and video until she heard the word “ ring ” .
    “ That ’ s right, Nancy. The police don ’ t care at all about who murdered my daughter. They just want to know how she got that ring. We keep telling them it isn ’ t her ring. ”
    “ Tell us about that ring, ” Nancy said. “ What does it look like? ”
    “ Well, it ’ s a big flashy thing – expensive one, too, if that diamond is the real thing. ”
    “ The police say it is, Ms. Haver. Didn ’ t it have rubies on it, too? ”
    “ Yes. A little ruby heart on each side. But it wasn ’ t my daughter ’ s ring. I don ’ t know how it got on her hand. ”
    Lucinda pushed down the leg rest and leaned forward in her chair.
    “ Thank you, Ms. Haver, for coming on the show tonight and telling us about your girl. Ladies and gentlemen, if you know anything about this ring or about the murder of Ms. Haver ’ s twenty-eight -year-old daughter, Kristy, please call the Riverton Police Department. Ellie, have you got that number up? There it is. If you know anything, give them a call. Please help Ms. Haver solve the mystery of her girl. ”
    Nancy Grace then cut to a commercial break. Too late, Lucinda realized she should have jotted down the police department phone number. She grabbed a paper and pen hoping it would flash up on the screen again. She sat rigid on the edge of the chair waiting for Nancy ’ s return , waiting for more information. She wanted to know names, places, anything, everything. But when the show resumed, Nancy was off on another case.
    Lucinda raced to her computer and pulled up Nancy Grace ’ s page. She found nothing there about the ring. She clicked the link to email Nancy and pounded out a plea for more information. She ’d barely hit “ send ” before a message popped up in her in - box , one of those automated ones telling Lucinda that because of the volume of email, Nancy was unable to respond to each person individually but appreciated the email just the same.
    “ Damn, ” Lucinda muttered. She got phone numbers off the I nternet for CNN and Court TV. Dialing those numbers only got her to recordings stating the company ’ s business hours. She knew, though, that Nancy ’ s shows had dedicated lines and she always had an open door for law enforcement. She just needed that number.
    She called Ted. When he answered, she didn ’ t waste time with a greeting. “ I need to get hold of the producers of Nancy Grace ’ s show at Headline News or Court TV. ”
    “ I don ’ t have them, Lucinda. What ’ s up? ”
    “ Someone in the department has to have them. ”
    “ Sure, the media relations department does. But they ’ re all gone for the day and they ’ re not about to tear in there to look them up for you. It ’ ll have to keep till tomorrow. ”
    “ Damn. ”
    “ What is it, Lucinda? ”
    “ Ted, I think I just found Kathleen Spencer ’ s ring. ”
    “ Nancy Grace was wearing it? ”
    “ Funny, Ted. I ’ m serious. I think her ring was found on the finger of another murdered woman. ”
    “ Where? ”
    “ Don ’ t know. River-something. I just caught the tail end of the story. ”
    Lucinda filled Ted in on the details. When they hung up, both wished they could sleep the hours away until the media relations office re-opened in the morning. But both knew they were destined for a night of chasing oblivion but never catching up with it. If Lucinda was right, Kathleen Spencer ’ s murder wasn ’ t a case of robbery gone bad or a