Free Twenty-Five Years Ago Today by Stacy Juba

article."
    "You wouldn't be. It's strictly for
information purposes."
    "How can I be assured of that?"
    "You have my word. I realize you don't know
me, but I promise this is just to gain perspective from outside the
family."
    Sensing a waver of doubt in his skeptical
glance, she pressed forward. "This is old news. Unless the mystery
is solved, which I admit after twenty-five years seems unlikely, my
paper won't be interested. But Mrs. Ferguson is a nice lady. I'm
looking into it for her sake."
    "You have a lot of strikes against you,"
Jared said after a long silence.
    "I'm well aware of that."
    "I'll give you some background, but I need to
be clear on one thing. I don't want you mentioning Diana in front
of my daughter. My wife and I never saw the point of her
knowing."
    "That's no problem. I understand." Kris asked
her first question before he changed his mind. "Could you tell me
about that night?"
    "Diana had broken up with me about a month
before her death, and hadn't been taking my calls. I'm not talking
about the calls at the bar. I don't know who was harassing her
there, but it wasn't me. I found out she'd spread that lie later,
when the police treated me like a murderer. She made her friends
believe I was a stalker."
    Jared lowered his head. "God knows what her
motives were. I've never understood."
    Kris opened her mouth, but quickly shut it.
"Go on."
    "I spent Christmas break with my parents in
Springfield, hoping to get Diana out of my mind. It didn't work.
When school started again, I went to see her in person. On Thursday
night, around 6:30, I got up the courage to drop by the bar. Her
friends gave me dirty looks. I had no clue why. On top of that,
Diana made a scene, yelled at me to leave her alone."
    Jared clapped a hand to his chest. "I was
stunned. I had never heard Diana raise her voice. I slunk out like
a scolded dog and went back to my apartment."
    "What did you do then?"
    "Drank beer, like any guy would do after a
rejection. My roommate came by around 8:30 and found me. He told me
to forget Diana. He and some other guys were grabbing a bite to eat
and going out partying. They talked me into joining them.
    "Diana was driving past the pizza place, and
saw us go in. I didn't want to talk to her, but she looked sad. I
let her lead me to another table. Diana said she couldn't explain
why she'd treated me badly, but that she felt horrible." Jared
hesitated. "The police never believed me, but she mentioned that
maybe we could get back together. She said she needed to straighten
out something first."
    "The newspaper accounts reported that you
left the restaurant together," Kris said.
    "I wasn't up for partying. Diana offered me a
ride home, and I told my friends we were leaving. I was hoping
she'd come into the apartment so we could talk, but she didn't. She
dropped me off a little before 9:30, and that was it. I never saw
Diana again."
    "Did anyone see her drop you off?"
    "No, I lived on Taylor Street, about a mile
from campus," Jared said. "It was a huge building. Diana let me out
in the parking lot, and I went up to my apartment on the first
floor. I turned off the lights and went to bed."
    He had no alibi, no one to verify his
whereabouts. Irene Ferguson had hinted as much.
    Jared seemed to read Kris's thoughts.
"Unfortunately, my roommate didn't get home till late, about 2:15,"
he said. "Remember, it was Thursday, party night at Fremont State.
Things were crazy off-campus."
    "So Diana left, and from there she was
killed. What do you think happened?"
    "She went somewhere, or picked up someone she
knew. Whoever she saw next killed her."
    Kris considered his words. Oddly enough, his
story made sense, but if he hadn't harassed Diana, someone else
had.
    "Did Diana have enemies?" she asked.
    "Her previous boyfriend, Vince Rossi, had
trouble written all over him." Jared's face turned to granite.
"Have you heard about him?"
    "A little bit."
    "He was crude, violent, and as jealous as
hell. Once, while we were dating, I