Free Jeanne Glidewell - Lexie Starr 04 - With This Ring by Jeanne Glidewell

suspect Bonnie of the crime, but reasoned she could have become completely confused, particularly if home alone at the time, and convinced herself she needed to kill him for some reason. We can’t overlook any possibility, no matter how remote and irrational it may seem. Bonnie might now have no recollection of her actions that morning. No one can fathom how she could have the strength to perform such an act. But she was the one who found him and reported his death, which automatically makes her a suspect.”
    “That’s what I told her, which is what confused her into thinking she was the killer. But, no, she couldn’t have killed him. I’m almost certain of that.”
    “How do you know that for sure? I agree I can’t imagine how someone of her age, and in her physical condition, could have taken down the pastor, even though he was not a very large man and could have been taken completely off guard. Stranger things have happened and, like I said, we have to look at every possibility. So what makes you so certain Bonnie couldn’t possibly have harmed Steiner?” Wyatt asked.
    “Bonnie told me she’d watched the movie The Day After early that morning. I checked the TV guide and it really had been playing on HBO between four and six-thirty. It was during that period of time that Nate estimated Thurman had been killed. I can’t see Bonnie leaving her home in the middle of a movie she’s interested in to go commit a murder, and then return to her home to watch the remainder of the film. It’s just not logical. If Bonnie were experiencing one of her confused and forgetful episodes, she surely wouldn’t have been able to focus enough to concentrate on a movie and then remember any of the details about it at a later time. At least I wouldn’t think she could.”
    “There are usually a lot of things that aren’t logical surrounding a crime of this nature. But how do you know she really watched the movie?” Wyatt asked.
    “I’m no expert on Alzheimer’s, but she gave me accurate details about the movie that she most likely wouldn’t have remembered if she’d watched it years ago, or even probably a week ago. Even now she may be losing memories of the movie due to the Alzheimer’s. It’s the nature of the beast.”
    “Yes,” Wyatt agreed. “But Harold told us Bonnie could recite stories of events that happened forty or fifty years ago almost verbatim, but couldn’t remember what she’d had for lunch by suppertime. Alzheimer’s can cause a person to have a very selective memory.”
    I nodded. “I know that to be true, Wyatt. My grandfather had Alzheimer’s and spoke in detail about a German shepherd he once owned as a child, but he didn’t recognize any of us, even Grandma. As Harold told us, this entire incident has had a very adverse affect on his wife, which caused her Alzheimer’s to be even more pronounced than usual. For her to relate such specific details about the movie, I feel like she had to have just seen it. And talking about seeing Thurman’s door being open, his newspaper in the drive, and so on, it almost definitely had to have occurred, or she’d have been unable to give the authorities any statement at all.”
    “We hadn’t cast much suspicion on her anyway. So, yes, I believe you’re probably right.”
    “She is, Wyatt,” Stone said. “I truly believe Bonnie Bloomingfield could no more have killed Thurman Steiner than you or I could have. She was just having one of her bad days again today, I’m afraid. As Lexie told you, we didn’t mean to mislead her. I knew at the time I agreed to accompany Lexie that I would come to regret the decision. I’ll use more discretion next time. I should have learned that by now.”
    “Don’t be too hard on yourself, Stone. I know how persuasive Lexie can be. And I know you didn’t intend to mislead Mrs. Bloomingfield. The conclusion you’ve come to is pretty much what the investigating team determined too,” Wyatt said.
    Stone ran his