Free Picture Them Dead by Brynn Bonner Page B

didn’t?” I asked, setting steaming mugs of coffee on the table.
    â€œShe came to stay with her grandmother for a couple of weeks in the summertime. She had a younger brother, too, but I don’t remember his name. Anyway, they came two or three summers in a row. It was always during the time you were visiting your grandmother in Missouri. I was looking for someone to hang out with while you were away, and Laney Easton had somehow met Sherry. I started hanging out with the two of them the first summer Sherry was here, but it didn’t last long. My mother put the kibosh on it quick-in-a-hurry. She thought Sherry was too wild. But Laney’s mother apparently didn’t get the memo because Laney hung out with Sherry the whole time she was here. They were thick as thieves.”
    â€œLaney Easton, the village councilwoman?” Denny asked.
    â€œThe very same,” I said. “Hard to imagine, I know, but we were good buddies way back then. Laney outgrew us and joined the in-crowd by the time we got to high school, but we were the three amigos there for a while.”
    â€œNow she’s a power player,” Denny said. “Youngest ever on the village council, on boards and committees and I don’t know what all. So she’d know Sherry Burton?”
    Dee nodded. “She did back then, at least. That first summer, while I sat home totally bored and waiting for Sophreena to get back from Missouri, Laney and Sherry and a couple of boys we knew from school were into all kinds of mischief, sneaking out at night and going on adventures. She got that tattoo when she was here. I don’t know who she talked into giving it to her because she was clearly underage, but she managed it.”
    â€œAnd who were these boys?” Denny asked, scribbling in his notebook.
    â€œGavin Taylor and Bryan Mason. I don’t know if Gavin still lives here or not, but I think Bryan is running the pro shop at the golf course. He was the last time I was home, anyway.”
    â€œHe is,” I confirmed. “Gavin’s still here, too. He’s a mechanic at Joe Porter’s service station.”
    â€œOh, I know Gavin,” Denny said, packing a lot of meaning into the words. “And do you have any idea where Sherry lived or anything else about her recent life?”
    â€œNot really,” Dee said. “I think she had a pretty bad home life growing up. It seemed like her mother brought her and her brother here just to dump them and they hated it here. The grandmother didn’t seem too thrilled about it either. She never did anything with them, as far as I could see.”
    Denny scribbled some more. “Okay, then, looks like the brother, assuming he’s still among the living, would be the next of kin, unless she was married. No wedding ring, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she wasn’t,” he said.
    â€œI hope I haven’t given you a bum steer,” Dee said. “I mean, not that I hope it’s Sherry, or that I hope it’s anyone I know, or anyone at all. I mean, it’s terrible that someone was killed like that.” She looked over at me with a pleading look. “What do I mean, Sophie?”
    â€œYou mean you need to get to your mother’s to prepare for one of life’s joyful moments and let Denny get back to the cop work,” I said.
    â€œGuess that’s my cue,” Denny said, stashing his notebook and handing over his empty mug. “I’ll let you know what I find out.”
    After we heard the front door close, Dee looked up at me, her eyes wide. “I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone personally who died like that—before their time, and violently. It’s really unsettling.”
    â€œAll the more reason to get you to Marydale’s and involved in something happy. You are happy about this, aren’t you?”
    Dee pursed her lips. “I am. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a