Free Bring Your Own Poison by Jimmie Ruth Evans Page A

probably had at least ten pairs of boots apiece, but that didn’t seem to stop them from buying more. It was their money, and they could spend it how they liked.
    â€œDo you feel like talking about it?” Jack asked her. “We don’t want to push you, but we’re really curious.”
    â€œI guess so,” Wanda Nell said. She gave them a quick rundown of the facts, but she did not tell them about the scene with Bill Warren and his insulting Tuck. If Tuck wanted to tell T.J. about that, she would leave that up to him. She might confide in Jack later, but for now she kept quiet about it.
    â€œPretty awful,” Jack said. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
    â€œMe too, Mama,” T.J. said. “But I have to tell you, if anybody ever deserved killing, it was Travis Blakeley.”
    â€œDid you know him at all?” Jack asked.
    â€œA little,” T.J. said. “His brother, Gerald, and I used to be buddies back in high school, but Travis was a lot older. He always treated Gerald like a piece of, well, you know. Always beating up on him and everything.”
    â€œDidn’t their parents do anything about it?” Wanda Nell asked. T.J. had never told her any of this.
    â€œNaw,” T.J. said. “Travis was all they cared about. Anything he did was okay by them. Gerald was an accident. At least, that’s what his mama told him.”
    Appalled, Wanda Nell said, “That’s an awful thing to tell a child.”
    â€œI can’t believe a parent would do something like that,” Jack said. “But unfortunately, I’ve seen worse with some of my students. It makes me think some people should be sterilized so they can’t have children at all.”
    â€œYeah, but by the time you know they’re worthless as parents it’s too late,” T.J. said.
    Now Wanda Nell felt even sorrier for Gerald Blakeley. If he had been so badly treated by his family, though, might that not make him hate his brother so much he could have killed him?
    â€œI know what you’re thinking, Mama,” T.J. said. “That Gerald probably hated Travis enough to kill him.”
    â€œYeah,” Wanda Nell said. “You know him pretty well, or at least you used to. What do you think?”
    T.J. shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I don’t think Gerald has it in him to hate somebody that much, even though Travis gave him plenty of reasons.”
    â€œBut?” Jack asked. “I’ve got a feeling there’s something else you know that you’re not telling us.”
    T.J. nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. The girl Travis was going to marry, Tiffany Farwell, was Gerald’s high-school sweetheart. Travis took his girl away from him. I saw Gerald a few days ago, and he was going crazy. He wanted to stop that wedding, because he was afraid of what Travis might do to Tiffany after they were married.”

Seven
    â€œThat’s a pretty good motive for murder,” Jack said. “Especially when you think about Travis Blakeley’s reputation.”
    â€œThe problem is, nobody could ever prove anything,” T.J. said, shrugging. “From the way Gerald was talking the other day, though, he seemed pretty sure his brother was responsible for the deaths of his first two wives.”
    Wanda Nell nestled closer to Jack, feeling suddenly chilled. “Gerald must have been out of his mind worrying about that poor girl. I don’t know what I would have done in that situation.”
    â€œPoisoning the guy at his bachelor party was a pretty desperate act,” Jack said. “If that’s what really happened.”
    Remembering the glass vial Gerald had shown her, Wanda Nell said, “I don’t see what else it could be. Unless Blakeley had a really weak heart and just happened to have a heart attack at that very minute.”
    â€œPretty big coincidence if he did,” Jack said.
    â€œYeah,” T.J. said,