Free Suspicion of Vengeance by Barbara Parker Page A

there until 4:00 p.m. When Kemp asked why she had not mentioned this before, Lacey said she had forgotten.
    Kemp learned what he could about the victim. After graduating with honors from high school, Amber May-field had enrolled at Indian River Community College, lived at home and helped with expenses. She had dated, but there had been no serious relationships. Mr. Mayfield's layoff at Evinrude had depleted family savings, so Amber put her plans for university on hold and found a job. Her employer, JWM Corporation, was building houses west of the turnpike in an area called River Pines. Amber worked as a receptionist.
    While waiting at the sales office, Kemp picked up a glossy brochure. Amber Dodson's photo appeared inside in a swimsuit. She had excellent legs. So did the man in the picture, handing Amber a towel. Blond hair, age around thirty. The caption read: RIVER PINES FOUNDER J. WHITNEY McGRATH ENJOYS SWIMMING AT THE CLUB.
    Amber's supervisor was Vivian Baker, director of sales, an attractive brunette in diamond earrings and a business suit. Ms. Baker told Kemp that Amber had been well-liked at JWM, her work had been satisfactory, and there had been no rumors of affairs or financial difficulties. She knew of Gary Dodson but had never met him. Until the previous summer he had worked for Mr. McGrath's attorneys in Palm Beach. She said that Mr. McGrath rarely came to the site and did not know the victim personally.
    Kemp wanted to speak to McGrath. Ms. Baker refused to give out his address and phone number. Kemp explained the penalties for obstructing a criminal investigation.
    McGrath lived on Jupiter Island.

    "Have you heard of Jupiter Island?"
    "No, where is it?"
    "On the ocean between Stuart and Palm Beach. Mega-rich, but very anonymous. The highest per capita income in the U.S."
    "Kemp suspected McGrath was involved with the victim?"
    "Apparently, but McGrath said he hardly knew her. By the way, there is—or was at that time—a Mrs. McGrath. "
    "That always complicates matters I have a question about Amber's husband. Why does a lawyer working for a firm in Palm Beach own such a middle-class house?"

    Gary Dodson's firm, Hadley and Morgan, had maintained a branch office in Stuart to handle the affairs of its clients in Martin County. They needed someone to fill out the real estate department, starting at forty thousand per year. The pay was low, but legal positions were scarce for new lawyers. Gary Dodson had been working for the firm three years when he met Amber, who had come to deliver some papers from River Pines.
    In one of several interviews, Dodson told Kemp that he had left Hadley and Morgan on July 15 because they wouldn't offer a partnership. He opened his own office in Stuart the first week of August. At the time, Amber was staying home with the baby, who had been born in March. By September, with Dodson's new practice still struggling, Amber wanted to go back to work. Kemp wrote in his report that Dodson seemed embarrassed about his lack of success. He wondered if the happy couple had argued.
    Kemp made another visit to Amber's workplace. Bypassing Vivian Baker, he spoke to two young women in the accounting department who had known Amber. One of them recalled that Amber had made a comment about her husband's impotence. Kemp wrote in his notebook, "Noodle-dick." The women didn't know if she had a lover.

    Friday, February 10

    The media covered the funerals of Amber Lynn Dodson and her baby son, held at the First Baptist Church. Her husband sat with his head bowed and his eyes closed. Her father silently wept. Her mother fainted and was helped back to her seat by Amber's sister, Lacey. The crowd was estimated at more than three hundred.
    Afterward, surrounded by cameras, Captain Garlan Bryce said that the investigation was proceeding, that the police would be thorough, and he could not share any information. Again he promised an arrest. An editorial in that morning's Stuart News had questioned whether