Free Misery Loves Company by Rene Gutteridge

was at the grocery store at the same time as Jules.”
    “How would he know that? You think he followed her?”
    “Maybe. She inadvertently gives a lot of clues to her whereabouts on Facebook, as most people do. But he doesn’t seem to be a friend on her page. I don’t know,” Chris said, running his fingers over the top of his head. “I know this sounds implausible and all that. But I don’t feel like I can just look the other way, let it work itself out. She’s Jason’s wife, you know?”
    “You keep reminding me of that, but that’s no good reason for going behind my back, Downey.” The captain seemed deep in thought. “I know you want to do all you can to help her.”
    Chris stared at the carpet. “That’s the thing. I haven’t, really. I told Jason before he died that I’d take care of her ifanything happened, but Jules didn’t want to be around anybody and I didn’t push back. I just let her be.”
    “You can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped.” Captain Perry leaned back and stared at Chris for a moment. “How are you doing with Jason’s death?”
    Chris shrugged. “You just go on.”
    “I really wish we’d gotten those guys. I wish with everything in me, you know?” The captain traced the armrest of the couch with a thumb. “You’re sleeping okay at night, all of that?”
    “All of that,” Chris said plaintively. After Jason died, he’d been given a piece of paper with a list of things to watch out for, symptoms that he might be sliding into depression. He’d tossed it before he even left the police station. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
    Yeah, he’d had sleepless nights. So what. Shouldn’t he? How could he rest peacefully knowing the guys who murdered his partner were still roaming around out there?
    “Anyway,” Chris said, “I think the Reagan angle is worth checking out. I’d like to get a search warrant and take a look around his home here.”
    “That’s going to get dicey.”
    “I know.”
    “Rumor is, nobody can get ahold of Reagan during his ‘writing season.’”
    “I get it. Probable cause is going to be a factor.”
    The captain looked irritated but focused. He stared hard at Chris. “He was your partner, so I suspect you’re not going to be able to let this go.”
    “No, sir. It seems it’s the least I can do.”
    The captain sighed. “The DA owes me a favor or ten. I’ll see what I can do about getting us a search warrant. It’s going to be a complicated mess. We may move more slowly than you’d like. But I’ll officially open an investigation.”
    “I’ll take what I can get.”
    “Do you think you can keep the Lt. Colonel in line?”
    “If I can show him we’re making some progress, I guess I can.”
    “That guy gets on my nerves. He’s radical and crazy in the head, you know?”
    “If we can show him Jules is okay, I think he’ll be grateful, maybe give us less of a hard time.”
    “We can only hope.”
    Chris smiled and stood to shake the captain’s hand. “Sir, thanks for the time. Sorry to disturb you at this late hour.”
    “No problem. Get some rest, okay?”
    They walked to the door.
    “You know,” the captain said, “I met Patrick Reagan a couple of years ago.”
    “I remember he came to the station a lot for a while, but I was on shift mostly, didn’t run into him.”
    “Yeah. The governor called the DA asking for this special favor. Reagan was researching a book, wanted access to the police department and all that. Interviews. Wanted to look through random evidence and files, just for a feel of how it all worked.”
    “How was he?”
    “Didn’t really see him much. He came in at weird hours, didn’t converse, except I remember he wanted to interview one of the detectives, Walker. Walker agreed. That was about it. He was around for maybe two weeks, then disappeared, except to send like five hundred cookies from France to the department as a thank-you. I hear he’s a brilliant guy, but the man is