Public Secrets Part 290

checked and rechecked every interview that had been compiled during the

original investigation. From his own memory he pulled out the visit to

the house in the hills with Emma, making his own notes from her

descriptions and recollections,

From his father's meticulous investigation and Emma's recollections, he

was able to re-create, in his mind, the night of Darren's death.

Music. He imagined Beaties, Stones, Joplin, the Doors.

Drugs. Everything from gra.s.s to LSD cheerfully shared.

Shop talk, party talk, gossip. Laughter and intense political

discussions. Vietnam, Nixon, women's liberation.

People coming and going. Some invited, some just showing up. No one

questioning unfamiliar faces. Formal invitations had been for the

establishment. Peace, love, and communal living the order of the day.

It sounded nice enough, but for a cop in the first year of the nineties,

it was frustrating.

He had the guest list his father had compiled. It was, of course,

woefully inadequate, but a place to start. Playing a hunch, he spent

days verifying the whereabouts on the night of Jane Palmer's death of

every name on the list. He'd turned up sixteen people who had been in

London, including all four members of Devastation, their manager, and

Bev McAvoy. Michael ignored his tendency to cross them off, and spent

several more days checking alibis.

His printout now had twelve names. He liked to think if there was

indeed a connection between two murders, twenty years apart, it was on

that list.

"It gives us something to work with," Michael said. He leaned over his

father's shoulder so that they could both study the printout. "I

want to dig a little deeper, find any and all of the connections between

these twelve people and Jane Palmer."

"You've got the McAvoys on the list. You don't think they killed their

own son?"

"No. It's the connection." He pulled over a file and opened it. He had

a list of names connected with broken lines. It resembled a family --e,

headed by Bev, Brian, and Jane. Below were Emma's and Darren's names.

"I've been hooking them up, using interviews and file information. Take

Johnno." Michael slid his finger down. "He's Brian's oldest friend, his

writing partner. They formed the group together. He remained friends

with Bev during her long estrangement from Brian. He also knew Jane the

longest."

"Motive?"

"Money or revenge is all we've got," Michael went on. "We can easily

apply both of those to Jane Palmer, but it's a stretch for anyone else

on the list. Blackpool." Michael moved his finger down. "He was more

of a hanger-on at the time Darren was killed. His big break came

several months later when he recorded a song Brian and Johnno had

written. And Pete Page became his manager." He ran his finger over the

lines connecting Blackpool with Brian, Johnno, Pete, and Emma.

"No connection with Palmer?" Lou asked.

"I haven't found one yet."

With a nod, Lou leaned back. "There are several names on your list that