Jack frowned and I plowed on, holding up fingers as I ticked off details. “He was from New Jersey. He lives in Osprey Landing. He just moved here, into one of those new homes. It all matches with what Dave said.”
“What does this have to do with Gene?”
I sighed, stumped. “I don’t know. He’s definitely tied to Tyler Carr and sketchy housing developments.”
Jack sipped his coffee. “And possibly a stolen election.”
I downed half of the little shot of espresso in one gulp and flicked my phone to life with my other hand. “Here’s a photo of the gator in his house.”
When the photos app opened, I paused on the picture that popped up. It was the one I’d taken at Barbie’s house, of the picture of Tyler and Gene.
A flash of recognition lit up my brain and pinged around like a pinball in a machine, and I dropped my espresso from shock, splashing Jack’s sneakers.
Chapter Fifteen
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” I yelped, setting my phone on the seat. “Let me grab you a cloth.”
Jack reached for my arm. “It’s OK, really. They’re leather. They’ll clean up just fine.”
“No, let me get you a towel.” I ran into the bathroom and pumped the dispenser, then hustled back and knelt at Jack’s feet.
He chuckled and took the rough brown paper from me. “I’ve got it. Sit next to me.”
After a minute of wiping his sneaker, he looked at me. “See? Like new.”
“I’m so sorry.”
He balled the paper up and set it in front of us, on a repurposed, worn trunk that served as a coffee table. “What startled you so much? You looked like you saw a ghost there.”
I fished the phone out from under my butt and navigated to the photo. “This is Bruce,” I hissed. “I didn’t recognize him before but now I do.”
He took the phone from me and held it close to his face. “Are you sure? It’s really difficult to see the guy’s face.”
“I’m certain. Bruce is bald. And broad-shouldered like that.”
Jack handed me the phone. “It’s common for people to think they see parallels and patterns when it’s really just coincidence.”
“It’s definitely him.”
He leaned back and I did, too. Our thighs touched, but I was too amped up from making the connection between Gene, Tyler, and Bruce to pay any attention to my attraction to Jack.
“Maggie. Let’s look at the facts. Dave said Tyler was tight with a developer from New Jersey. Tyler ran a third-party candidate with the same name to unseat Dave, so he could get kickbacks from the developer.”
“Correct.”
“OK, that’s possible. Plausible, even. Now you’re saying that Gene knew both men.”
“They were in the photo together.”
“Possibly, if you’re identifying Bruce correctly. Let’s say you’re right. My question: why did Bruce call you to trap a gator, and not call Gene?”
My shoulders sagged. “That’s a good question. Although remember, he did say that he called another trapper, but that person didn’t call back. Gene’s the only other trapper in town, so it was most likely him.”
Jack massaged the back of his neck with his fingers. “This doesn’t get us any closer to finding out who killed Gene.”
“It doesn’t. But it gives us two more potential suspects, in addition to his sketchy wife, the bartender he harassed, and the animal rights activist who hated him.”
“And one of those five people is your sister’s boyfriend.”