"Me, either. But I guess being a sleazy, arrogant prick doesn't necessarily make him a murderer."
Matt smiled. "No, it doesn't. But it also doesn't exonerate him. Do you want to get out of here?"
Despite the hopeful note in his voice, she shook her head. "Not yet. Let's go look at some art. I could use a break from the pointless conversations we've been having."
"They haven't been that bad. I'm getting a better idea of who everyone is now. Out of those we've met so far, I'd say that Brooke and Trent would be the most likely to help, while Henry and Jill have much sharper edges."
"What about Kyle?"
"Not sure about him. He wasn't at Westbridge when Landon was killed, so he's of less interest to me."
"That's true. But he's engaged to Brooke, and he works with Drew, so he's connected to the group in multiple ways."
"Have you seen Drew Sanderson?"
"No. Not yet. Maybe he's also looking at the art." She smiled as Matt let out a resigned sigh. "It really won't be that painful."
"We'll see."
As they entered the exhibition area, her tension immediately eased as they wandered through the rooms, admiring the art pieces. She knew Matt was probably bored, but the art soothed her soul, the way it always had. And it made her feel closer to Landon, to the times they'd shared at museums all around the city.
"Are you dying of boredom?" she asked about thirty minutes later.
He shrugged. "I'm fine. Some of it is…okay."
"Okay is not good enough. You have to look closer." She stopped before a painting of a woman at a window, her expression unreadable. "This one is layered with emotion."
"She just looks sad to me."
"But why is she sad? Look at her hands—see how tightly she's gripping the windowsill? And the way the light falls across her face, half in shadow. The artist could have painted her crying, made it obvious, but instead, he's showing us her restraint. The way she's holding herself together, even though something's breaking inside her." Haley's voice grew passionate. "You can feel the weight of whatever she's carrying. Sometimes the most powerful emotions are the ones people try to hide."
Matt gazed at her, then back at the painting. "You think she's waiting for someone?"
"Or she just realized he's never coming back." She blinked away a tear.
"I thought art was supposed to make you happy," he commented. "You're talking about yourself, not her."
"Maybe both of us," she said, giving him an emotional smile. "And it does make me happy. Because she's not just sad; she's strong. She's not giving up. She's going to move on. She's not the type of person to quit."
"You get all that from this painting?"
"Well, I suppose it's possible that we see what we want to see. And that's okay, too. Because art is supposed to inspire, not just depict."
"I have to say, you've given me a different perspective."
"Then the art did its job."
"Or you did," he said with a smile. "For the record, I happen to think you're also a strong woman who is never going to give up, never going to quit, because that's not who you are."
"It's not. Especially not when it comes to family." As they moved past the painting, she stiffened as a silver-haired man walked into the room with Matt's former partner at his side. "That's Senator Alan Matson. He was the deputy chief of police when Landon died. Why would your partner be with him?"
"She said she was working this party. Maybe he's part of an investigation."
"I think it's a weird coincidence, Matt. Shari is the one who takes Sabrina's call and says she never talked to her. Now she's here with Senator Matson, the one who shut down my brother's investigation…"
He frowned at her words. "How do you know Matson is the one who shut down your brother's investigation?"
"Julia said she thought he was behind it when I spoke to her earlier."
