Her jaw dropped like a fish gasping on dry land. He couldn’t recall ever seeing someone so totally surprised. Then again, he’d been just as surprised when Corky mentioned DeLuca’s second family. “I think you’d better explain,” Carrie said. “Most of this is conjecture, but it makes sense. Charlie’s wife—Bella’s mother—was something of a shrew. Charlie’s law practice and shadier activities often took him to Cicero, which is sort of a suburb of Chicago. That’s where he met a woman who was clerking for a judge—maybe a judge Charlie or one of his associates had ‘bought,’ so to speak. They started seeing each other, and he eventually married her.” “Didn’t his wife—either wife, for that matter—didn’t they suspect anything?” “Not at all. Charlie split his time pretty evenly, and each wife was told his absences were because of business trips.” Carrie picked up her legal pad again. “So what was his name in Cicero?” Adam grinned. “Charlie DeLuca.”
