Partner In Crime

My enthusiasm for having signed up with Ross Co

“I’ve just come from another crime scene,” I said into the phone. “I’m pretty sure it’s another homicide. There’s a possibility that it could be related to what happened to Latisha Wall.”

“Could be?” Ross repeated. “You mean you don’t know for sure? That’s why I have you on the scene, Beaumont. It’s also why we paid to fly you down there. We need to know for sure what’s going on.”

As Attorney General Ross slipped into the old blame-game routine, I bristled. “I’m not exactly working under optimal conditions,” I growled.

“Why not?”

“Because Sheriff Brady ordered me to leave the scene the minute I showed up.”

“Why would she do that?” Co

You’re the problem, I wanted to say. And I did, in so many words. “Sheriff Brady is ripped because it took so long for us to get her any information.”

“I was trying to get a handle on the situation,” he said.

Handle, my ass! I thought. What you really mean is spin.

That was about the time Marliss Shackleford waltzed into the lobby. “Sorry to have cut you off,” I told the attorney general. “Someone’s here to see me. I’ve gotta go.”

“HOW MANY TIMES DO I have to tell you boys to stay away from those houses?” an outraged Velma Verdugo railed. “ ‘The places are falling down,’ I say. ‘They’re dangerous. The ceilings could cave in on you. A floor could collapse. You never know what you’ll find. You’re bound to end up getting in trouble.’ That’s what I tell them, but do they listen? Not on your life!”

Unfortunately, Joa

As their mother shrieked at them and shook her finger in their faces, the two boys shrank away from her. Cowering just out of reach, they looked so thoroughly humiliated that Joa

“If you’d allow us to speak to them for a few minutes, Mrs. Verdugo,” Joa

“It better not,” Velma returned. “Their daddy will be off work soon. Believe me, when Gabe gets here, he’ll do more than talk.”

Faced with the old wait-till-your-father-gets-home threat, the boys exchanged wary glances but they didn’t speak. The look that passed between them wasn’t lost on Joa

“I hope he won’t be too severe,” Joa

Chief Deputy Montoya ambled over to where Joa

Frank’s words seemed to have a calming effect on the agitated woman. Velma listened in silence. When he stopped speaking, she turned back to her sons. Squeezing her eyes tightly shut and with tears streaming down her face, she pounced on the two boys and then hugged them to her in a desperate embrace.

Jaime Carbajal appeared just then with his crime scene camera still in his hand. “Sorry for the interruption, Sheriff Brady. Could you please come with me?”

Excusing herself, Joa

“You’d better come inside and take a look,” the detective said. “And you’re going to need these.” Once again he handed her a mask, evidence-preserving Tyvek booties, and his much-used vial of Vicks.

“Dee Canfield?” Joa

“Any sign of Warren Gibson?” the sheriff added.

“Not yet,” Jaime reported. “But we haven’t searched the whole place yet. There could be another body hidden in one of the other buildings. We just haven’t found it yet.”

Joa

“He has,” Jaime said. “Dispatch tells me two of them are on their way.”

Joa

Jaime nodded. “Dave’s on his way to pick them up.”

Long before Joa

“Any signs of violence?”

Jaime shook his head. “No apparent bleeding or bruising as far as I can see.”

Joa

The detective nodded. “The thought did cross my mind.”

“Damn,” Joa

She made her way outside.

Velma Verdugo was now seated in the front passenger seat of Frank’s Civvie while her two sons leaned against the front fender a few feet away. The chief deputy crouched before them. Holding a clipboard, he was asking questions and making notes.

Frank glanced over his shoulder as Joa