Dead Wrong

Obviously Debbie Howell was spending her first day in Homicide as Jaime and Ernie’s gofer-in-chief.

“Good,” Joa

Wanting to spell Butch, Joa

“Where is everybody?” Joa

“Je

“In the RV?” Joa

“Because Dad likes watching on his flat-screen TV and he prefers using his own clicker.”

“But what kind of reception do they get?”

“Didn’t you notice the satellite TV ante

“She may have mentioned something to that effect,” Joa

Butch patted her bulging belly affectionately. “You’re always starved these days,” he said. “We’re having two of my father’s favorites-roasted Cornish game hen and baked acorn squash with a side of coleslaw.”

“Do you need any help?”

“No,” Butch said, turning back to his computer. “Everything’s under control. We’ll eat about six-thirty”

“In that case, I think I’ll go into the office for a little while. I need to work on my thank-you notes from the baby shower. Did you see all the great stuff we got?”

“It’s great stuff, all right,” Butch agreed, “but about your office-”

Butch’s warning came too late. Joa

“What are these doing here?” she demanded.

“In case you haven’t noticed, my mother is an incredible busybody,” Butch said. “When I was growing up, she was forever going through my stuff. I finally started leaving things I didn’t want her to see at a friend’s house. This morning she was all over me, wondering what was in the boxes. When I told her where the boxes came from, she was hot to trot to go through them. I told her I was sure you’d rather do that yourself. When she insisted that someone in your condition shouldn’t be lifting heavy boxes, I finally moved them in here to keep them out of her reach. I put today’s mail in here, too, for the same reason.”

“You think she’d go through that?” Joa

“I wouldn’t put it past her,” Butch replied. “The good thing about your office is that we can always lock the door if need be. Come to think of it, I’ll probably lock my computer in here, too, when I’m not using it.”

“Poor baby,” Joa

For the next hour Joa

Di

“I guess I didn’t realize your father used to be a sheriff,” Margaret said with a smile. “I’m sure Butch must have told me, but it didn’t sink in. Is that why you wanted to be involved in law enforcement?”

Joa

“I didn’t really want it,” Joa

“Are you saying you were elected to office by accident?” Margaret asked incredulously. “How is that possible? I was under the impression that election campaigns are a lot more complicated than that.”

Joa

“I wasn’t elected to an office,” she said. “I was elected to do a job, and it’s a job I do willingly every single day.”

She would have said more, but the phone rang, and Je

Taking the phone from her daughter’s hand, Joa

“What’s up?” Joa

“I’m looking at the photos,” Debbie Howell said breathlessly. “You’re not going to believe this.”

“What?”

“Bradley Evans was stalking someone.”

“Stalking?” Joa

“A woman,” Debbie returned. “A dark-haired Anglo woman, a brunette. Looks to be in her late twenties. She’s wearing what looks like a wedding ring. There are several pictures of her walking in a mall and several others of her pushing a shopping cart through a parking lot. Two more show her getting into a vehicle-a blue sedan. I can’t be sure of the make or model.”

“Does the woman know she’s being photographed?”

“I doubt it,” Debbie returned. “It doesn’t look like she does. In fact, I’d say she’s totally oblivious.”

“Is there any way to identify who she is?” Joa

“Not that I can tell. There’s no visible license plate, if that’s what you mean.”

“Can you tell where the pictures are taken? I mean, are they from Sierra Vista or maybe somewhere else you recognize? And what about the Double Cs? Have they seen the photos?”

“Not yet. They’re coming here to meet me right now to take a look. Ernie wanted me to let you know what’s going on.”

“Thanks, Debbie,” Joa

“Terrific, Sheriff Brady. I don’t know how much of a help I’ve been so far, but it’s what I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Thanks for giving me a chance.”

Joa

And then she thought about Bradley Evans. Was it true that he had been a stalker? That idea certainly didn’t square with what Ted Chapman had told her about the man. But now Joa