Dead to Rights

“So how did you get to Arizona?”

“My grandparents-my mother’s parents-were among the original buyers in Sun City,” Butch said. “I was in sixth grade-just a few years older than you-when my grandfather got sick. My parents pulled me out of school in January so we could come see him before he died. I’ll never forget it. It was bitterly cold in Chicago. The streets were lined with thousands of cars that were frozen to the ground and covered by mounds of snow-plowed ice, while people in Sun City were walking around in shirtsleeves, playing golf, and barbecuing on their outdoor patios. I thought I was in heaven. I decided right then that Arizona was the place for me. I told my mother at the time, but I don’t think she believed me. It took a few years, but I finally made it.”

Their salads arrived then, followed by a steaming pizza. Talk was lighthearted and fun. Joa

“Can’t Mr. Dixon come out to the house so we can show it to him?” Je

“Maybe he isn’t interested…” Joa

“But I want him to meet the dogs,” Je

“I love dogs,” he said.

“Still,” Joa

“Sure,” Butch said. “I’d love to meet Tigger and Sadie, but what do you think?” he added with a sidelong look in Joa

“I don’t mind,” she said.

They carava

“It’s breathtaking,” he said quietly. “Beautiful and peaceful both. When you live in the city, it’s hard to believe there’s anyplace on earth that’s still this empty.”

“It’s not that empty,” Joa

“Only a mile? That close?” Butch laughed. “Listen,” he added. “The next time you start wondering about whether or not your commute is worth it, call me. I’ll be glad to tell you it is.”

Laughing too, Joa

Thanks to Angie Kellogg’s cleaning efforts the previous morning and due in no small part to the fact that hardly anyone had been home in the meantime, the house was still reasonably straight. They had gone only as far as the kitchen when Je

“Come on,” she said. “I’ll give you the tour.”

While Je

Butch paused in front of a bookcase and studied the shelf devoted to family pictures. “Andy and you?” he asked, pointing at their wedding picture.

“Yes.”

“You must have been very young.”

Joa

“You were lucky,” he said, collapsing into the chair opposite her-the same worn easy chair that had always been Andy’s favorite. Joa

“At least you had ten years,” Butch was saying.

At least? Joa

This was a whole new perspective. She had spent so much time during the last few months missing the years she and Andy hadn’t spent together that it was difficult for her to see those few years in a different light, with her cup half f u l l instead of half empty.

“Some people never have that many,” he finished.

Before Joa

“Hello,” she said, picking up the receiver. “Joa

“We’ve got a problem,” Dick Voland told her. “Hal Morgan’s taken off.”

“Taken off?” Joa

“Just that. He’s gone. He assaulted Deputy Howell and headed for the hills. From what we can tell, he used a bottle to knock her colder ‘an a wedge, then took off in that Buick of his. I’ve posted an APB. With any kind of luck, he won’t make it out of the county.”

“How’s Debbie?” Joa

“She’s got a concussion. She’s been transported to the hospital. “

Joa

“Half an hour, I guess,” Dick Voland replied. “Maybe forty-five minutes.”

“Why wasn’t I informed before now?”

“I was still here in the office,” Voland said. “I’ve been handling it. I didn’t see any reason to bother you.”

Another time, Joa

“So tell me again what happened,” Joa

“According to what we’ve been able to piece together, Debbie must have been out behind the motel, grabbing a smoke. Someone-I’m betting Morgan himself-whacked her over the head from behind. The doc’s still picking slivers of broken beer bottle out of her scalp. Anyway, she was left lying unconscious, right beside the dumpster. One of the bus-boys from the coffee shop came out later on to empty the trash. He’s the one who found her and called nine-one-one. By then Morgan was long gone. He left a note, though.”

“A note? What kind of note?”

“A suicide note. Typed it on the screen of a little laptop computer he left in his room.”

“What did it say?” Joa

“That Bucky Buckwalter deserved to die. Morgan said he had no intention of going to prison for something that was no more of a crime than putting a sick dog out of its misery.”

Joa

“I have company right now,” Joa

“Just a minute,” Voland interrupted. “Something’s coming in from Dispatch.”

As she waited, holding the telephone receiver to her eat she was aware that Butch Dixon was watching her-watching and listening. “Problems?” he asked.

She nodded, just as Dick Voland came back on the line. “Deputy Long, from the northern sector, just spotted the Buick at the gas station in Elfrida. There are too many civilians around for him to risk doing anything. I told him to hang back and keep Morgan under surveillance.”