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“If she’s ready to admit to Alice Rogers, what about Clete? Has she said anything about that?”
“Not so far. If Ross Jenkins took out his brother-in-law, maybe he did that one on his own. I’d better get back in there so I don’t miss something important. Anything else?”
“No,” Joa
“You sound tired,” George said after a moment. “It’s been a rough week around here, even without getting engaged.”
“Have you done the Clete Rogers autopsy yet?” Joa
George shook his head. “That’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning.”
“Any initial observations?”
“Yes,” George Winfield said. “Some readily visible contusions. Those are always possible signs of a struggle. Been dead since sometime last night. It sounds to me like you’re thinking that whoever killed Alice also killed her son.”
“That’s the way it looks,” Joa
“Who stood to benefit most from Alice’s death?”
“Her children,” Joa
“Her husband!” George exclaimed. “I was under the impression that she was a widow.”
“So was everybody else, including her kids. According to Alice’s sister, Jessie Monroe, Adams and Alice were already married. Jessie even has a wedding picture to prove it. But when Alice talked to her daughter and son-in-law about Adams on Saturday night, she didn’t exactly play straight with them. At that point Alice claimed she was only thinking about marrying the man.”
“Let me get this straight,” George Winfield mused. “If Alice Rogers died prior to marrying again, her two kids would have split the take fifty-fifty. And if Clete had been fingered for Alice’s murder, then Susan and Ross Jenkins would have taken the whole wad.”
“That’s about it,” Joa
“Ungrateful kids. Do you think the daughter was in on it?”
“Susan Jenkins?” Joa
George pulled over behind Butch Dixon’s Subaru and switched off the engine. “Look, Joa
Eleanor Lathrop Winfield lived up to her reputation. She was appalled by her daughter’s black eyes and didn’t mince any words in saying so. The fact that Joa
Joa
The things that had happened to her in the past few days-the evil and greed she had seen at work in other people-had changed her somehow, had set Joa
After di
Excusing herself, Joa
Not another one. “What now?” Joa
“Gu
“I think she’s coming off drugs,” Ernie said. “We found a bag of white powder in her purse that may be heroin. If she’s an addict, we don’t want her going through detox while she’s locked in a cell in the Cochise County jail. What do you suggest?”
Joa
“We put her in a hospital under guard.”
“Which one?” Ernie asked. “County? The Copper Queen?”
This was one of those situations where Dick Voland would have known exactly what to do, but Dick wasn’t around to ask anymore. This time Joa
“If it’s going to be on the department’s nickel, it better be County,” she decided. “No matter what, it’s going to be expensive. I guess we’d better see if they have a bed available.”
“And what about transportation?” Ernie asked. “Do we send her there by ambulance or have a deputy drive her in a patrol car?”
Damn Dick Voland anyway! Joa
“Do you want Jaime or me to stay on it?”
“No. You’ve already put in a full day. Did Arlee and Dena strike a deal?”
“Yes. Murder two, immunity from everything else, and she agrees to testify against Ross Jenkins in the Alice Rogers case.”
“What everything else?”
“It sounds like we’ve landed smack in the middle of a whole slew of recreational drug users. Dena says she can give us dealer info, provided she serves her time under an assumed name at an out-of-state facility.”
“I don’t understand,” Joa
“She’s broke,” Ernie said.
“Broke!” Joa
“It’s leased and she’s behind in the payments. Same goes for her house and the rent for her office.”
“What about her husband?”
“I don’t think he has a clue, at least he didn’t before today. She says he’s always turned his paycheck over to her and left her to handle the bills. Sounds like she’s been handling them all right. Her drug habit has been eating up every pe
“Nice guy. What about Mark Childers and Karen Brainard? Did Dena tell you anything about them? Were they in a financial bind as well?”