Devil’s Claw

“I did help,” Kristin admitted. “Reverend Maculyea wanted to have the party sometime during the week, but I told her she’d be better off having it on a weekend when I could make sure Chief Deputy Montoya was on call and looking after things.”

“Is that why my beeper hasn’t gone off even once today?” Joa

Kristin glanced shyly in her boss’s direction. “Could be,” she said. “I told Frank not to call you out unless it was a dire emergency.”

“Thanks, Kristin, it must be working. I was begi

“I’ll go get the last load of presents,” Kristin told her. “You wait here.”

Joa

“Hello, Dick,” she said, struggling to keep her tone of voice even. It was bad enough seeing him again after so many months. The fact that she had to peer up at him from under the brim of that ridiculous bride-inscribed baseball cap made it that much worse. “How’s it going?” she asked.

“Fine,” Voland answered. When he hoisted his pants, Joa

“You look good,” she said. “You’ve lost weight.”

Nodding, Dick Voland patted what had once been a bulging belly. “I’ve been working out again,” he told her.

“I’ll say,” Joa

Just then Kristin emerged from the restaurant bearing the last load of gifts. On top of the stack was the box from Victoria’s Secret. Kristin paused uncertainly when she caught sight of Dick Voland.

“Hello, Mr. Voland,” she mumbled. “Good to see you.”

As she bent over to put the armload of gifts in the car, the topmost lid caught on the side of the trunk door and spilled a flimsy froth of tissue-wrapped green nightgown out onto the ground. “Oh, no,” she wailed. “I’ve probably ruined it.”

Dick Voland reached down and picked it up, dusting it off as he did so. “No harm done,” he said, holding it out to her. “A little bit of dust never hurt anything.”

Embarrassed, Kristin ignored the proffered gown and fled back inside, leaving Joa

“Thanks,” Joa

“What can I do for you, Dick?” she asked, trying to put their conversation on some kind of businesslike basis.

For his part, Voland didn’t appear to be any happier about the situation than Joa

“Marliss told me about the shower. I didn’t mean to upset anything, but I needed to talk to you.”

“The shower’s over. It’s fine. What do you want to talk about?”

“It’s awkward.”

“What’s awkward?”

Dick took a deep breath. “Look, Joa

He paused, then continued. “I wanted to warn you,” he added. “Wanted to let you know what was going on so you wouldn’t be blindsided by all this. I came by last night and left a message. I guess Butch didn’t see fit to give it to you.”

The last thing Joa

Dick glanced toward the interior of the restaurant. Standing up, the bank of balloons was still clearly visible through the windows. “I’m surprised Marliss wasn’t invited to the shower,” he mused, as if puzzled by an unintentional oversight. “I’m sure she would have enjoyed it.”

That one took Joa

“It was a small shower,” Joa

“You do know about Clayton’s will then?” he asked.

“I do now. Burton Kimball called this morning and clued me in.”

“She’s something, Reba is,” Dick said. “And she sure is on a tear about this. She’s going to push it all the way to the end.”

“Which is?”

“She wants me to gather enough evidence that she can present a case to the FBI.”

“The Feds?” Joa

“Serious as can be. She claims her husband is friends with some big-wig assistant director who specializes in investigating wrongdoing in local law-enforcement jurisdictions. She’s also going to court first thing tomorrow morning to request an additional autopsy. Since Doc Winfield is your stepfather, she wants him to be required to turn over both his results and his tissue samples to another medical examiner for a second opinion.”

Sighing and scuffing one foot on the ground, Voland looked even more ill at ease than he had before. “So I guess you could call this a courtesy call,” he continued. “I’ll be coming around to the department tomorrow morning, Joa

The whole time Dick Voland was speaking, Joa

“My prints are on Clayton Rhodes’ ignition key,” she said. “I’m the one who found the pickup in his garage. The engine was still ru

Voland nodded. “I figured as much, but try explaining a concept like that to a crazy woman. It’s hopeless. She didn’t believe a word of it.”

“No,” Joa

Just then Maria

Maria