Devil’s Claw

Unable to move, Joa

Shaking her head, still speechless, Joa

“Why not?”

“All the fixtures were broken off,” he said. “I’ve turned off the water, but the drywall is soaked. It’s so full of water, the walls and the ceiling may come down at any minute.”

Shaking her head in astonishment, Joa

In fact, nothing seemed to have escaped the destructive frenzy, not even the creamy silk dress-still in its distinctive Nordstrom bag-that Joa

“It’ll be okay,” Butch whispered. “Don’t worry.”

Joa

Butch nodded grimly. “Whoever it was must have turned up this morning right after you and Je

Stu

Butch nodded, his eyes dry but red. “They could,” he said.

Unable to say anything more, Joa

“My Colt Two Thousand is missing,” she said as a sudden chill passed over her body. She had stopped using the Colt due to dependability problems, but she also knew that when it did fire, it was a powerful and deadly weapon.

“I know,” Butch said. “I noticed that, too.”

“What about Je

“It’s fine,” Butch said.

It sounded to Joa

“I mean it’s fine,” Butch said. “Whoever did this left Je

“I don’t want to go outside,” Joa

“We have to,” Butch insisted. “Frank Montoya didn’t think you should come in here at all, not until after the crime-scene techs have had a chance to process the scene. But I told him that wouldn’t work-that you’d have to see it firsthand. The only way I got him to agree to that was to promise we wouldn’t touch anything and that we’d come back out as soon as you had seen it for yourself. Come on.”

Joa

“But who would do such a thing?” Joa

“Good question,” Butch said, leading her back the way they had come. “It’s what we were talking about outside just before you drove up. Dick Voland was telling us he had a call from Reba Singleton late last night.” Butch paused. “She’s missing, by the way. Did you know that?”

“Of course I knew that,” Joa

“What you maybe don’t know is that Reba’s husband had her served with divorce papers at her B and B here in Bisbee yesterday afternoon after the funeral and just before she was getting ready to leave town.”

“He what?”

“You heard me,” Butch replied. “He had the divorce papers served on the poor woman just hours after her father’s funeral. The no-good son of a bitch must have been pla

A power surge of mind-clearing anger erupted in Joa

“That’s the general consensus,” Butch agreed.

“How could he do such a thing?”

Butch shrugged. “Some men are all heart,” he said.

Looking around the mayhem that had once been Joa

“Where’s Dick Voland now?” she demanded.

“Outside,” Butch replied. “At least that’s where he was when I left everybody else to go meet you.”

They were crossing the dining room and heading back toward the shattered kitchen when something bright and sparkly reflected back the light from the broken chandelier and caught Joa

Escaping from Butch’s grasp momentarily, Joa

With a sigh, Joa

“Wait a minute,” Butch objected. “I told you I promised Frank that we wouldn’t touch anything as long as we were in here.”

“Too bad,” Joa

Butch looked at her. “It sounds like Sheriff Brady is back,” he said. “I think you’re going to be okay.”