Read Online A Violent End at Blake Ranch by Terry Shames - Free Book Online

crush on Charlotte. “You like her son?”
    â€œHe’s a cute kid.”
    â€œEver had any kids of your own?”
    He sighs. “They’re grown. I have a boy in the military service and a girl who just got married. I don’t know them very well. My wife and I split up a number of years ago and she moved off to Houston and remarried. Nice man. We’re all cordial with each other. I didn’t keep up with the kids the way I should have, though, although it doesn’t seem to have affected them too much.”
    â€œSo Monday you said you were dropping by and happened to get there right after Skeeter found the body?”
    His answer takes longer than it should. He pats the stack of papers in front of him from the Blake file. “They called me.”
    â€œYou mean they called to tell you that Nonie’s body had been found?”
    He nods and runs his hands along his mouth as if he doesn’t want the truth to escape. “Yes, and they wanted me to come over. I had to cancel a couple of appointments, but Charlotte sounded upset.”
    â€œWhy did they call you? What did they expect you to do?”
    He frowns. “I told you, I’m a friend of the family. I think they didn’t quite know what to do, and I like to think I have a soothing effect on them.”
    â€œHow long had you been there when I arrived?”
    â€œNot long. Ten, fifteen minutes.”
    This is new information. It would have taken him thirty minutes to get to the Blake house. I was there no more than fifteen minutes after they called. “Did you tell them to call me?”
    â€œYes, I did. I told Charlotte to call the law the minute she got off the phone with me. Like I said, they didn’t seem to know what to do. When I got there I asked if they had called an ambulance or the police, and they said they still hadn’t. I told them they ought to call you and you’d take care of the rest.”
    â€œThe girl was dead. How hard could it be to figure out that they needed to call the police?”
    Moffitt holds his hand up to settle me down. “I know, I know. I’m trying to figure out how to describe the situation. They were scared.”
    â€œScared of what?”
    He sits forward, his face screwed up. “They were afraid they would all be suspects.”
    Suspects. So they knew Nonie had been murdered. They all acted like it was a big surprise, telling me they thought she had hit her head on a rock. What Moffitt is telling me is that they knew somebody killed her, and they were worried.
    â€œThey called you first because they needed to get their story straight?”
    He grunts. “Not exactly. More like they needed to figure out if they ought to call a lawyer before they called you.”
    Their hesitation still doesn’t make sense to me. Then I remember Schoppe’s questions last night, and suddenly I understand. “They thought maybe John did it.”
    He nods. “I think it crossed their minds. John is . . . how do I say it? He’s unpredictable. I don’t think he’d hurt a fly, but he didn’t like Nonie much. We couldn’t tell whether it was because she disrupted the routine or if there was some other reason.”
    â€œBut in the end, they decided to call me. Which side were you on—calling me or getting a lawyer?”
    â€œYou have to understand, I’m a businessman. I never think it hurts to have a lawyer standing by to help you deal with unusual situations.”
    â€œWho made the decision not to call a lawyer?”
    â€œThat was Charlotte. She said if they didn’t have anything to hide, why bother with a lawyer? I guess I see the wisdom of that now that I’ve met you. You didn’t jump to any conclusions.”
    I may not jump to conclusions, but I’m disturbed that they all knew Nonie had been murdered and pretended they didn’t.
    â€œYou say you were out there at the house a couple of