Read Online Dead Rapunzel by Victoria Houston - Free Book Online Page B

seven-thirty to shortly after nine this morning.
    â€œHe said he kept an eye on it, since the car didn’t belong to any of his neighbors and he couldn’t imagine why a visitor wouldn’t use the parking lot that’s right across the street instead of blocking the way for snowplows. Anyway, he said that watching from his living room window he could see that the person sitting in the car was some old guy ‘with a real craggy face’—those are his words—who sat there smoking a couple cigarettes before he got out of the car and was gone for a while.
    â€œSo I walked over to where the guy said the car had been parked and found these three cigarette butts that might have been tossed out the window.” Ray pointed to the zip-top on the salad plate. “Could be nothing, of course.”
    â€œOr, smoked by the old guy who pushed Rudd Tomlinson,” said Lew. “Did you touch these yourself, I hope not?”
    â€œChief, how well do you know me? Of course not—and I did not use my fish glove either. I keep that box of nitrile gloves you gave me in my glove compartment, so I went back and got those before I picked these up. I was very careful.”
    â€œGood work, Ray. Anything else show up in the photos?”
    â€œNot that I can see. You had a few bystanders come and go up until the truck was moved and the ambulance left. I did my best to get shots of everyone, but they looked to me like the people we know who work along Main Street: Jean from the gift store, Stan and Gert, who run the dry cleaner’s, the waitresses from the Grizzly, and the gals from the Chamber office. Oh, and our favorite blowhard, Vern Steidl, who said his firm is doing some renovations on Dan Kelly’s law office. He hung around for a while pontificating as usual, then talked up the kid who was washing dishes. Guess he fished with the kid’s dad. That’s all.”
    â€œExcuse me, folks,” said Judith, rising from her chair. “Which way is the ladies room?” After she walked away, Lew turned to Ray. “What were you thinking, telling jokes to that poor woman? You know she just lost her best friend.”
    â€œI know, Chief,” Ray raised serious eyes to Lew. Guess I just wanted to take some of the pain out of her face—for a few minutes. I was watching her this morning . . . ” He shook his head in sympathy. “Maybe I did the wrong thing?”
    â€œIt worked,” said Osborne, chiming in from the sidelines. “She’s perked up for the moment, anyway. Really, Lewellyn, you know it can’t hurt to help her take her mind off that awful scene this morning.”
    â€œI guess you’re right,” said Lew.
    â€œI’m wondering why you’re letting her sit in on this discussion,” said Ray. “I hate to say it, but you don’t know that she didn’t hire someone—I mean, the Tomlinsons are a very wealthy family. I’ll bet there’s a hell of a lot of money involved here.”
    Lew glanced over her shoulder to be sure Judith wasn’t on her way back to the table. “Something I learned when I was studying criminal psych was that the person guilty of committing a premeditated murder will tend to be content, even relaxed, after the crime. And for good reason: they just got the person bugging them off their back.
    â€œDo either of you have the sense that Judith Fordham is anything but devastated by her friend’s death?” When neither Ray nor Osborne contradicted her, she said, “I’m not saying I’m a hundred percent right, but I’m willing to go with my intuition on this. Plus, she’s not hesitant to share her opinions of the Tomlinson family members. I’m anxious to hear what she can tell us.”
    Judith returned to the table just as the waitress showed up to take their order. After ordering and requesting that all their dinners be put on one bill, Lew said, “My turn