“I’m so sorry about your loss. If there’s anything my department or I can do—”
“You can tell me the status of the investigation.”
“Ms. Singleton, please understand, your father’s body was found late last night. I’ve been unavailable since early this morning, when the medical examiner was scheduled to do the autopsy—”
“I’ve already checked with Dr. Winfield,” Reba Singleton interrupted. “He seems to be of the convenient opinion that my father died of natural causes.”
“If that’s the case,” Joanna said, “I would assume no further investigation is necessary. I have the key to your father’s house. Once we get your car freed from here, you’re welcome to drive on up to your father’s house and check things out for yourself. Although maybe that’s not such a good idea. His road’s quite a bit worse than mine. You might get stuck again.”
“Let me get this straight,” Reba said. “On the say-so of Dr. Winfield who, I’m told, also happens to be your stepfather, you’re declaring that there will be no further investigation into the circumstances surrounding my father’s death?”
Joanna contained an impulse to lash back. “Dr. Winfield may be my stepfather, but he is also a perfectly competent medical examiner. If he says your father died of natural causes, you can rely on that being the case.”
Reba Singleton raised one pencil-thin eyebrow. “Really,” she said. “And you can rely on my smelling a conflict of interest when somebody sticks one under my nose.” With that, she swung away from Joanna. “Washburn?”
Slowly the limo driver got to his feet and dusted the sand from his pants and sleeves. “Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“You do have a cell phone, don’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And do you have a signal?”
“I don’t know,” he said, reaching for his pocket. “I can check.”
“Why don’t you do that,” Reba told him. “And then, call Triple A and have someone come pull us out of this godforsaken place.”
Joanna made one more effort to soothe the roiling waters. “Look,” she said, “I have a four-wheel-drive Blazer as well as a winch and come-along up at the house. I’m sure we could pull you out.”
Reba swung back around. “Like hell!” she spat. “I’d rot in hell before I’d have you pull me out.”
That was enough for Joanna. “Suit yourself,” she said. “Come on, Butch. Let’s go on around them and leave them be.”
Butch came back, dusting off his pant legs as well. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he asked.
By then Joanna was already back at the Subaru and opening the door. “I don’t see that we have any choice,” she told him. “From the sound of things, they’re not much interested in our help.”
“Who’s that woman?” Jenny asked when Joanna was back in her seat. “She looks mad.”
“She’s Clayton Rhodes’ daughter,” Joanna said. “And she is mad.”
“How come she’s mad?” Jenny asked. “Because her father’s dead? I wasn’t mad when Daddy died. I was sad.”
“Most people are,” Joanna said.
Butch climbed in behind the wheel. Without a word, he started the engine. He maintained his tight-lipped silence until he had used the agile Subaru’s all-wheel drive to detour around the stricken limo. Only when he was back on the road to Joanna’s house did he finally speak. “That woman’s something else,” he declared.
Joanna nodded. She was remembering the message Lisa Howard had passed along to her from the sergeant in Los Gatos. Now, having met Reba Joy Singleton, Joanna had a far better idea of what Sergeant Carlin had meant when he said, “Good luck.” He had meant that Reba Singleton was going to be a problem. Just how bad that problem would turn out to be was anybody’s guess.
CHAPTER 5
As usual, Sadie and Tigger came racing down the road to greet the car and follow it into the yard. While Jenny took the two gamboling dogs and darted inside to change
“You can tell me the status of the investigation.”
“Ms. Singleton, please understand, your father’s body was found late last night. I’ve been unavailable since early this morning, when the medical examiner was scheduled to do the autopsy—”
“I’ve already checked with Dr. Winfield,” Reba Singleton interrupted. “He seems to be of the convenient opinion that my father died of natural causes.”
“If that’s the case,” Joanna said, “I would assume no further investigation is necessary. I have the key to your father’s house. Once we get your car freed from here, you’re welcome to drive on up to your father’s house and check things out for yourself. Although maybe that’s not such a good idea. His road’s quite a bit worse than mine. You might get stuck again.”
“Let me get this straight,” Reba said. “On the say-so of Dr. Winfield who, I’m told, also happens to be your stepfather, you’re declaring that there will be no further investigation into the circumstances surrounding my father’s death?”
Joanna contained an impulse to lash back. “Dr. Winfield may be my stepfather, but he is also a perfectly competent medical examiner. If he says your father died of natural causes, you can rely on that being the case.”
Reba Singleton raised one pencil-thin eyebrow. “Really,” she said. “And you can rely on my smelling a conflict of interest when somebody sticks one under my nose.” With that, she swung away from Joanna. “Washburn?”
Slowly the limo driver got to his feet and dusted the sand from his pants and sleeves. “Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“You do have a cell phone, don’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And do you have a signal?”
“I don’t know,” he said, reaching for his pocket. “I can check.”
“Why don’t you do that,” Reba told him. “And then, call Triple A and have someone come pull us out of this godforsaken place.”
Joanna made one more effort to soothe the roiling waters. “Look,” she said, “I have a four-wheel-drive Blazer as well as a winch and come-along up at the house. I’m sure we could pull you out.”
Reba swung back around. “Like hell!” she spat. “I’d rot in hell before I’d have you pull me out.”
That was enough for Joanna. “Suit yourself,” she said. “Come on, Butch. Let’s go on around them and leave them be.”
Butch came back, dusting off his pant legs as well. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he asked.
By then Joanna was already back at the Subaru and opening the door. “I don’t see that we have any choice,” she told him. “From the sound of things, they’re not much interested in our help.”
“Who’s that woman?” Jenny asked when Joanna was back in her seat. “She looks mad.”
“She’s Clayton Rhodes’ daughter,” Joanna said. “And she is mad.”
“How come she’s mad?” Jenny asked. “Because her father’s dead? I wasn’t mad when Daddy died. I was sad.”
“Most people are,” Joanna said.
Butch climbed in behind the wheel. Without a word, he started the engine. He maintained his tight-lipped silence until he had used the agile Subaru’s all-wheel drive to detour around the stricken limo. Only when he was back on the road to Joanna’s house did he finally speak. “That woman’s something else,” he declared.
Joanna nodded. She was remembering the message Lisa Howard had passed along to her from the sergeant in Los Gatos. Now, having met Reba Joy Singleton, Joanna had a far better idea of what Sergeant Carlin had meant when he said, “Good luck.” He had meant that Reba Singleton was going to be a problem. Just how bad that problem would turn out to be was anybody’s guess.
CHAPTER 5
As usual, Sadie and Tigger came racing down the road to greet the car and follow it into the yard. While Jenny took the two gamboling dogs and darted inside to change
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