Read Online Left Hanging by Patricia McLinn - Free Book Online Page A

pick up the waitress. Wasn’t taking no for an answer. Lloyd says she reported he got handy . The manager asked him to leave. Landry started—”
    “Shouting.”
    He quirked a grin. “Right. Finally left. And that’s the last report of anybody seeing him. Notice anything about these reports?”
    “The only time he wasn’t shouting was at lunch with Stan Newton.”
    “You got it. The waitress was the same one he tried to pick up later, and she says it was because he spent lunch leering at your favorite rodeo queen.”
    “Heather Upton? What was she doing there?”
    “She and Cas Newton had lunch with his daddy and Landry.”
    “That’s an odd group, isn’t it?”
    “Not necessarily. Cas wants to rodeo at a higher level. Landry could be a good connection, since he knows lot of folks running rodeos. Same for Heather. He could get her invited as a special guest with an honorarium at other rodeos.”
    “Has Richard talked to the Newtons and Heather?”
    “Not yet.” He looked at his notebook, flipping a few pages. “The one other thing Lloyd said was that Landry’s phone was found deeper into the pen than any of them would have expected.”
    “And the significance of that?”
    “One of those inconsistencies you like to follow.”
    “It has to be follow-able to follow it. Do they know who he called? Who called him? Who he was shouting at?”
    He frowned. “You heard Jenks. The phone was smashed.”
    “They should be able to get stuff off the chip.” Dex had taught me that. He’d taught me a lot and answered a load of questions in the years since I’d met the FBI lab scientist. “Melting’s about the only way to wipe it out. After they do the paperwork to line up an expert, they should be able to pull the phone records.”
    “Did you know Richard Alvaro’s second-to-the-oldest brother works for the phone company?”
    “Of course he does.”
    “They’ll get the phone records fast-tracked and won’t need an outside expert. Did you get anything from Richard, or were you whiling away the time while I worked?”
    “Time spent developing a source is never whiled away.”
    “So you got nothing.”
    “Lesson Number Two for the evening, my friend, always give it a try, because sometimes you get a little something.”
    I recounted the conversation with Alvaro.
    “Whoa. That changes things.” Mike sent me a look. “Doesn’t it?”
    “Not for sure. Not unless, or until, Richard’s not quite right turns out to have more behind it than a feeling.”
    “But you asked him right off about it not being an accidental death. You were already thinking it was murder.”
    “No. Richard was trying to shut the door. I lobbed in a little tear gas to make him keep it open. A question’s just a question, not a conclusion. A conclusion’s built on facts. Sometimes you ask a question that’s a hundred yards ahead of where the facts have brought you, just to get the response.”
    “So, what have the facts built?”
    “Keith Landry is dead.”
    “Gee, thanks. Fine had gotten that far.”
    “Ah, but Fine doesn’t know the second half of my so-far conclusion. There are a lot of questions to be asked.”
    We pulled into the station lot where my car sat in solitude. “You need a different car, Elizabeth. You should have four-wheel drive and something heavier. You’ll definitely need it come winter.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    I was aware of him turning to me. “You’re not paying attention.”
    I’d heard. And if I decided to stick around long enough to worry about winter in Wyoming, I would consider a different vehicle. But that was not a discussion I wanted to have with Mike Paycik. Especially now. It wasn’t even a conversation I wanted to have with myself. Besides, my thoughts were on a different track. “You heard Richard say the acting sheriff’s out of town?”
    “Yeah.”
    I faced him. “Turns out the coroner called to the scene was that new deputy coroner. And Richard clammed up tight when I asked why they