reminded him that success on the job meant maintaining good public relations and, that so far his performance was less than satisfactory.
The help Books was seeking came in a late afternoon call from Celia Foxworthy, the EEWA volunteer who had accompanied Darby Greenbriar to the previous dayâs interview. She seemed reluctant to discuss specifics over the phone, so Books suggested a private face-to-face meeting later in the evening at his office. She agreed.
Soon after the call from Foxworthy, Darby Greenbriar called. She had located receipts from her Vegas trip and also wanted to give Books the name and phone number of her husbandâs lawyer. There was something else he wanted to ask her about, so he jumped into the Yukon and drove to the EEWA office.
The sullen widow greeted him with a strained half smile. âYou look exhausted,â said Books. âGet yourself eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.â
âYouâre right. I am exhausted. Iâm going to need some sleep meds if this goes on much longer. I heard you rattled some cages at a news conference this afternoon.â
âHad your spies over there, did you?â
âYou bet. Consider yourself living in a fishbowl for the duration.â
That didnât seem unreasonable to Books, considering the untidy mess heâd gotten himself into. They sat opposite each other at a rectangular mahogany table in the conference room.
She handed him a slip of paper with a name and phone number on it. âMy husbandâs lawyer is Victor Stein. Thatâs his Berkeley office number.â
Books thanked her. âWhat were you able to find out about Davidâs estate? Did you locate a will or trust, anything on his life insurance?â
She shook her head. âI couldnât find anything. The more I thought about it though, I think David maintained a safety deposit box in town. He was always paranoid about somebody breaking into our home and snooping into our personal affairs.â
âWhich bank?â
âWells Fargo, I think. Thatâs where we bank. Victor would know for sure.â
âYou mean your name isnât on the safety deposit box.â
She hesitated. âI donât think so.â
Books couldnât recall a murder case heâd worked where the spouse knew less about the family estate than Darby did. He wondered if she was telling the truth.
âIâve been thinking about something,â said Books. âWho, besides you, knew that David was hiking in the Kaiparowitz Plateau?â
âThe only person I recall telling was Celia, and I think I mentioned it during dinner on Friday night.â
âThe night before you left for Las Vegas?â
âRight. Of course David could have told any number of people.â
That was true.
âIf you donât mind, Iâd like to ask the office secretary,â said Books. âMaybe she shared Davidâs hiking plans with somebody.â
âAll right. Let me get Cathy before she locks up and goes home.â
âWhile youâre up, thereâs something else.â
âWhatâs that?â
âI recall seeing Davidâs day planner in his office. Mind if I borrow it?â
âSure, if you think itâll help. Iâll send Cathy in and go get the planner for you.â
Books had spoken with Cathy Carpenter previously but hadnât officially met her. She had been a part of the EEWA from the beginning, first as a volunteer and then as office manager once the organization could afford a full-time, paid employee. Books asked her whether she had shared Davidâs weekend hiking plans with anyone besides Darby.
âAs a matter of fact, I did. One of our members, Lance Clayburn, called Friday afternoon looking for David. When I told him David wasnât in, he wanted to know whether David planned to come into the office on Saturday.â
âWhat did you tell him?â
âThat David was hiking
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