Murder of a Beauty Shop Queen (24 page)

“You take a lot of chances, Sheriff,” Nolan said when Clement turned the corner at the end of the block.

“That's why the county pays me so well,” Rhodes said.

“Maybe they don't pay you enough. You got good insurance?”

“Good enough. Now tell me about Frankie and his friends.”

“Like I said, I never heard of 'em. I mean it. What Mike and Al did, that was on their own hook. I'll find out. If they went against my business practices, they'll get their pay docked, and I might even fire 'em, but I don't know anything about those people you mentioned. Hell, I couldn't even say the names right if I tried.”

Rhodes didn't believe a word of it.

“We're gonna leave now, Sheriff,” Nolan said. “You have a nice night.”

“You, too,” Rhodes said. “But before you go, I have one more question.”

Nolan had already started back to the car, but he turned back. All three of his minions turned, too.

“What?” Nolan asked, with only a little edge in his voice.

“Do your minions get to take the pistols out from behind their backs when they ride in the car? Having a gun rub against you can be uncomfortable on a long drive.”

“You have good eyes, Sheriff. My associates are licensed to carry, of course.”

“I never doubted it,” Rhodes said.

“Is that all you wanted to know?”

“That's all.”

“Good. See you around, Sheriff.”

Rhodes watched as Nolan and the minions got into the Escalade. One of the minions was the driver.

When the SUV was out of sight, Rhodes walked over to the corner of the house near the driveway where Ivy stood in the deep shadows. She was holding the 12-gauge shotgun that Rhodes kept in the bedroom closet just in case he ever needed a little home defense. The shotgun pointed at the ground.

“Nolan's minions can't see as well as I can,” he said. “They never even knew you were here.”

“You didn't look over here,” Ivy said.

“No, but I knew where you were going.”

“How did you know?”

“I'm a careful observer and a keen student of human behavior.”

Ivy grinned. “Plus you know me all too well.”

“That, too. Did you load it?”

“Are you joking? The box of shells is right there on the shelf. How could I forget?”

“Just asking,” Rhodes said.

“I would have used it, too,” Ivy said.

“A shotgun?” Rhodes asked. “I was standing right by them. You'd have hit me, too.”

“I thought just the sound of the pump was supposed to discourage them.”

“It would've discouraged me, all right. I'd have hit the ground fast.”

Ivy laughed. “Next time I'll just release Speedo on them.”

“Speedo would just want to be friends. Yancey, too. Release Sam on them. That might do the trick.”

“I hope there won't be a next time,” Ivy said. “Do you think they'll be back?”

“Maybe not back to the house,” Rhodes said, “but I have a feeling I haven't seen the last of them. Nolan's not happy with the way things are going at the reclamation center.”

“Who's Nolan?”

“The one who did all the talking. He owns the place, or at least speaks for the owners. He says he's straightened out Mike and Al, and maybe he has. Or maybe he'll just move them somewhere else. There used to be another fella in charge of the place, but he's gone now. Maybe he retired.”

“Or maybe he's sleeping with the fishes.”

“You've been watching
The Godfather
again.”

“I don't think they ever said that in
The Godfather,
or on
The Sopranos,
either.”

“Well,” Rhodes said, “they should have if they were trying to be authentic.”

“Right,” Ivy said. “All the real gangsters talk like that.”

“Let's go in the house and put the shotgun in the closet,” Rhodes said.

“Good idea,” Ivy said.

Chapter 24

The next morning, Rhodes got to the jail early, but Mike and Al were already gone.

“AAA Bail Bonds again?” Rhodes asked Hack.

“Yep. Those two didn't seem to be bothered much by their night in our accommodations. I don't think they expected to be around long.”

“You remember what you said yesterday about powerful friends?”

“Yep,” Hack said.

“You were right,” Rhodes told him.

“You know who they are?”

“That's my job,” Rhodes said. “To know things like that.”

“I don't see how you coulda found out.”

“I'm the sheriff,” Rhodes said. “I have lots of sources.”

He liked to give Hack a little dose of his own medicine now and then just to let him know how it felt.

Hack looked hurt, as if he knew what was going on. “You ain't gonna tell me?”

Rhodes sat down at his desk and started to go through some papers. “Maybe later.”

“You're gettin' mean in your old age,” Hack said.

“Mean? Me?”

“I notice you didn't say anything about
old
?”

“That's because I know you're joking.”

“That's what you think,” Hack said. He might have gone on, but the door opened, and Seepy Benton came in.

“I'm not interrupting anything, am I?” he asked.

“Not a thing,” Rhodes said. “We were just having a conversation about something or other. I'm not sure exactly what.”

“Hmpf,” Hack said.

“I came about the phone,” Benton said.

He was wearing his hat, a white shirt, blue jeans, and jogging shoes. He sounded eager to get started with his work on the phone.

“You're a little early,” Rhodes said.

“I thought it might be a good idea for me to come as soon as I could. For all we know, Lynn might even have named her killer. All we have to do is find it.”

“You don't really think that,” Rhodes said.

“Why not? Anything's possible.”

Rhodes didn't believe that, but he liked Benton's optimism and enthusiasm.

“You have a seat,” Rhodes said. “I'll get the phone.”

When Rhodes returned from retrieving the phone, Benton was sitting at Ruth's desk, talking to Hack. Benton was explaining his new exercise program. Rhodes didn't think Hack was interested, but Benton taught college students. Lack of interest was no deterrent.

“I was just telling Hack about the benefits of walking,” Benton told Rhodes. “It's easy, it's safe, and it's really good for you. I've lost five pounds since I started walking every morning.”

“Really,” Rhodes said, handing him the phone.

“I feel better, too,” Benton said. He turned on the phone, ignoring any sarcasm in Rhodes's tone. “It's great to get out there in the morning air. It smells great before the day heats up, and Bruce likes to go with me. It's good for him, too.”

Hack was shaking his head, but Benton had turned to Rhodes and couldn't see him.

“So the real reason you got here early,” Rhodes said, “is because you'd finished your morning stroll.”

“That, and I wanted to help out.” Benton was looking at the phone while he talked. “The sooner I get started, the sooner I might find something that will help find Lynn's killer.”

“I don't think you'll find anything,” Rhodes said.

“Do you know about the dog in the nighttime?” Benton asked, continuing to work with the phone.

“You mean Bruce?” Rhodes asked.

“Ha,” Hack said.

Rhodes looked at him. “
Ha?
What does that mean?”

“It means you don't know about Sherlock Holmes, that's what it means.”

“I know about Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.”

“That's because you watch a lot of old movies,” Benton said. “Everybody knows that Jeremy Brett was much better than Rathbone.”

“I'm the sheriff,” Rhodes said. “I could shoot you and Hack would swear it was an accident. No jury in the world would convict me after the prosecutor told them what you said.”

“You wouldn't do that,” Benton said, not looking up from the phone. “Would you?”

“He might,” Hack said, “but I wouldn't back him up in court. Anybody ought to know about that dog.”

“Which dog?” Rhodes asked.

“In the nighttime,” Hack said. “The one that didn't bark.”

“Oh,” Rhodes said. “That dog.”

“That's right,” Benton said. “That was the curious incident. The dog didn't bark. Holmes knew it wasn't what happened that mattered, at least in that case. It was what
didn't
happen. So maybe it's not what I found on the phone that matters. It's what I didn't find.”

Rhodes was glad they'd finally gotten around to the point of the discussion.

“What was it that you didn't find?” he asked.

“I still haven't found it,” Benton said. “If Lynn had so many men friends, she'd have their numbers in her phone. They're not here.”

“She might have had another phone for that,” Rhodes said. “If it was a big secret.”

“You really think she was that complicated?”

“She was smart,” Rhodes said. “She was able to keep things pretty well hidden. Nobody knew how many men she was dating.” He wasn't going to mention her blackmailing. “There were a lot of things people didn't know.”

“If she was smart, all she had to do was hide the numbers somewhere. I can't find them, so she didn't hide them.”

“You think you're that good?”

“Sure,” Benton said. He held up the phone. “She has her appointment book here. She has a list of contacts, too, but it's just people you'd expect. People at the shop, other people who are all on the client list. No boyfriends, no nothing.”

“What you need is some time with her home computer,” Rhodes said.

Benton couldn't believe it. “You haven't looked at the home computer?”

“I'd planned to have Ruth do that, but she's been busy. I don't have enough deputies to do everything that's needed around here.”

“You haven't looked at her Facebook page or checked to see if she had a blog?”

Rhodes knew about those things, and it occurred to him that the first place he should have checked was Facebook. It seemed as if that site was helping law enforcement more and more often because of the kinds of things people posted there.

“What about Twitter?” Benton asked. “Did you check to see if she'd been tweeting?”

Rhodes admitted that he hadn't done those things. “But Ruth would have as soon as I got her started on it.”

“I know that it's her job,” Benton said. “I don't want to interfere.”

Rhodes kept a straight face, but it wasn't easy. Things must be getting serious between Benton and Ruth if he was that thoughtful of her. If it had been Buddy's job to look at the computer, Benton wouldn't have hesitated.

“You won't be interfering,” Rhodes told him. “She needs to be out on patrol anyway.”

“If you say so.” Benton stood up and took Rhodes the phone. “I'm ready when you are.”

Rhodes returned the phone to the evidence room. This time when he came back, Jennifer Loam was talking to Benton. She was telling him about her Web site.

“It's called
A Clear View of Blacklin County,
” she said.

“That's a great name,” Benton said. “What about your job with the paper?”

“I'm no longer an employee of the
Clearview Herald,
” Jennifer said. “I'm on my own. I already have some advertisers lined up, so I'll be okay.”

Rhodes hoped she was right. She didn't sound overly confident.

She turned to Rhodes. “I'm here to see if you have any more scoops for me. Have you found Lynn Ashton's killer?”

“Not yet,” Rhodes said. “Have you found out any more about the owners of the reclamation center?”

“Yes, but before I tell you, let me say that those pictures I took yesterday are great.”

“What pictures?” Benton asked.

“You'll see,” Jennifer said. “Just log on to the Web site. I haven't officially opened it, but it's already live. Sheriff Rhodes is doing his best Sage Barton impersonation.”

Rhodes sighed.

“I'm sold,” Benton said. “I love Sage Barton.”

“You, too?” Jennifer asked. “I've just finished the latest book. Claudia and Jan sent me a copy. It's great.”

“They sent me one, too,” Benton said. “I've read about half of it. I don't see much resemblance between Sage Barton and Sheriff Rhodes, though.”

“It's about time somebody admitted that,” Rhodes said, though oddly enough his feelings were a little hurt. “I'm nothing at all like him.”

“I might feel differently when I see the pictures,” Benton said. “What's that URL?”

Jennifer told him, and then she told Rhodes what she'd found out, which was that the reclamation center was indeed owned by people from outside the county and maybe even from Houston but that it would be next to impossible to find out who the real owners were.

“It's all hidden in various corporate names,” she said. “It would take a long time to untangle.”

“I met one of the principals last night,” Rhodes said, “or at least he claimed to be. I have a feeling we might be having more trouble with that place, but our mayor won't be involved. He'll be selling his share as soon as he can.”

Rhodes went on to tell Jennifer and Benton about his visitor of the previous evening. Hack listened in, too, though he pretended not to.

“You can't use any of that on your Web site,” Rhodes told Jennifer when he'd finished. “It's off the record.”

She looked disappointed but agreed.

“Now Dr. Benton and I have a little investigating to do,” Rhodes said.