Trinity Harbor 3 - Along Came Trouble (15 page)

When Tucker went back inside, he found Mary Elizabeth accepting condolences from a steady stream of wel -heeled individuals, some of whom he recognized from the front page of the Richmond paper as being prominent politicians, some completely anonymous. Mary Elizabeth caught his eye and pointedly began to mention names for his benefit. When Devlin Rowe came along, Tucker immediately took a closer look.

The state delegate from the Roanoke area was a tal , distinguished-looking man with graying hair and a mild manner. He’d also been one of the primary proponents of school vouchers, which Chandler had opposed and mustered the votes to defeat.

“Sir, could I speak to you for a minute?” Tucker asked him once he’d expressed his condolences.

“Who’re you?” Rowe inquired with a trace of impatience. “I’ve got a car waiting to take me back to Richmond.”

“Then I’l walk outside with you,” Tucker said. “I’m helping with the investigation into Larry Chandler’s murder. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

The delegate’s steely gray eyes chil ed. “You with the police?”

“I’m working privately on this case, but I’m the sheriff of this county.”

“How the devil did you land in a situation like that?” he asked.

Tucker grinned. “Long story. Mrs. Chandler and I are old friends. She asked for my assistance.”

“And you had the good sense to take a leave so you could do it, rather than getting embroiled in a controversy about conflict of interest,” Rowe concluded. “Good for you, young man. Too few public servants take such precautions these days.”

“Was Chandler one who knew the distinction?” Tucker asked him.

Rowe’s expression grew thoughtful. “You know he and I didn’t get along, I imagine?”

“I’d heard you disagreed about one particular issue.”

“More than one, as it happens, but I respected him. He was an honorable man. Made his position clear from the outset, so I always knew where he stood. Hardheaded as they come,” he noted. “But that’s not a sin, I suppose, just a danged nuisance.”

Tucker laughed. “I imagine it would be.”

“You’re looking to see if we were sworn enemies, I imagine,” Rowe said. “Wel , sorry to disappoint you, but we weren’t. We disagreed about how some things ought to be done for the good of the people, but we never had words over it, never cal ed each other names in public or in private. You dig as deep as you want, Sheriff, you won’t find any bad blood between me and Chandler—just honest differences of opinion.”

“Can you say the same about his relationship with al of your col eagues?”

Rowe hooted at that. “Now that is another kettle of fish entirely. Not al politicians take the pragmatic view of the world that I do. Some take defeat of their bil s downright personal y, and when it comes to that and Chandler’s leadership role in those defeats, wel , you could say the man had a whole legion of enemies in Richmond. Yes, indeed, a whole legion of them.”

“Care to name a few?”

“I wish I could. I surely do, but the governor’s waiting right over there. Since I want to talk him into supporting a bil of mine, I don’t want to start the ride back to Richmond with him being annoyed about me being late. You check the record from the last legislative session, Sheriff. I’m sure you’l find yourself a whole passel of suspects.”

“I’l do that. Thank you for your time,” he said, and watched as Devlin Rowe strode over to the black Cadil ac waiting in the No Parking zone in front of the church. He had half a mind to go over and write a ticket, but since he was official y off-duty, he figured he’d better restrain himself.

He was about to go back inside when he was joined by Walker.

“You finding out anything interesting?” Walker asked.

“No hard leads,” Tucker said. “You?”

“Nothing. The bad thing about dealing with a whole passel of politicians is that they’re used to lying their heads off. I did spend a little time with that Miles woman. I was a little surprised she had the guts to show up here.”

“Not me,” Tucker said. “She had the guts to sleep with Chandler right under his wife’s nose only weeks after the wedding. Showing up here is nothing compared to that. She’s got a lot of anger in her, but most of it’s directed at Mary Elizabeth.”

Walker nodded. “That was my take, too.” He sighed. “And now here comes Richard. That man may run a smal -town weekly, but those years at the
Washington Post
have made him as tenacious as the rest of these media pests.”

“I heard that,” Richard said. “Since you have so little respect for what I do, I guess that means you don’t want to know what I heard a few minutes ago.”

Tucker scowled at him. “Don’t play games. I’m not in the mood. I’l tel your wife.”

Richard laughed. “Now
there’s
an ingenious threat for a lawman to pul out. Damned effective, too. Okay, here’s the deal. I talked with a guy named Ainsley Hayden. Liz introduced me. He was Chandler’s chief of staff. The guy is smooth as silk, said al the right words about his boss, dropped a few hints about how he’d like to persuade Liz to take over Chandler’s seat, but something didn’t ring true to me, so I asked around. Some of the other delegates thought Hayden was getting tired of staying in the background. One even said he suspected he was planning his own run for office.”

Tucker frowned at that. “From here? I’ve never even heard of him. He’s never lived in the district.”

“Maybe not, but he knows the politics. He’d have to as Chandler’s right-hand man. Al he’d have to do is buy a place around here, spend a little time hanging out at Earlene’s and some other local spots where the movers and shakers congregate. Next thing you know, he can slide right into the job, especial y if the governor were to appoint him to fil the position til the next election.”

“Wait a minute,” Tucker protested. “How likely is that? The governor’s going to want his own person in that seat. He’s reportedly miffed that Chandler didn’t work with him on the voucher bil . That same animosity is bound to carry over to Hayden.”

“Ah, you’d think so, wouldn’t you?” Richard agreed. “But my source told me that Hayden practical y jumped through hoops trying to bring Chandler around on that bil . They fought over it just before the bil came to the floor for a vote. And he apparently he made sure that their exchange was very public, so natural y the governor heard about it.”

Tucker held up his hand. “Okay, enough. That’s exactly the reason I hate politicians. You can’t tel what sort of backroom deals are being made at any given moment.”

“Hold it,” Walker said. “Richard could be onto something. What if Hayden used that incident to ingratiate himself with the governor, then saw to it that Chandler conveniently was taken out of the picture to set up his own advancement?”

Mary Elizabeth joined them just in time to hear Walker’s speculation. “You can’t be serious?” she said, then blinked at his unyielding expression.

“You are, aren’t you? You honestly think Ainsley had something to do with kil ing Larry?”

“I’m just saying it’s possible,” Walker said. “We can’t rule out anything at this point.”

“That’s almost as ridiculous as saying I did it,” Mary Elizabeth countered. “Ainsley Hayden was the most loyal man in Richmond. He would have done anything for Larry. He certainly didn’t shoot him.”

“In your opinion,” Walker pointed out quietly.

Mary Elizabeth’s chin rose. “Yes,” she said with dignity. “In my opinion, and I’ve known him a whole lot longer than any of you have.”

“What kind of relationship did you have with him?” Walker asked.

Fury stained her cheeks red. Tucker decided he’d better intercede before Mary Elizabeth slapped the acting sheriff sil y. She was capable of doing it if he riled her enough.

“Okay, enough, both of you,” Tucker said as if he were dealing with a pair of squabbling five-year-olds. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.”

“I think maybe it is,” Walker retorted. “Wel , Mrs. Chandler? How close
were
you and Hayden?”

“How close are you and Michele?” she shot back.

Walker stared at her with obvious indignation. “What the hel has that got to do with anything?”

“You work together,” she snapped. “So did Ainsley and I. Period. That was the extent of our involvement.”

“You sound a little defensive,” Walker chal enged.

“So did you when I asked about your relationship with the dispatcher,” she reminded him. “That doesn’t make either one of us guilty of anything.”

Richard, who had listened to the entire exchange without comment, turned to Walker. “I think she’s got you there.”

“She gets my vote, too,” Tucker said.

Walker regarded the whole lot of them with a sour expression. “Then isn’t it a damned good thing that I’m trying to solve a murder, instead of running for office?”

With that he turned and walked away. Tucker winced. “That was probably not the smartest thing we’ve ever done.”

Mary Elizabeth sighed. “Probably not, but I am so tired of people twisting things to suit them, your buddy Walker included. I just want to go home.”

“Fine,” Tucker said at once. “I’l take you back to my place.”

“No,” she said at once. “I want to go
home.
Walker told me earlier that they’ve finished at Swan Ridge. I’m free to go back there.”

The thought of Mary Elizabeth rattling around al alone in that huge old house with al of its past and recent ghosts bothered Tucker. “Do you real y think that’s wise?”

“I think it’s a whole lot smarter than prolonging my stay with you,” she said. “The sooner I settle back into something that passes for a normal routine, the better. Besides, it wil make King happy.”

Tucker should have expected his father’s involvement, but he’d actual y hoped that for once the old man would manage to keep his opinions to himself. “What did he say?” Tucker asked wearily.

“Nothing that I didn’t already know,” she said. “Don’t blame him, Tucker. He’s right about this. It’s enough that you’ve taken a leave from your job to help me. I don’t want to ruin your reputation on top of that.”

“My reputation can withstand a few knocks.”

“But it shouldn’t have to,” she insisted. “Wil you take me to Swan Ridge, or should I ask Frances to drive me? She’s waiting to see if I need anything else before she leaves.”

“I’l take you,” he said tightly.

Mary Elizabeth looked at Richard then. “And wil you report that I am now living in my family home?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Even King ought to be satisfied with that,” she said.

“Yeah, right,” Tucker said skeptical y.

He had a hunch the only way his father would be total y satisfied was if Mary Elizabeth moved halfway round the world without leaving a forwarding address. And
that,
Tucker decided, was only going to happen over his dead body.

10

L
iz knew she was doing the right thing by leaving Tucker’s and returning to her own home, but as she stood at the bottom of the steps at Swan Ridge, she hesitated. With dusk starting to close in around them, the place looked dark and imposing, not welcoming at al .

“You don’t have to do this tonight,” Tucker said. “Tomorrow would be soon enough. You’ve already had a stressful day.”

“I have a hunch it’s just one of many stressful days I’m likely to face in the coming weeks,” Liz told him. “I might as wel get this over with.”

“Why don’t I go inside first, take a look around and make sure the police haven’t left too much of a mess?”

She smiled at the gal ant offer. “No matter how they tidied up, they couldn’t wash away the memories,” she said.

“Maybe you should cal the housekeeper, get her over here to give the place a thorough going over before you come back,” he suggested. “I’m sure Mrs. Gilman won’t mind.”

“Same problem,” she said. “It won’t change the memories. I have to do this, Tucker. It’s my home. I’m the only one who can reclaim it. Maybe giving the place a good, thorough cleaning myself wil help me do that.”

He sighed. “Darlin’, I know you have to move back in here, but it doesn’t have to be tonight.”

“We’re talking in circles,” she said, then chuckled as a memory came flooding back. “Remember, we used to do that whenever we didn’t want to separate at the end of the day? You’d say you had to leave. I’d ask you to stay a little longer. You’d say you had to go sometime. I’d plead for a few more minutes. We managed to prolong the good-nights for a half hour or so, but for what? You stil had to go home and I had to go inside alone, and those extra minutes were wasted arguing.”

“I think this is a little different,” Tucker said dryly. “Your husband was murdered inside this house just a few days ago.”

Liz’s knees wobbled at the blunt reminder. Tucker caught her around the waist and steadied her.

“See?” he said with a hint of impatience. “You’re not ready for this.”

“I’m as ready as I’l ever be,” she said, stiffening her resolve. There was only one way to do it…quickly. She broke free, marched up the steps, put her key into the lock and turned it. But when it came time to open the door, she froze again.

“I can do this,” she muttered under her breath before Tucker could use her inaction to once again push for retreat. She drew in a deep breath and stepped across the threshold.

The air was stil and hot inside. Someone had cut off the air-conditioning. The house smel ed musty, as if it had been shut up and empty for months rather than days. And yet, cutting through the stale air, there was the lingering scent of the roses she’d brought in from the garden on her return that first day before everything had fal en apart.

She turned to Tucker and said staunchly, “You can go now. I’l be fine.”

“I am not leaving here until we’ve been through the place and checked it out,” he said stubbornly.

“Tucker, the kil er’s not hiding out in a closet,” she said.

“You know that for a fact?”

A little twinge of alarm made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. “You don’t seriously think…?”

“Humor me. I’l feel better when I’ve been over the place from top to bottom.”

She nodded final y, hating the relief that flooded through her. It was a sign of weakness, something she’d been taught to ignore. “I’l make some iced tea,” she said a little too eagerly.