J.A. Jance - Dead Wrong

She radioed into the office on the way. “Any missing-persons reports come in this morning?” she asked. “None so far,” Tica Romero answered. “You’ll let me know if there is one?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Tica said.

When Joanna arrived at her reserved parking place, she was surprised to see that the one next door-Chief Deputy Frank Montoya’s-was empty. After a moment’s reflection, she remembered it was Friday morning. That meant Frank was probably busy standing in for her at the weekly board of supervisors meeting.

Better him than me.

Entering the building through her private back entrance, she dropped her briefcase off on her desk and then poked her head out into the reception area outside her office. “How are things?” she asked.

Kristin Gregovich, Joanna’s secretary/receptionist, was busy sorting through a newly arrived basket of mail.

“Not so hot,” Kristin said. “Shaundra’s teething. She didn’t get any sleep last night, which means I didn’t either.”

“I’m in the same boat,” Joanna said. “Not getting any sleep, that is. Let’s hope my baby isn’t teething.”

Kristin laughed. “They say that parents of new babies lose bunches of IQ points. It’s no wonder. They never get any sleep. How’d it go down by Paul’s Spur?”

“Unidentified homicide victim,” Joanna replied. “Ernie’s on his way to observe the autopsy. Everybody else is working the problem. In the meantime, how much of that mail is for me?”

The daunting amount of paper that flowed across her desk each day made Joanna wonder how any trees remained standing anywhere. She wasn’t surprised when Kristin picked up the largest of the several stacks and handed it over. As she headed into her office, mail in hand, it occurred to Joanna that it might not have been such a bad idea to tag along to Doc Winfield’s office and observe that autopsy after all.

She paused just inside her office door. “Any calls?” she asked.

“Just Reverend Maculyea calling to remind you about today’s lunch. And speaking of lunch,” Kristin added, “there’s an errand I need to run at noon today at the same time you’ll be out. I know you don’t like to leave the office unattended, so I already asked if one of the clerks from the public office could come over and cover for me. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Joanna said.

Once at her desk, she forced herself to put this latest homicide case out of her head and buried herself in dealing with the stack of correspondence. Her years of running an insurance office had given her superb typing skills, so she wrote, printed, and answered as much of the mail as possible without using Kristin’s help for anything other than printing the envelopes. By the time Joanna headed out for her lunch date at eleven-thirty Kristin was already gone.

Pulling into the parking lot at Daisy’s Cafe, Joanna was surprised to see several familiar cars there as well as Marianne’s antique VW bug. Joanna’s mother’s blue Buick was parked next to the VW and her former in-laws’ Camry was parked next to that. She recognized Angie Hacker’s husband’s Hummer as well. It was only when she saw Kristin’s little red Geo tucked in behind the Hummer and the pink and blue balloon bouquets on either side of the door that Joanna finally tumbled to what was going on. This wasn’t just her usual weekday lunch with Marianne. It was a baby shower.

Grinning from ear to ear, Junior Dowdle, Daisy and Moe Maxwell’s adopted developmentally disabled son, greeted Joanna at the door. “It’s a party,” he said, pointing at Joanna’s belly. “A party for your baby. We’ve got flowers and cake and everything.”

And “everything” was exactly what they had. Half of the restaurant had been cordoned off with strips of pink and blue crepe paper to accommodate the party Much to Joanna’s surprise, Jenny was seated at the makeshift flower-festooned head table.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” Joanna asked. “Who sprung you?”

“Grandma,” Jenny said, nodding in Eva Lou’s direction. Taking that as a signal, Joanna’s former mother-in-law came over and gave her a hug.

“It’s a big occasion,” Eva Lou Brady declared. “I didn’t think she should miss it. And I wouldn’t miss it, either, not for the world.”

Andrew Roy Brady, Joanna’s first husband, had been gunned down years earlier. Nevertheless, his parents, Jim Bob and Eva Lou, continued to be unfailingly supportive and loving to their former daughter-in-law. Joanna didn’t have the slightest doubt that they would treat this new grandchild, Butch and Joanna’s baby, with the same love and attention that they had always lavished on Andy and Joanna’s Jenny.

“Thank you,” Joanna whispered, fighting back tears of gratitude.

Eleanor stepped in the moment Eva Lou moved away. “Don’t make a spectacle of yourself,” she warned. “It’s only a baby shower, for Pete’s sake. No reason to burst into tears.”

Joanna’s mother’s reaction was in such stark contrast to Eva Lou’s that it helped Joanna pull herself back together. “Right,” she said, wiping her eyes. “No reason at all.”

During lunch, Joanna sat between Marianne Maculyea and Angie Hacker. Eleanor still managed to look disapproving whenever Angie was around, but Joanna’s and Marianne’s unflinching acceptance of Angie had made it easy for most of Bisbee to forget about the woman’s less-than-stellar past. The fact that she had once made her living as a prostitute had faded into the background. She was now recognized as the prime reason one of Bisbee’s favorite watering holes, Brewery Gulch’s famed Blue Moon Saloon and Lounge, remained open for business.

Marianne couldn’t help gloating. “So we really did surprise you?”

“You certainly did,” Joanna agreed. “Nobody breathed a word.”

The whole thing was great fun and about as diametrically opposed to the grim way Joanna’s day had started as humanly possible. When she finally returned to the Cochise County Justice Center, it was mid-afternoon and much later than she had anticipated. She drove there with the backseat of her Crown Victoria loaded down with a collection of baby gear-most of it in suitably impartial shades of pastel green and yellow. Eleanor’s gifts, however, were all unabashedly blue-clearly announcing her preference for a boy. It surprised Joanna more than a little to realize that for some reason her mother was openly lobbying for a grandson.

Kristin was already back at her desk by the time Joanna got there. “Hope you didn’t mind my little fib about what I was doing at lunch,” she said.

Joanna’s initial dealings with Kristin had been difficult. Over time, however, they had become much more cordial. “No,” Joanna said. “I didn’t mind it at all. It was a fun shower, and I’m glad you were there.”

Chief Deputy Montoya emerged from his office and joined the conversation. “Did you pick up a lot of good loot?” he asked.

“You mean you knew about the shower, too?”

“Of course I did,” he said. “The only person who didn’t was you. So how was it?”

“The party was great,” Joanna said. “How about the board of supervisors meeting?”

“Dull,” Frank said. “Thank God for small favors. We weren’t in the hot seat for a change. Today’s meeting mostly concerned sanitary landfill issues, so we lucked out.”

“I’ll say,” Joanna agreed. “Time for the briefing?”

Frank nodded. “Coming right up. Ernie just got back from that autopsy. We can have the Double Cs sit in on the briefing as well.”

When Joanna entered the conference room a few minutes later, Frank and the two detectives were already there. Ernie, sitting with his arms crossed, looked more somber than usual.