J.A. Jance - Dead Wrong

“Lots of them, Ted,” Joanna said. “Give yourself a break.” She turned to Jaime. “Can you think of anything else we need to ask?”

“When was he last seen at work?” Jaime asked.

“Tuesday. He had Wednesdays off.”

“All right, then,” Jaime said. “That’s about it.”

“I can go, then?” Ted asked.

“Sure,” Joanna said with a smile. “Go home to Ginny I’m sure she’s worried about you. If we need anything else, we know how to get hold of you.”

Jaime waited until Ted Chapman had left the room. “So you win the prize, boss,” he said. “John Doe turns out to be an ex-con with alcohol problems. I believe you called that one right on the money.”

“But we still don’t know who killed him,” Joanna returned.

There was a light knock on the conference-room door. Maggie Mendoza came in carrying a computer printout. “This is what the Department of Corrections has on Mr. Evans,” she said.

Joanna took the file. She hadn’t planned to look at it in any detail. Her intention was to glance at it briefly and then pass it over to Jaime so he could study it, but then a familiar name leaped off one of the pages: D. H. Lathrop! When Brad Evans was first picked up in October of 1978, Joanna’s own father had been the arresting officer.

Joanna felt a sudden shiver of recognition. It was as though her father had reached out from beyond the grave and tapped her on the shoulder. She hurried to the conference-room door and called after Maggie, who was on her way back to her desk.

“Wait a minute.” She turned back to Jaime. “What’s the wife’s name?”

Jaime picked up the papers and scanned through them. “Lisa Marie Evans.”

“Where are the homicide records from 1978?”

“In storage up in the old courthouse,” Maggie said. “Why?”

“I need one,” Joanna said. “Lisa Marie Evans. Murdered in October of 1978.”

“Do you need it tonight?” Maggie asked. “If you do…”

Joanna glanced at her watch. The hour hand was edging toward eight. She didn’t blame Maggie for not wanting to make a nighttime visit to the creaky old courthouse uptown, but it had to be done.

“We really do need it tonight,” Joanna said.

“All right,” Maggie agreed. “I’ll go get it, but it may take time. Those files aren’t in the best of order.”

When Maggie left the conference room, so did Joanna. The pressure the baby was putting on her bladder was more than she could withstand. When she returned from the rest room, Jaime was finishing a call.

“Thanks,” he said. “Thanks so much.”

“Who was that?” Joanna asked.

“Rich Higgins,” Jaime answered. “The guy Ted Chapman called. Rich is human resources director for Arizona State Prison System Jail Ministries.”

“So we have a next of kin?”

“Her name’s Anna Marie Crystal with a Sierra Vista address. She’s listed in Brad’s employment records as ‘mother-in-law.” She’s also the beneficiary of his group life insurance. It’s not very much-a ten-thousand-dollar death benefit, but still…“

“Did Brad Evans remarry?” Joanna asked.

“If he did, Ted never mentioned it,” Jaime replied.

“We should probably check this out,” Joanna said. “Twenty-plus years ago Brad Evans went to prison for murdering his wife, but he still lists his dead wife’s mother as his beneficiary? That strikes me as very strange.”

“Do you want me to go talk to her tonight?” Jaime asked. “Since Ted already identified the body, we don’t need her for that, but…”

Joanna looked at the computer printout. Even across the table she could make out her father’s name, Deputy D. H. Lathrop. It was eight o’clock, and Sierra Vista was thirty miles away, but even if it meant getting home at midnight, Joanna wanted to be there when Jaime spoke to Anna Marie Crystal.

She picked up the phone and dialed home. “Hullo,” Jenny said.

“How are you?” Joanna asked.

“Okay, I guess,” Jenny mumbled unconvincingly.

“Is everything all right?”

“I suppose.”

“What did you have for dinner?”

“Noodle soup.”

“As you know, there’s been a homicide, Jenny,” Joanna told her. “We’ve just found an important lead, but it means I need to go to Sierra Vista. Will you be all right?”

“I guess. I’m watching TV, but there’s nothing good on.”

“The doors are locked?”

Jenny sighed. “Yes, Mother.”

Joanna knew that being called “Mother” was never a good sign, but still…

“It’s part of a case your grandfather investigated years ago,” Joanna continued. “I really need to be there.” Want was more like it, but that’s not what she said.

“Go ahead,” Jenny told her. “I’ll be fine.”

“You’re sure?”

“Mother!”

“Good night,” Joanna said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Your car or mine?” Jaime asked as Joanna put down the phone.

“Yours,” Joanna said. “I’m just along for the ride.”

They had crossed the Divide in the Mule Mountains and had turned off Highway 80 toward Sierra Vista when Joanna’s cell phone rang.

“I tried the house,” Butch said. “Jenny told me you were still working.”

“It’s a homicide,” Joanna said. “Jaime and I are on our way to do the next-of-kin notification.”

“Didn’t Dr. Lee say you were supposed to take it easy these last couple of weeks?” Butch demanded.

“I am taking it easy,” Joanna returned. “Jaime’s doing the driving.”

“And you’re wearing your seat belt the right way?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, a little annoyed by his fussing. “How was the panel?”

“Okay,” he said.

“You don’t sound very enthusiastic.”

“I’m wondering how much good this kind of thing does, when what I really want is to be home. I always thought writers were like hermits. This seems more like being a politician out on the stump, having to meet and greet. Carole Ann tells me I need to get used to it.”

Having just survived a bruising election campaign, Joanna knew exactly how it felt to be on the stump. She, for one, was glad to be off it.

“Jenny said this was one of your father’s old cases,” Butch said. “One of those cold-case-file deals?”

“Not really,” Joanna answered. “The homicide victim whose body was found this morning turns out to be someone my father arrested and sent to prison for murder in 1978. When we requested the record, there was my father’s name on the report. It was strange seeing his name like that, like there was some kind of weird connection between us. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Jenny didn’t sound too thrilled to be left on her own,” Butch said. “I would have thought she’d be ecstatic. She’s always saying we baby her too much.”

“I think it’s called attention deficit,” Joanna said.

“Probably pretty typical,” Butch said. “You’ve got a lot on your plate, Joey. No wonder Jenny feels neglected at times. Occasionally, so do I. We both want your undivided attention, and there’s only so much of you to go around.”

Joanna bit back the urge to apologize. She was, after all, simply doing her job, and a new baby was going to make it worse.

“Anyway,” Butch added, “don’t stay out too late. You’ll wear yourself out. How was the shower?”

“You knew about the shower, too?” Joanna asked. It seemed that everyone had known about it.

“Who do you think sent the note to school so Eva Lou could spring Jenny?”

“The shower was great,” Joanna said. “Lots of goodies. Come to think of it, they’re still in the car.”

“Don’t worry about unpacking them,” Butch said. “Let Jenny do it. Or wait until I get home on Sunday.”