J. Jance - Deadly Stakes

“What about Lynn?” Beatrice insisted. “Does he know if she’s all right?”

Having already embarked on a little white lie, Ali didn’t have much choice but to stay the course. “I didn’t speak to Detective Holman directly,” she said. “I was being patched back and forth. You’ll need to ask him that when he gets here.”

“He didn’t tell you that something had happened to her, did he?”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Ali replied. In a manner of speaking.

“She’ll probably be upset when she finds out I’ve been interfering in her private life,” Beatrice said wistfully, taking a sip of coffee from a recently refilled cup.

Ali said nothing. There was no point in giving Beatrice the bad news. It most likely won’t be private for long.

When Ali’s phone rang again a few minutes later, Dave was calling from the gate at the bottom of the drive. She buzzed him in and then went to the door to meet him. “Don’t rat me out,” she warned. “I claimed I hadn’t spoken to you directly.”

He nodded. “Thanks,” he said.

Ali led him into the library and made the introductions. “I’ve been given to understand you’re Lynn Martinson’s mother,” Dave said, settling down on a polished mesquite-wood armchair.

“You know her?” Beatrice asked hopefully.

Dave nodded. “So what’s going on?”

“I haven’t heard from her all day long,” Beatrice answered. “That’s so unlike her, and given what else has happened, I’ve been terribly worried.”

“What do you mean by ‘what else’?” Dave asked.

“Gemma Ralston’s murder,” Beatrice said quickly. “As soon as they announced the name of the victim, I was scared to death-afraid that if Lynn’s boyfriend had done something to harm his ex-wife, he might have done something to Lynn as well.”

“You’re saying that once you knew Gemma Ralston had been murdered, your immediate assumption was that her former husband might have had something to do with it?”

“That’s often the case, isn’t it?” Beatrice replied. “Husbands kill their former wives; wives kill their former husbands. It happens all the time, at least on TV.”

“Are you aware of any specific threat Dr. Ralston might have made in that regard?”

“Not really. Lynn and I don’t talk about him much. She knows I don’t necessarily approve.”

“Of her relationship with Dr. Ralston?”

Beatrice nodded.

“Why not?”

“Because he was my deceased husband’s doctor, for one thing,” Beatrice said. “I think there’s something suspect about doctors who become romantically involved with their patients or their patients’ family members. I’m under the impression that Chip’s family doesn’t approve of Lynn, either, probably for the same reason.”

“What makes you say that?” Dave asked.

“All the sneaking around, for one thing,” Beatrice said. “Lynn goes to his house late in the evening, after Chip’s mother has gone to bed, and she comes home early most mornings for the same reason-to be out of his place before Chip’s mother is up and around. That’s a sad commentary. Here they are, middle-aged people sneaking around like a pair of moony teenagers. But all you’ve been doing is asking questions. Do you know anything about my daughter, about where she is and if she’s okay?”

“Unfortunately, I do, Ms. Hart,” Dave said. “Your daughter and Dr. Ralston have both been arrested.”

Beatrice blanched and held her hand to her mouth while Dave continued. “They’re being held on suspicion of murdering his former wife. That’s why she hasn’t been answering her phone. They were taken into custody early this morning. Your daughter was picked up shortly after leaving Dr. Ralston’s place in Paradise Valley. He was taken into custody after he arrived at his office in Surprise. They have yet to be officially charged, which is why we haven’t made their names public.”

Once Dave stopped talking, Beatrice stared at him slack-jawed before she managed to speak. “Lynn-my daughter-has been arrested for murder? Is that what you’re saying?”

Dave nodded. “We obtained a warrant to search your daughter’s vehicle. We found blood evidence both inside and outside the car that we’ve been able to match to Gemma Ralston. We don’t know where the initial attack took place. It’s likely that the victim had already been wounded when she was placed in the trunk and then transported to the site south of Camp Verde, where she was left to die.”

“This can’t be happening,” Beatrice objected. “It simply isn’t possible. My daughter could never do something like that. She wouldn’t. You’re making a terrible mistake.”

Dave pulled out a notebook. “Tell me about yesterday,” he said. “Was there anything unusual about yesterday?”

“I played golf.”

“Was Lynn home before you left for your golf game?”

“Yes, she was there-at our house.”

“How did she seem to you?”

“Seem?” Beatrice asked, frowning.

“Did she seem upset about anything? Nervous? Out of sorts?”

“Not that I can remember.”

“What about her phone?”

“What about it?”

“Did she mention that her cell phone had gone missing?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time she’s lost a cell phone,” Beatrice answered, “and if she did lose it, it’s completely in character for her not to mention it to me. My husband died of Alzheimer’s. When we misplace something like car keys or a purse, or if we can’t remember something, believe me, we take it seriously.”

“Would it surprise you if I told you that your daughter’s cell phone turned up at the crime scene?”

“Just because her phone was there doesn’t mean Lynn was there,” Beatrice insisted.

“We checked your daughter’s credit transactions,” Dave said. “Did she often stop off to have her car washed coming and going from Dr. Ralston’s place?”

“She loves that car. She handles it with kid gloves, and she has it washed about as often as she fills it with gas. I understand there’s a combination car wash/service station just off the 101. I’m pretty sure that’s where she takes it.”

“But she didn’t mention having her car washed yesterday morning?”

“No. She wouldn’t. How she looks after her car is none of my business.”

“Has she said anything to you in the past about Gemma Ralston?”

“She’s mentioned the woman now and then. She thought Gemma treated Chip badly, and she certainly disapproved of the idea that Gemma was chummy with Chip’s family. I mean, you don’t see me hanging out with Lynn’s ex-husband, do you?”

“What do you mean when you say Gemma treated him badly?”

“How else? Financially, of course,” Beatrice responded. “According to Lynn, when Gemma decided to get a divorce, her lawyers were utterly ruthless. They took everything that wasn’t nailed down. Lynn told me things were going to be tough financially for the next several years. Chip managed to avoid bankruptcy, but only barely.”

“Dr. Ralston resented that?” Dave asked.

“I should think so,” Beatrice replied. “Wouldn’t you?”

Ali knew Beatrice had hit Dave where he lived, because he’d gone through a similar financial knothole at the time of his divorce. He immediately changed the subject. “Does the name James Mason Sanders ring a bell?”

“No.”

“Are you aware that a second homicide victim was found in the same general location as Gemma Ralston?”

Beatrice nodded. “They said on the news that the second victim was an unidentified male.”

Dave glanced in B.’s direction before answering, as though trying to decide how much he should say about the case with an interested bystander in the room. Ali understood Dave’s concern, but she also knew that B. had enough security clearances to put Dave’s to shame.