She straightened to look at him. “Then Vance is safely in the county jail?”
“Under sedation at the hospital, with Ethan and his lawyers in attendance and a deputy at his door.” He constructed a cracker-and-cheese sandwich and ate it with deliberation.
“He should be locked up.”
“Hey, he will be.” He brushed crumbs and took another sip of whisky. “They’ll bring him in tomorrow when the doctors release him. Want to bet he has your garage door key on his key chain? Thayer found the other one.”
“Where?”
“Buried behind the garage. He took another look.”
Meg snuggled against him.
He gave her shoulders a squeeze. “Further questions, madam?”
“Carol confessed to me that she killed Eddy Redfern.” She burrowed in his sweater.
“I know. You could’ve knocked me over with a feather.”
“Cliché number five.”
“I’m on a roll. Are you okay, Meg? That must’ve been hard to deal with.”
“I have the feeling I haven’t even begun to deal with it.” Her voice shook a little. She cleared her throat. “And I’m full of questions. If Carol killed Edward Redfern, why was his wallet in Brandstetter’s file cabinet?”
“I gather from what Vance said before the lawyers showed up that he and Carol panicked. They did what Vance has done all along, left it to Hal to do their dirty work.”
“So Brandstetter buried Eddy in the garage?”
“Hal and Meek did. It was supposed to be a temporary arrangement, according to Vance, but I suspect Hal liked the idea. It gave him a strong hold over Vance. Hal was blackmailing him, bleeding him dry. Or so Vance said.” His voice trailed off. He sounded tired, but he was warm and alive. For now, that was enough.
Time for closure. Meg sat up and took a long, fortifying sip of whisky. “Remember when you swore me in as a deputy?”
He smiled at her. “Sure. A moment of inspiration.”
“Among other things, you said you wanted somebody to tell you when you were crazy.”
He grinned and pulled her to him. “So I did. Can you hold off doing that for a while?”
Meg kissed him on the mouth. “Not indefinitely.”
THE next morning, Sheriff McCormick called a press conference for eleven o’clock. Madeline Thomas held hers at ten.
Mickey Simonson
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sheila Simonson is the author of ten novels, six of them mysteries. She taught English and history at the community college level until she retired to write full-time. She has a grown son and lives with her husband in Vancouver, Washington.
Set along the Columbia River Gorge, Buffalo Bill’s Defunct wrestles, on the local level, with the global problem of the destruction of ancient artifacts. Simonson remembers visiting the salmon fishing sites along the Columbia as a child, before their tragic drowning by the waters of The Dalles Dam. She likes to hear from readers, who can visit her website at http://sheila.simonson.googlepages.com.
MORE MYSTERIES
FROM PERSEVERANCE PRESS
For the New Golden Age
JON L. BREEN
Eye of God
ISBN 978-1-880284-89-6
TAFFY CANNON
ROXANNE PRESCOTT SERIES
Guns and Roses
Agatha and Macavity Award
nominee, Best Novel
ISBN 978-1-880284-34-6
Blood Matters
ISBN 978-1-880284-86-5
Open Season on Lawyers
ISBN 978-1-880284-51-3
Paradise Lost
ISBN 978-1-880284-80-3
LAURA CRUM
GAIL MCCARTHY SERIES
Moonblind
ISBN 978-1-880284-90-2
Chasing Cans
ISBN 978-1-880284-94-0
Going, Gone (forthcoming)
ISBN 978-1-880284-98-8
JEANNE M. DAMS
HILDA JOHANSSON SERIES
Crimson Snow
ISBN 978-1-880284-79-7
Indigo Christmas
ISBN 978-1-880284-95-7
KATHY LYNN EMERSON
LADY APPLETON SERIES
Face Down Below
the Banqueting House
ISBN 978-1-880284-71-1
Face Down Beside
St. Anne’s Well
ISBN 978-1-880284-82-7
Face Down O’er the Border
ISBN 978-1-880284-91-9
ELAINE FLINN
MOLLY DOYLE SERIES
Deadly Vintage
ISBN 978-1-880284-87-2
HAL GLATZER
KATY GREEN SERIES
Too Dead To Swing
ISBN 978-1-880284-53-7
A Fugue in Hell’s Kitchen
ISBN 978-1-880284-70-4
The Last Full Measure
ISBN 978-1-880284-84-1
PATRICIA GUIVER
DELILAH DOOLITTLE
PET DETECTIVE SERIES
The Beastly Bloodline
ISBN 978-1-880284-69-8
NANCY BAKER JACOBS
Flash Point
ISBN 978-1-880284-56-8
DIANA KILLIAN
POETIC DEATH SERIES
Docketful of Poesy
(forthcoming)
ISBN 978-1-880284-97-1
PORT SILVA SERIES
Baby Mine
ISBN 978-1-880284-32-2
Keepers
Shamus Award nominee,
Best Paperback Original
ISBN 978-1-880284-44-5
Death Duties
ISBN 978-1-880284-74-2
Family Business
ISBN 978-1-880284-85-8
Run a Crooked Mile
(forthcoming)
ISBN 978-1880284-88-9
VALERIE S. MALMONT
TORI MIRACLE SERIES
Death, Bones, and
Stately Homes
ISBN 978-1-880284-65-0
DENISE OSBORNE
FENG SHUI SERIES
Evil Intentions
ISBN 978-1-880284-77-3
LEV RAPHAEL
NICK HOFFMAN SERIES
Tropic of Murder
ISBN 978-1-880284-68-1
Hot Rocks
ISBN 978-1-880284-83-4
LORA ROBERTS
BRIDGET MONTROSE SERIES
Another Fine Mess
ISBN 978-1-880284-54-4
SHERLOCK HOLMES SERIES
The Affair of the
Incognito Tenant
ISBN 978-1-880284-67-4
REBECCA ROTHENBERG
BOTANICAL SERIES
The Tumbleweed Murders
(completed by Taffy Cannon)
ISBN 978-1-880284-43-8
SHEILA SIMONSON
LATOUCHE COUNTY SERIES
Buffalo Bill’s Defunct
ISBN 978-1-880284-96-4
SHELLEY SINGER
JAKE SAMSON &
ROSIE VICENTE SERIES
Royal Flush
ISBN 978-1-880284-33-9
NANCY TESLER
BIOFEEDBACK SERIES
Slippery Slopes and Other
Deadly Things
ISBN 978-1-880284-58-2
PENNY WARNER
CONNOR WESTPHAL SERIES
Blind Side
ISBN 978-1-880284-42-1
Silence Is Golden
ISBN 978-1-880284-66-7
ERIC WRIGHT
JOE BARLEY SERIES
The Kidnapping
of Rosie Dawn
Barry Award, Best Paperback
Original. Edgar, Ellis, and
Anthony Award nominee
ISBN 978-1-880284-40-7
REFERENCE/
MYSTERY WRITING
KATHY LYNN EMERSON
How To Write Killer
Historical Mysteries:
The Art and Adventure of
Sleuthing Through the Past
ISBN 978-1-880284-92-6
CAROLYN WHEAT
How To Write Killer Fiction:
The Funhouse of Mystery &
the Roller Coaster of Suspense
ISBN 978-1-880284-62-9
Available from your local bookstore or from
Perseverance Press/John Daniel & Co. at (800) 662-8351
or www.danielpublishing.com/perseverance.