Dead Jitterbug (26 page)
Authors: Victoria Houston
“The first is how I feel about how the McDonald case has turned out. Ed Kelly is the person most responsible for Hope’s death. He’s the one who should be in jail—not Darryl Wolniewicz. He knew how ill his wife was. She should never have been left alone.
“And Julia Wendt lying about Kitsy? Thank goodness the housekeeper was able to document cars coming and going because I was
this
close,” Lew crooked her thumb and index fingers, “to arresting Kitsy. Given her emotional state, that could have pushed her right over the edge … you know?”
“What are you trying to say, Lew?” asked Osborne. “That you did a bad job? Some things are beyond your control.”
“Beyond your responsibilities within the law,” said Lillie. “You think
you
feel bad about Hope McDonald. I ask myself every morning why
I
didn’t demand she have full-time care out there.”
“Chief Ferris,” said Ray, “may I remind you of the old Loon Lake proverb….”
Lew cut her eyes towards Ray. “This better be good, guy.”
“Perfect is the enemy of good enough.” “So, Lew,” Osborne asked, “what’s the second reason?”
“If I’m elected sheriff, I become an administrator. An inside-the-office-all-day-every-day desk jockey. And, yes, Lillie is right—this was a hell of a week. But, you know, I love my job. I don’t want to give this up. I don’t want an office over in Rhinelander and seven reports—or whatever the hell it is.
“I want to work here, I want to be able to play hooky when I need to. Go fishing when I want….”
No one chose to argue that point.
“I have a question for you, Lillie,” said Lew as she and Osborne walked the lawyer to her car. Molly and Ray had left for Ray’s and a moonlight ride on the pontoon. “You’ve seen so much crime in your career. What drives a person like Jerry O’Brien? I don’t mean the fact that he was gay or the cross-dressing. It’s the other, the cold-blooded killing.”
“How the hell would I know?” asked Lillie, sliding onto the car seat. “As often as I’ve been able to predict
what
was going to happen, based on years of observing human behavior, I can’t tell you
why.
Wish I could. The only person I really know is myself. And I’m not sure I always know why I do some things.”
“You put yourself in grave danger yesterday,” said Lew.
“For that, I have no regrets. He had it coming. And I left nothing to chance.”
“What do you think she meant by that?” asked Lew as Lillie drove off.
“Exactly what she said,” said Osborne.
“So, Lewellyn,” said Osborne as they finished up in the kitchen, “you have a birthday coming up….”
“Doc, my age is an unlisted number—so is my birthday.” She put her hands on her hips and tried hard to give him an angry look. “Who told you?”
He crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter with a satisfied grin on his face. “I have it in my office files from years ago.”
“All right, all right. So it’s the fourth of July. What are you up to?”
“Got a problem with surprises?”
“Nooo.”
“Okay, then. It’s a date.” He would call Ralph in the morning with his plan. If she tried to buy that St. Croix Legend Elite fly rod herself, Ralph was to say he was sold out.
“This was a fun evening, Doc.”
He couldn’t agree more: the night was fun. The
entire
night was fun.
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Published in Electronic Format by
TYRUS BOOKS
an imprint of F+W Media, Inc.
4700 East Galbraith Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45236
www.tyrusbooks.com
Copyright © 2005 by Victoria Houston
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction.
Any similarities to people or places, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
eISBN 10: 1-4405-3153-6
eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-3153-8
This work has been previously published in print format by:
The Berkley Publishing Group
A division of Penguin Group (USA), Inc.
Print ISBN: 0-425-20201-1
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