A Dead Husband (Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery) by Anna Burke

worked for the Palm Spring police department he was her best bet to get the inside scoop on the investigation.  At the very least, he could tell her how to go about getting information at this point.  She scanned the list of contacts on her smartphone to see if she still had his number. On a Sunday morning, she was more likely to catch him at home than at the station. 
    Feeling a little guilty , she realized it had been some time since she had called him or his wife, “Aunt Evelyn.”  She had an old number for them both. Low and behold, when she pressed the number, it rang. 
    “Hello,” a woman answered the phone.
    “Evelyn? Aunt Evelyn, is that you? This is Jessica, Jessica Huntington-Harper. You know, Jessica Huntington?”  She was babbling.  This last name thing was starting to grate.
    “Jessica, it’s so good to hear from you . How are you?”
    “I’m okay, I guess.”
    “ That’s good. How are your parents?”
    “They’re both doing well .  Mom’s in Monaco with her new husband, on an extended honeymoon.  I get postcards with updates about their travels.  I saw dad in LA a couple weeks ago. He’s been spending a lot of time in Singapore and Hong Kong, working on some sort of development project in China.  He seems pretty excited about it. He was sort of floundering around for a while with real estate in such a hopeless state here.  To tell you the truth he was more upbeat than he’s been in a couple years so that’s good.”
    “Well I’m glad they’re okay . I don’t think we’ve seen either of them in several years. It’s been at least a couple years since we saw you last, am I right?”
    “Yes, you’re right Aunt Evelyn. I think the last time I visited was that barbeque for Frank’s promotion to detective.”  Evelyn and Don’s son had followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a police officer in Riverside County which encompassed the desert cities. He actually worked for the county Sherriff’s Department in the city of Riverside, an hour or so away. 
    She was afraid to ask how he was doing .  The entire county was so hard hit by the housing debacle that lots of cities and towns were still trying to balance their budgets.  Her best friend Kelly’s cousin, Frank had been a couple years ahead of them both in school.  He and Laura’s sister Sara were in the same cohort.  Frank knew exactly what he wanted to do and went straight from high school to UC Riverside, got a degree in sociology with a focus on criminology and then went into the police officer training academy.  His parents were so proud when he was promoted to detective a few years ago. That was not an easy thing to do under any circumstances, but even more impressive in the wake of the Great Recession. 
    “Yes, that’s right .  We were so relieved when he got that promotion. He worked so hard and wanted it so much.  He put everything into that job. Unfortunately it took a toll on his marriage. He and Mary broke up a while back. Not that it’s the main reason they split. Anyway, that’s been hard on us. We’ve always liked her and then there are the kids.  It’s been even harder on them.  We try to reassure Evie and Frankie that they’re going to be okay.  Frank and Mary have been good about not taking out their differences on them.”
    “I guess that’s some consolation. I’ve told you this before, but you and Uncle Don were so important to me when my parents divorced.  Frank and Mary are lucky their children have you in their lives.”
    “Thanks, Jessica . I appreciate hearing that.  Do you have time to say hello to Don?”
    “Actually, that would be great .  I need to speak to him if he’s available.  Do you remember Laura and Sara Powers?”
    “Of course I do . I ran into Sara and her kids when I took Evie and Frankie to the COD street fair a couple weeks ago.  Every so often I see Laura at a grocery store or somewhere around town.”
    “Well, this will be on the news and in the