Bitter Sweet by Connie Shelton Page A

room. “I’ll fill you in on Marshall Gray later.”
    Martha returned in less than a
minute carrying a bound book. “Let’s see . . . it looks like Mr. Gray signed in
at eleven-thirty and signed out at one o’clock.” She ran her finger down the
few remaining lines, then shrugged. “I don’t see anyone else who signed in to
visit her. Of course there are some people who don’t specify—clergy, doctors,
physical therapists and such. They’ll often come to visit more than one patient
at a time. If the purpose of the visit is for medical care, they have to check
out the patient’s chart so they can make their notations, then they return the
charts to the receptionist or one of the nursing staff.”
    She picked up Sadie’s chart and
opened it. “But there is no record of that sort of visit for Mrs. Gray yesterday.
It was a pretty quiet and normal day for her.”
    Until she didn’t wake up from her
nap, Sam thought.
    Running out of questions for
Martha Preston, Beau told her he would be back in touch if he needed further
information. Sam and Beau walked out toward their vehicles. A pleasant breeze
came out of the north, pushing the forest fire smoke away.
    “So, what were you going to tell
me in there?” Sam asked the minute they were clear of the building.
    “Looks like Marshall Gray loves
to spend money,” he said. “Along with the bank account records, there was a
credit card which was initially taken out in Sadie’s name but later she added a
card for Marshall as well. That card was nearing the max of its twenty-thousand
dollar credit line.”
    “Whoa. Could you find out what
was charged on it?”
    Beau opened the door of his
cruiser and plucked a sheet of paper from a folder. “Among other things are a
first-class air ticket for nearly ten thousand dollars. I’ve got a deputy
checking to see what the destination is. A men’s clothing store in Albuquerque
shows three separate sales at well over a thousand dollars each. And there are
regular florist charges for hundred-dollar bouquets every week or two.”
    “So, the gifts Marshall brought
Sadie were going on her card and probably being paid for with her money.”
    “Looks like. Every previous
payment on this card was made from her personal checking account.”
    Sam seethed. What a rat!
“Wait—you said an airline ticket. Don’t you see what this means? I heard
announcements and noises over the phone when he called me this morning. He was
probably at an airport and he’s on a plane now, going somewhere.”
    Beau’s eyes widened. He grabbed
his phone and speed dialed. “Rico, did you get the result on that airline
ticket charge yet?”
    Sam watched as he nodded and um- hmmd a couple of times.
    “Get on the horn to Dallas
PD—now. Tell them to pull Marshall Gray off that plane when it lands. We want
him held for questioning as a person of interest in the death of his wife and
financial fraud. Report back to me the minute they confirm that they have him.”
    “What—”
    “You were right. The first class
ticket was to Zurich. Luckily, Albuquerque doesn’t have any direct flights so
his connections are in Dallas, then London. If we’re lucky we can catch him
while he’s still on American soil.”
    “Good. You can arrest him for
taking off with Sadie’s money.”
    “Well, I’m not so sure about
that. It’s why I said to hold him for questioning. We’ll only have forty-eight
hours.”
    “But he’s taken her money! He may
have even killed her!”
    “We don’t yet have any proof of
either. I’ll have to get autopsy results. On the money side of it, they were
married. It’s a community property state. She added him as a cardholder and
changed the bank accounts to jointly-held. She may have willingly given him
access to everything she had.”
    “Oh, god, Beau. This is awful.”
    “Sorry about lunch, darlin ’ but I think I better get right back to the office
and stay on top of this. I may be on a plane to Dallas to question