Motion to Dismiss by Jonnie Jacobs Page B

agreement.
    As soon as I got back to the office, I called Nina. I told her that I'd seen Grady and that he was doing as well as could be expected. Then I turned the conversation to the search the police had conducted that morning.
    "What did they take?" I asked her.
    "I don't know. They spent most of their time in Grady's closet.
    They took some stuff. I'm not sure if that's significant, or if they were just covering all the bases." Nina was trying hard to stay calm, but I could hear the anxiety in the shallowness of her breathing. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"
    "Not completely."
    She listened in stoic silence while I told her what I knew; then she asked the question for which I wished I had an answer.
    "How does it look for him?" Her voice was small, the words more breathed than spoken.
    "I don't know yet. I'll have a better idea maybe after I see the police reports. Marc's working on getting them right now."
    "It's amazing how one's life can change so abruptly." She let out a breath -- a weary, forlorn sound that made my heart ache.
    "It's probably not as bad as it seems, Nina." The assurance rang hollow in my ears, but I couldn't help myself.
    "At least I have it easier than Grady." She paused. "He must be so scared."
    "Everything will work out, I'm sure." Another empty platitude. Nina must have recognized it as such, because she didn't bother to respond. "I'm going to view the crime scene this afternoon," I told her. "I'll stop by to see you this evening."
    "Kali?" She hesitated a moment.
    "What?"
    "Thanks. I don't know what we'd do if you weren't here."
    "Try not to worry, okay?"
    A humorless laugh. "How do I do that?"

Chapter 15
    Officer Duncan, the policeman assigned to be my escort at the crime scene, was a jowly man who took his gatekeeping duties seriously. From the start, it was clear that he wasn't about to turn me loose to poke and pry on my own.
    "You want to begin inside or out?" he asked. His breath smelled of spearmint gum.
    "Inside." I'd already eyeballed the deck from the street on my last visit, and since Deirdre and her killer had presumably been inside before stepping onto the deck, I thought it best to start there myself.
    Duncan pulled a white-tagged key from his pocket and fiddled with the lock. Finally, he opened the door onto a tiled entry hall. I stepped inside. Duncan followed me like a shadow.
    The kitchen was to the left; the living area, which stretched the length of the house, was straight ahead, with a wall of wide picture windows and a sliding glass door opening onto the deck. From where I stood, I could see above the treetops into the canyon below.
    "Was the sliding glass door open or closed when the police got here?" I asked.
    Officer Duncan shook his head. "Sorry, ma'am, I wouldn't know."
    I took a notebook out of my purse and jotted a reminder to myself to check. When I moved into the living room, Officer Duncan was only half a step behind.
    The house was nicely, but not elegantly, furnished. Two facing sofas in front of a fireplace, an easy chair and ottoman in the corner. They looked as though they'd come as a package deal from one of those modish showrooms where you can furnish a home in one easy trip.
    The dining area, which was really an extension of the living room, contained a round oak table and matching chairs. There were no knickknacks, family pictures, or personal items to be seen. I wondered if the owners had packed them away before leaving on their trip, or if they lived as simply as it appeared.
    Another thought struck me. "Have the people who live here been contacted yet?" I asked.
    "Live here?"
    "Deirdre Nichols was house-sitting for a couple who are on a trip. Do you know if the police have reached them about her death?"
    "I'm afraid I don't know." His left hand rested on his belt buckle.
    "I take it you weren't one of the officers who worked the scene initially."
    "No, ma'am."
    I opened the sliding glass door and moved onto the cantilevered deck. Below, I