Pride v. Prejudice by Joan Hess Page B

trial.”
    â€œI was not hysterical, and I walked out of the courtroom without an escort,” I said with laudable restraint. “Ms. Swift’s lawyer has authorized me to speak to the people involved in the investigation. I’d like to know which deputies arrived first at the scene.”
    Frankie stiffened. “That would be me and Rick Harraldson. We took a look and called Sheriff Dorfer. He sent out the investigators. It’s all in the report we wrote for the case file.”
    â€œDid you interview Ms. Swift?”
    â€œI talked to her, if that’s what you mean. She was sitting on the porch swing when we pulled up. Deputy Harraldson ordered me to stay with her while he went into the barn to have a look. He was pretty shaky when he came out and got in the car to call for backup. He told me later that the black flies buzzing all over the body reminded him of when his dog got killed and he found the body two days later. I took a quick look from the doorway.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “It was bad, real bad. It’s a cold-hearted bitch that lets her husband bleed all night.”
    â€œSarah keeps her feelings to herself.”
    â€œShe sure as hell did that morning. I asked her what happened, and she rattled off a story about going to the barn that morning and finding his body. Said she didn’t even know he was home on account of him saying that he was going fishing with a friend. Her voice was calm, like she was reciting a grocery list. You’d think she would have cried, but she was cool as well water.”
    Frankie was going to make a fine witness for the prosecution. His voice had been far from calm, and his eyes were watery. I didn’t know if he was more upset over Tuck’s body or Deputy Harraldson’s dog. “Then what happened?” I asked, my fingers metaphorically crossed that he wouldn’t tell me that Sarah had offered to cook breakfast for them.
    â€œI went inside the house and made sure no one else was there, and then came back out and asked her if she wanted to call a relative. She kind of laughed and said she didn’t have family within a thousand miles. I didn’t see why it was funny.”
    â€œPeople can behave oddly when they’re in shock.” Or when confronted with the imminent arrival of a mother-in-law.
    â€œShe wasn’t too shocked to offer us iced tea while we waited for the backup team,” Frankie said. “Sheriff Dorfer would have skinned us alive if he drove up and found us sipping tea with the prime suspect.”
    â€œWhy was she the prime suspect? Her husband told her that he was going fishing, so she didn’t expect him to be home when she arrived late that night. She had no reason to go to the barn. An intruder seems more likely.”
    â€œWe considered that,” he said as if he’d taken charge of the investigation. I doubted that Deputy Harraldson let him drive—or even navigate. He opened a folder and flipped a page. “There’d been a home invasion out that way a couple of months before, but it didn’t match the modus operandi. There wasn’t anything worth stealing in the barn. What were they going to do with a bunch of old tools and tarps?”
    â€œPerhaps they didn’t know there was nothing of value in the barn,” I suggested. “They were poking around when Tuck caught them. He’d brought the shotgun, and they got into a struggle. The shotgun went off and they fled.”
    He glanced at me before he flipped another page and squinted at the print. “We considered that. The woman admits she got home at eleven. The blast was heard at midnight or thereabouts. You care to explain what happened during the hour gap?”
    That was a bit of a poser, I had to admit. “They were holding him hostage when Sarah drove up. She went into the house and straight to bed. She was sound asleep when the struggle occurred.”
    â€œYou