A Man for All Seasons - Omnibus (2011) by Diana Palmer

Author:Diana Palmer
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Texas Rangers, Fiction, Romance, Western, General, Love Stories
ISBN: 9780373776054
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2011-09-27T07:00:00+00:00

Brannon and Josette were outside with the deputy and two sheriff’s department crime-scene investigators, helping keep the curious away, when Alice came out and pulled them to one side.

“You’ll get a complete report after we finish the autopsy,” she told them. “But from a preliminary standpoint, I can tell you definitely that she’s been dead at least twenty-four hours, and that she was probably tortured before she was shot.”

“Cigarette burns,” Josette guessed.

“Right on.”

“Just a minute, Alice,” Josette called over her shoulder as she went to the car to her purse. She drew out a handkerchief and opened it. “I found this on the pavement outside the apartment.”

“Hey, Bill!” Alice called to one of the civilian evidence technicians. “Come get this!”

The technician came out, his hands in disposable gloves. He stripped them off and peered over Alice Jones’s shoulder at what Josette had. She explained where she found it and gave a description of the visitors to them, adding the name of the neighbor who gave it to her and where she lived.

Pulling an evidence bag from his pocket, the technician carefully eased it inside and closed the edges.

“It’s a long shot,” Alice said, very professional now, “but in seven percent of the population, we can get a DNA profile from saliva traces. Cross your fingers.”

“They’re crossed. Nice work, Josie,” Brannon remarked.

“Luck,” she replied. “Pure luck. If her neighbor hadn’t told me about it, I’d have walked right over it. I saw something else. It’s an unusual brand of cigarettes.”

“I noticed.” His face was flinty. “I want these people locked up. I can’t imagine the sort of mentality it takes to torture a helpless old woman!”

“The neighbor said they took a small box and a book, maybe a Bible, out of the apartment when they left. Mrs. Jennings knew something. We’ll never know what.”

“And I have more news,” he told her. “York knocked out an orderly and walked right out by the man we had guarding him in the hospital.”

“Oh, great!” Josette muttered. “That’s just what we need, a hit man on the loose and a target we can’t name still in danger.” She glanced toward the apartment. “You don’t suppose…?”

“The neighbor’s description of the male visitor doesn’t match York,” Brannon said. His eyes narrowed. “But I checked the files. Jake Marsh always wears wing tips,” he added with a determined look.

“Does he have a wife or mistress?” she asked.

Brannon lifted an eyebrow. “I hear he has two wives,” he mused. “But nobody can prove it.”

“Mrs. Danton said the man had a nice-looking woman with him, in a fancy hat with a veil,” she continued.

“Not much to go on.”

“Yes. I know.” Josette grimaced. “I guess somebody’s told poor Mr. Holliman that his sister’s dead.”

“Not yet,” Brannon said. “I asked. I think you and I could handle that chore better than the deputies, because we know him. I’ll clear it with them.” He went to find the investigator in charge.

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