Vulture au Vin by Lisa King

Author:Lisa King
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781579623968
Publisher: The Permanent Press
Published: 2014-06-19T00:00:00+00:00

A few minutes later Matt came back into the room from outside. “Where’s Jurado?” he asked.

“He went out this way,” Sheila said, gesturing through the door.

“Thanks.” Matt went in search of the detective.

Jean’s curiosity was acting up again. “May I go to the restroom?” she asked Sheila politely.

“Sure, go ahead,” the officer said.

Jean went out the door into a spacious hallway. The restroom was to the left, but Jean followed Matt as quietly as she could in the other direction and ducked into a side room when she heard Jurado’s voice. If she kept perfectly silent, she could make out what Jurado and Matt were saying.

“You need anything else?” Matt asked.

“No, we can handle it from here,” Jurado said. “Another homicide in your area, eh? Seems the crime rate’s gone way up around here since you took over.”

“Nah, most categories are down. Only homicide’s up. I guess we can thank your twenty percent solve rate for that, Detective.” Matt put plenty of sarcasm into the last word.

She heard Jurado snort. “I’m sure you have work of your own to do, officer. Try not to get underfoot.”

“Yes, sir,” Matt said.

Interesting, Jean thought. She stayed in her hiding place until Jurado went past her, back to the room full of suspects. Matt must have gone outside. She went back to the holding tank.

Roman’s was the first name to be called. He strode toward the library, giving Jean a reassuring smile.

Jean spotted Gloria sitting on an elaborately carved bench at one end of the huge room and sat next to her. “Gloria, what’s up between Matt and Wes Jurado?” she asked in a whisper.

Gloria made a face. “Wes is acting head of homicide and wants it to be permanent. He was an affirmative-action hire, so he has a lot to prove. But then Matt got into homicide in Phoenix because he’s Native American. The difference is, Matt turned out to be really good and Wes is an incompetent fool. He’s taken credit for Matt’s investigative work more than once.” She shook her head. “I believed in affirmative action until I met him.”

The deputies called Gloria into the sitting room. Jean sat quietly, mulling things over, until her turn came. She was a little worried about Roman; he still hadn’t come out of the library. In the sitting room she gave a statement to Jurado, who struck her as smarmy and none too bright, sticking to the facts and keeping her speculations to herself.

Laszlo put together a cold buffet for lunch, and Jean ate a delicious salade Niçoise with Monique, talking things over. As she left the dining room, she saw Matt alone in the entryway looking through a small notebook. “Matt, I have to talk to you.”

“Sure.” He put the notebook into his breast pocket. “Let’s go outside.”

They sat at a table near the small pool, the hot wind whipping around them. Matt folded down the patio umbrella before it went airborne.

“Why is Roman still in with the detectives?” Jean asked.

“They’re looking hard at him, Angus MacKnight, and Tony Feola because Schoonover’s neck was broken.

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