Death Without Company by Craig Johnson

Author:Craig Johnson [Johnson, Craig]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Library, Suspense, Mystery fiction, Mystery & Detective, Longmire; Walt (Fictitious character), Wyoming
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2007-02-27T06:00:00+00:00

He was staring at his chicken-fried steak sandwich; the long dark hair hid his face and muffled his voice. “How many murders have we had in this county since you became sheriff?”

I counted up quickly, then recounted. “Five.”

“Three in the last month?”

“Yep.”

He picked up the sandwich and looked at it. “You should retire . . . quickly.”

I chewed on my usual as Dorothy came over and poured us more iced tea. “It’s very tempting to go with the lawyers.”

“They have the most to gain.” He growled it, the way he always did when talking about violence. “Assuming Lana did not beat her own brains out with a tire iron . . .” The chief cook and bottle washer looked over at the brave, and they both nodded.

I looked at them and wondered if people in other parts of the country were as smart-ass as the ones that I had to put up with. “You two are a lot of help.” Dorothy shrugged and went back to work. I took a sip of my iced tea and looked at the Bear.

He chewed. “Tell me about the timing on naphthalene poisoning.”

“Five to twenty minutes, so it had to be introduced to the victim less than a half an hour before her death.”

“Then it had to be someone who saw her at the home that night.”

“Possibly, but it could have been left for her in some form of consumable; of course, they washed all the glasses and dishes that were in her room.” I turned and caught Dorothy’s eye. “I need your phone.” She brought it over and sat it in front of me. I looked at Henry. “Why are you in town during a blizzard?”

He looked out the window behind us. “In case you have not noticed, it has stopped.”

I turned, and it had. “I’ve been kind of busy.”

He sat the glass down and continued. “I needed filing supplies and discs for the photo collection I am working on.”

I went ahead and dialed the number of the jail. “How’s that going?”

The lines at the corner of his lips pulled south, pinning his mouth like a pup tent. “The problem with leading Indians is you are never quite sure if they are following or chasing you.”

The telephone began ringing. “Absaroka County Sheriff ’s Department, Officer Saizarbitoria speaking. How may I help you?”

I stared at the phone. “Wow.” I jumped in before he could deliver another schpiel. “Sancho, it’s me. Is Vic around?”

“No, she’s done fingerprinting and went with the staff over to the Home for Assisted Living.”

I had seen her fingerprint before; with her Philadelphia technique, I was pretty sure she was the fastest fingerprinter in the West. “How long do you think it will take you to go through the boxes?”

“I’ll be done tonight.”

That’s when his trial period would be over, and I suspected he would hightail it back to Rawlins after that. I waited for a moment and then spoke again. “Hey, Troop? I want you to know that what you’re doing is important, and I really appreciate it.

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