Susan Hochmann spoke in soothing tones and when
the woman had quieted, she said to Dwight, “I told her
nothing was going to happen to them, Major. They’ve
done nothing wrong. Have they?”
“Nothing illegal maybe,” said Dwight, “but they may
have just cut your inheritance pretty drastically. If he’s
willing to testify that he saw Palmeiro leave that bloody
scene early that Monday morning, then your parents’
divorce is invalid. The summary judgment wasn’t signed
until that afternoon. Depending on what your mother
does, it could mean that you won’t get half the business
now.”
295
MARGARET MARON
A wry smile flickered across her broad plain face.
“Want to bet?”
Dwight left the mopping up to Jamison and the other
detectives and told Richards to ride back to Dobbs with
him to start the reports and put out an APB on Ernesto
Palmeiro, who had a five-day lead on them and was
probably already back in Mexico by now.
Their talk was of the case and the ramifications of what
they’d learned and the very real likelihood that they’d
never get him extradited back to Colleton County. All
very professional until they were about five miles from
town and Dwight said, “Anything you need to tell me,
Richards?”
“Sir?”
“You heard me.”
“About what, Major?”
“About Miguel Diaz.”
“On a personal level? Or about him speaking for
Palmeiro and giving him work while he repaired the
damage he’d done?”
“Your personal life’s your own as long as it doesn’t
compromise your handling of the job.” He kept his
tone neutral.
Her eyes flashed indignantly. “You think I let our re-
lationship get in the way of the investigation?”
“That’s what I’m asking. Did you?”
She shook her head. “No, sir. I really don’t think I
did. I didn’t know Mike had gone to court for Palmeiro
till Friday. McLamb mentioned that he’d seen him at
the courthouse and when I asked Mike, he was ab-
296
HARD ROW
solutely up front about it. He said he felt sorry for
the guy because his baby had died and his wife had
left him. He didn’t describe the baby’s condition, just
that it was stillborn. We didn’t know the body parts
