Shoot / Don't Shoot

Carol Strong nodded. “I know which one you mean.”

“It hit Leann hard for some reason. Maybe it was too close to what happened to her own mother. Evidently, ­there was some problem with domestic violence in Leann’s family as well. Anyway, we went, and then we both ended up on TV. A female reporter was there. She spotted me and did an on?the-spot interview. When the reporter discovered Leann was a cop, too, she interviewed her as well. Leann’s mother taped the news broadcast. I have a copy if you’d like to see it.”

“Eventually,” Carol said.

The question-and-answer process continued for some time after that. Finally, Carol Strong sighed and looked at her watch.

“No wonder I’m tired. It’s eleven o’clock—six hours after my usual bedtime, and I’m due in at six tonight. Will you be at the Hohokam all weekend if I need to get back to you?”

“Until Sunday.”

“I’ll call you there if I need to ask you anything else. Do you mind if I make a copy of what Butch Dixon wrote for you? It’s not that different from what he told me to begin with, but considering what’s happened, I’d better take a look at everything related to Serena Grijalva’s case and try to see what, if anything, I missed the first time through.”

“Go ahead. I’ll go disconnect Jenny from the VCR.”

Joanna had lost all track of time and was surprised by how much time had passed. When she went into the training room, she was surprised to hear her own voice coming from the VCR. Jenny was watching the tape.

“I just saw Ceci on TV,” Jenny said. “She looked real sad.”

“She was sad, but why are you watching that? I thought you were going to watch E.T.”

“I did. It’s over already. You were gone a long time.”

“I’m sorry, but we’re done now. Come on.”

Jenny expertly ejected the tape from the machine and put it back into the box. “Do you think Ceci got to see herself?”

“I don’t know,” Joanna answered. “You can ask her tomorrow. If not, maybe you can show her the tape.”

Carol Strong met them in the hallway, handed Joanna back her papers, and then showed them out of the building. “That lady isn’t very big to be a detective, is she?” Jenny asked. “With her shoes off, she’s not much bigger than me.”

“Than I,” Joanna corrected. “Am tall is understood. You wouldn’t say me am tall. But detectives use their brains a whole lot more than their muscles.”

“Well, she seems nice,” Jenny said, as they walked down the sidewalk toward the Blazer.

“She does to me, too,” Joanna replied.

But if Jorge Grijalva was innocent of killing Serena, Joanna could see why, tiny or not, he might think of Detective Carol Strong as a witch.

As they left the city parking lot, something was bothering Joanna. She couldn’t remember seeing Leann Jessup’s Ford Fiesta in the parking lot. It was possible that it had been there, parked invisibly among the collection of police vehicles. Just to make sure, Joanna took a detour past the APOA campus. Except for a single patrol car stationed near the gate, the parking lot was completely deserted. Joanna got out of her car long enough to speak to the uniformed officer.

“I’m Sheriff Joanna Brady,” Joanna introduced herself, flipping out both her badge and I.D. “I’m working with Detective Strong on this case. Can you me if there was a bright red Ford Fiesta here this morning when officers first arrived? I’m wondering if it’s