Dessie shrugged. “I wouldn’t know anything about those files.”
“He didn’t say anything else about this mysterious puzzle or project? You don’t have any idea what he was working on?”
“I cooked and cleaned and stayed out of his business as much as I could. It wasn’t my job to ask a lot of questions.”
“But the two of you were friends. Maybe he let something slip in everyday conversation. Think back, Dessie. This could be important.”
“Nikki, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“I’m just gathering information, remember?”
“About Dr. Wingate?”
“About anyone connected to Dr. Nance.”
“I guess you’ll be asking questions about me next.” She gave Nikki a peculiar look. “Maybe you already have.”
Oh, I have questions for you, Dessie. You’ve no idea. How long have you been seeing Clete Darnell romantically? Whose idea was it to get married so quickly and then change your will? Why keep the union a secret if everything is on the up-and-up? “Right now we’re talking about Dr. Wingate.”
Dessie’s gaze seemed knowing, but maybe that was Nikki’s imagination.
She took another stab. “I can’t help thinking that Dr. Wingate is going to a lot of trouble to find those files. She claimed she’s worried about patient privacy, but I’m not so sure.” Nikki paused. “Did you know that Dr. Nance was planning to retire when he came back from Houston?”
Dessie’s brows shot up. “Retire? Who told you that?”
“Dr. Wingate said he’d been having some issues at the clinic.”
“What issues?”
“According to her, he’d been forgetting appointments and mixing up prescriptions. Things had gotten to the point where she felt she had to step in. Dr. Nance agreed to phase out his practice when he returned from his trip.”
Dessie folded her arms. “I don’t believe a word of it. He would have said something if he was planning to leave the clinic.”
“But you told Sheriff Brannon that you’d also noticed a change in his behavior.”
“Yes. He was distant and distracted. At times, he seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. But I never said anything about memory issues.” She grew pensive. “Now you’ve got me to wondering about Dr. Wingate. You think there’s something incriminating about her in those files?”
“That’s what I’d like to find out.”
“She said he’d been forgetting things, did she? Well, that’s convenient. If he was on to her, maybe she was trying to make him look unreliable. What better way to clear herself than by casting doubt on Dr. Nance?”
“You think she made up the incidents at the clinic?”
“Maybe not altogether. We all forget things as we get older. I know I do. But she could have exaggerated what happened.” Dessie gave Nikki a long look. “You know how that works. Plant the seed of doubt and people will start looking for mistakes.”
“That would be a pretty devious and sophisticated maneuver.”
“Sounds about right.” Dessie’s gaze never wavered. “I’ve known Dr. Wingate for a long time. She’s nothing if not clever.”
So Dessie also had a problem with Patience Wingate. Nikki was beginning to think she’d never known the real Dessie Dupre at all. She’d always thought of her as a modest and unassuming woman. Not a mouse by any means, but someone who led a quiet life and did her best to get along. Evidently, neither the real Dessie Dupre nor the real Dr. Nance matched the descriptions Nikki had carried with her all these years.
People were complicated, even the quiet ones. Especially the quiet ones. Look at her.
She leaned in. “Dessie, what do you know about Dr. Wingate that I don’t?”
The woman spoke without hesitation, as if she were suddenly relieved that someone had allowed her to open the floodgates. “You know I’m not one to talk out of school, but it’s always been my job to look after Dr. Nance. I see no reason to stop now.”
“Go on.”
“He and Dr. Wingate had an affair. It ended badly.”
“An affair?” Nikki wondered how she could still be surprised after all the afternoon’s revelations.
Dessie nodded. “She had a family. When her husband found out about Dr. Nance, he left and took their kids with him. Things got ugly. The divorce and custody battle cost her a fortune. When her relationship with Dr. Nance didn’t work out, she blamed him for ruining her life. It got so bad that Dr. Nance offered to buy out her partnership. She refused to sell, partly out of spite, but mostly because she wouldn’t have had much of a practice without his referrals and everyone knew it. Eventually, they worked things out, but it took a long time.”
Nikki shook her head. “How did I not hear about this? It must have caused a scandal, but I never heard a word.”
“You were away at school at the time. You didn’t come home much those first few years. Despite the ugliness, they managed to keep things quiet. Only a few people knew.”
“I can’t imagine keeping something like that quiet in a town like Belle Pointe.”
“You’d be surprised at all the secrets.” Dessie paused to stare out the window as she gathered her thoughts. “If you’re looking for a reason for someone to take that watch, maybe you should talk to Dr. Wingate. In her eyes, Dr. Nance took everything from her. Maybe she decided to take the one thing that meant the most to him.”
“JUST TAKE IT EASY,” Adam called across the water as he slowly got to his feet.
The man returned his stare through the riflescope. “Hands in the air! Nice and slow-like. Atta boy.”
Arms lifted, Adam backed toward the opposite bank. The mud sucked at his shoes, limiting his mobility and, therefore, any desperate attempt at escape. He could draw his weapon,
