“It would also explain a few other things,” Adam said. “She and Bowman were arguing when I saw them together this afternoon. She threw an envelope at him. I didn’t get a look at the contents, but I’m guessing it was some kind of payoff.”
“Payoff for what, I wonder.”
“That’s the question. Blackmail, maybe. Or something more insidious like murder for hire, if this guy is as bad as you say he is.”
“You think she hired Bowman to kill Dr. Nance?”
“It’s a theory. A big guy like that wouldn’t have any trouble manhandling Dr. Nance into his boat, especially if he’d been drugged.”
“We have no proof of any of this,” Nikki said.
“Not yet we don’t,” Adam agreed. “The thing is, he claimed to know that I’m a cop. He said no one moves into this town without him knowing about it. He could have just been blowing smoke, but it makes you wonder. Maybe someone found out that Dr. Nance contacted me and asked me to come down here to look into things. Maybe that same someone told Bowman to be on the lookout for me.”
“Dr. Wingate?”
“It would have been easy enough for her to eavesdrop on a phone call. I’d really like to get a look inside Bowman’s office. See if I can find out what was in that envelope. If there’s anything tying him to Dr. Wingate, that’s where the evidence will be.”
Nikki searched his features in the dark. “You’re not seriously considering going out there alone, I hope. I’ll say it again. Eddie Bowman isn’t someone you want to tangle with. He’s been trouble for as long as I can remember. He used to do handyman work around town. He could fix anything. People said he was the best carpenter in Nance County, but my grandmother would never allow him in her house. Like I said, she wasn’t a kind woman, but she was a good judge of character.”
“She sounds like an interesting woman,” Adam said.
“Interesting?” Nikki grew pensive. “Yes, I suppose she was.”
“You didn’t get along?”
“We didn’t not get along. We pretty much kept out of each other’s way. But that wasn’t her fault. She got saddled with me when my parents skipped town. First my dad and then my mom.”
“Are they still alive?”
“I have no idea.” She stirred restlessly. “I don’t want to talk about them. I want to hear more about Eddie Bowman and your theory.”
Adam figured Eddie Bowman was pretty far down on her list of appealing topics, but anything to keep him at arm’s distance.
“Do you think he was the guy at Dr. Nance’s cabin the other night?” she asked.
“That’s a fair bet,” Adam said with a nod.
“And yet you want to go back out to the salvage yard and snoop around some more.” She gave him an accusing look. “You know what I think? I think you like living on the edge. Not me. I like things quiet.”
He shot her an amused glance. “I don’t know if I buy that. Taking those photographs this afternoon was pretty damn risky. But I agree that quiet can sometimes be nice.” He gestured toward her backyard. “It’s certainly peaceful out here. And fragrant with all the roses. You’ve a green thumb, apparently.”
“Hardly. I didn’t plant any of this. I’m a little surprised I’ve been able to keep the garden alive. I’m better with dead things.”
“Pun intended, I assume.” He leaned back on his elbows again. “Why did you choose pathology as a specialty? You didn’t want the glory of being a surgeon?”
“I’m like you—I like puzzles. I like looking for clues and signs that everyone else has missed. There’s a great deal of satisfaction in finding something that makes all the pieces snap together.”
She was passionate about her work. He could hear that in her voice. “And your job as coroner?”
“Oh, I got railroaded into that one. The position was vacant and Tom Brannon saw a sucker. He and Dr. Nance persuaded a judge to appoint me to the position until a special election could be held. That was nearly two years ago.”
Adam said a little too casually, “You and Tom Brannon seem pretty tight.”
She frowned. “I wouldn’t go that far. We’re friends. We work well together. Beyond that...” She shrugged again. “He’s a good guy who happens to be engaged to Riley Cavanaugh’s sister.”
“Small world.”
“Small town.” She took another sip of her drink. “My turn to ask the questions.”
“Fire away.”
She gave him a sly look. “You’re a cop of a certain age. Early to midthirties, I’d guess. There must be at least one ex-wife in your past.”
“It’s a myth that the divorce rate among law enforcement personnel is higher than the national average.”
“So...no ex-wife?”
“Ex-fiancée,” he conceded. “She broke off the engagement a few months ago.”
“She broke it off? What happened?”
His first inclination was to clam up the way Nikki had about her parents, but then he thought, what the hell? He hadn’t talked honestly about the breakup to anyone, even his shrink. Maybe he was due a cathartic heart-to-heart. “The shooting took a toll on our relationship. The surgeries, the long recovery, the months of physical therapy. It was grueling. And Steph has never been the most patient person even in the best of times.”
Nikki looked appalled. “She left you because you were injured?”
“Looking back, the breakup had been brewing for a long time. My injuries and the long recovery just brought everything to a head.” Funny how he could talk about it now as if it had happened to someone else. He felt an interesting sense of detachment. “The investigation into the shooting got swept under the rug because a politician’s kid was involved and powerful people pulled a lot of strings. I didn’t like it and said so. Loudly. The powers-that-be decided to delay my reinstatement until I adjusted my attitude. Stephanie caught some flak at the DA’s office because of me. I think that’s when she
