I thanked her and said I would try again. In the meantime I knew exactly what I planned to do.
Elton was leaning on the fender of the Escalade. He straightened up and said, “Happy to see you’re not being escorted out of the building.”
“Well, let’s give it another try. The sheriff is at a meeting at the Marriott Courtyard. Do you know where that is?”
“It’s right down the road, no more than a few hops by a high-jumping frog.” Elton opened my door. “I expect you’ll want to go find him.”
“Well, it won’t do any harm to try.”
True to his word, Elton pulled into the hotel parking lot about five minutes later.
The hotel lobby was spacious, with white floor-to-ceiling columns lending an air of discreet elegance. I was about to ask the desk clerk where I could find the Professional Women’s Association when I saw Sheriff Halvorson walking right toward me in the midst of an entourage of four or five people. I stepped in front of him.
“Excuse me, Sheriff . . .”
“Mrs. Fletcher, what are you doing here?” He wrinkled his brow. “If you are looking for the professional women’s group, they are in the meeting room off to the left. Nice crowd they have today.”
Wishful thinking on his part. Before he could walk away, I lowered my voice and said in a confidential tone, “I have some information. It may help your case.”
“Jim, I’ll meet you at the car,” he said to the man on his left, who immediately herded the others out to the parking lot.
I kept Elton’s wise advice uppermost in mind. Rather than insisting that he was making a terrible mistake, I said, “I’m afraid you may be blamed for a blunder that is no fault of your own.”
He took me by the elbow and moved me into a corner behind a row of blue easy chairs. “Ma’am, I have to ask, what are you talking about?”
“Sheriff, when there is an estate as large and diverse as Willis Nickens’s is likely to be and there’s a recent bride who suddenly becomes a new widow . . . well, I am sure that your compatriots are searching high and low for evidence that will link her to the murder.”
Sheriff Halvorson was losing patience. “If you’re going to try to convince me that Mrs. Nickens is not a likely suspect, all I can say is that you are wasting your breath.”
“Oh, not at all. But I do have some information you may find helpful. I overheard a conversation between Willis Nickens and his son-in-law, Clancy Travers, mere hours before Willis died.
“Willis apparently had a trust set up for his granddaughter, and he was explaining to Clancy that he was going to change the trusteeship from Clancy to Dolores. I’ve also learned that Willis added Dolores to the ownership of some of his companies. Clearly he trusted her.”
“Mrs. Fletcher, even if I thought this information had some bearing on the case, why would I take your word for any of it?”
“Oh, you don’t have to take my word. Speak to Marcus Holmes. He was Willis’s attorney, so he would have handled all the paperwork. Then ask yourself if a man as shrewd as Willis Nickens would trust his wife with everything, including his beloved granddaughter’s fortune, if he had even an iota of doubt about her love and fidelity.”
I thanked the sheriff for his time and courtesy and headed for the door. I knew I hadn’t sold the idea to him totally, but I could see by the look on his face that I had planted a seed of doubt. I hoped it would give me the time I needed to clear Dolores’s name.
Chapter Twenty
I automatically rolled away from the sunlight streaming through the bedroom window, only to bump my nose against a piece of cardboard. I opened one eye and saw the manila folder labeled norman’s screwups lying on the pillow. I’d fallen asleep last night reading Willis’s comments on odd pieces of business letters and memos, even a contract or two.
I glanced at the clock and saw I had time for a quick jog before breakfast. I was tying my Nikes when my phone signaled a text. Harry.
Haven’t forgotten about you. Still looking around. More info to come.
Harry was nothing if not thorough. It would never enter my mind that he wasn’t fully investigating any case that crossed his path. It wasn’t in his nature to leave things undone.
I went out the front door, leaving it unlatched, and took a slow jog around the gardens. Then I ran down the driveway to the gate, which was securely locked. On my way back I stopped at the koi pond. The chalk marks had faded, and the pond looked rather forlorn without the colorful fish swimming about. A frog sat on the rear timber beam, and jumped into the pond for a swim as I stood there. I wondered when the Department of Natural Resources would return the koi they’d removed, or if Dolores would have to restock. Even the water irises looked lonely.
After I showered and changed into tan slacks and a blue and tan man-tailored shirt, I went downstairs. I heard voices coming from the dining room, but I walked toward the kitchen.
“Good morning, everyone.”
Elton stood, pulled on the napkin that was tucked into his shirt collar covering his green and gray plaid bow tie, and dropped it
