Detective Reyes-Gonzales seemed genuinely taken aback. She looked first at Rhonda and then back at me for confirmation. 'My understanding was that the snake had been displaced by the flood waters.'
Rhonda shook her head. 'No. That's not the case here at all. I'm sure Ringo was deliberately planted in Mr. Beaumont's room, probably by Joey himself, unless I miss my guess.'
Detective Reyes-Gonzales' eyes narrowed, but she was obviously intrigued by what she was hearing. So was I. Even if they know it's true, perpetrators' mothers don't generally voice those kinds of accusations to law enforcement personnel. Detective Reyes-Gonzales evidently found it as disquieting as I did.
Leaving her perch on the desk, she went around to the back of it and sat down in her chair, leaning back with her fingers crossed and regarding Rhonda Attwood intently.
'Why would your son do a thing like that, Mrs. Attwood? And how?'
Her questions were asked with disarming directness. Rhonda responded in kind.
'How is easy. My guess is that Ringo was there for several days. Snakes can be in a room without people being aware they're there.'
For a moment an echo of atavistic fear lurched through me. Rhonda was right. Ringo could have been there for some time without my knowing it, just as he had been loose in Rhonda's house years before.
'As for the why,' Rhonda was saying when I came back to the discussion, 'Joey believed Mr. Beaumont was a narcotics agent planted at Ironwood Ranch for entrapment purposes.'
I caught the sudden shadow of doubt that flitted briefly across the detective's face. She looked at me questioningly. 'Were you there on assignment, Detective Beaumont?' she asked.
'No way. Joey Rothman may have thought that,' I countered, 'but that doesn't mean it's true.'
Detective Reyes-Gonzales nodded, gravely acquiescent. 'I see,' she said.
There was something odd in her manner toward me, but I couldn't put my finger on it. She regarded me for a long moment, studying me, assessing my reactions, wondering. Was I fish or fowl, ally or enemy, suspect or potential witness? Her attitude was equal parts professional courtesy and professional jealously. I wasn't offended. If anything, I respected her for it. After all, it was far too early in the investigation for a careful detective to remove any names from the list of possibles-including that of a visiting fellow detective.
Detective Reyes-Gonzales turned from me to Rhonda Attwood. 'How did you come to be aware of your son's suspicions about Mr. Beaumont here?'
'He called me last night and told me.'
'You mean the night he died?'
Rhonda nodded. 'That's right. It's tomorrow already, isn't it.'
'What was the purpose of his call?'
'He wanted to hit me up for some money.'
'Why?'
'I'm not sure. I used to lend him money all the time, but then I stopped because he never paid any of it back.'
'So his calling you was unusual?'
'Yes.'
'How much did he want?'
'Ten thousand dollars. He said he was planning to leave the state, but that was probably a lie.'
'Did you give your son the money he asked for?' Detective Reyes-Gonzales asked.
Rhonda shook her head. 'I don't have that kind of money, at least not at one time. Even if I had it, I wouldn't have given it to him. I learned the hard way. My son was a liar and a cheat. I quit lending him money years ago. I thought it would help him grow up and learn to stand on his own two feet.'
'Mrs. Attwood, do you believe your son was involved in drug trafficking?' Detective Reyes-Gonzales asked the pivotal question gently.
'Yes,' Rhonda replied.
'According to what I've seen so far, he got sent up on a Minor In Possession, an MIP. I can't find anything official that links him to drugs.'
'Keep looking,' Rhonda said grimly. 'It's there.'
'How do you know?'
'Because he told me. He told me JoJo had gotten him off.'
'JoJo?' Detective Reyes-Gonzales asked.
'James Rothman, his father, my ex.'
'And you believe that's possible?'
'Where JoJo is concerned, anything is possible.'
Detective Reyes-Gonzales nodded. 'All right. I'll do some more checking into that end of it. By the way, in his discussion with you, did your son every mention someone by the name of Michelle Owens?'
'No,' Rhonda returned decisively. 'Not that I remember.'
Detective Reyes-Gonzales continued. 'Michelle's young, only fifteen, a girl your son met while they were both in treatment at Ironwood Ranch. She told us Joey was in the process of ‘working some deals' and then they were planning on running away together.'
Rhonda Attwood laughed. 'Run away?' she asked.
'As in elope,' Detective Reyes-Gonzales replied seriously. 'When I talked to her this morning, the girl showed me a ring. She claims they were engaged.' Reyes-Gonzales paused for just a moment before adding, 'Michelle Owens is pregnant, Mrs. Attwood.'
For the first time in the entire interview, Rhonda Attwood looked stunned.
'Pregnant?' she said. 'Joey got a girl pregnant?'
'Eventually you may want to confirm it with a paternity test, but for the time being, we're taking the girl's word that your son is the father.'
Rhonda sat perfectly still, her face ashen. I'm sure that, like me, Detective Reyes-Gonzales had assumed that someone else had given Rhonda the news. 'I'm sorry. You mean you didn't know?'
'No,' Rhonda answered weakly, almost in a whisper. 'I had no idea.'
'It's just that your husband-'
'I don't have a husband,' Rhonda cut in.
'Excuse me, your former husband seemed to know all about it, and I thought you would too.'
'My former husband and I aren't exactly on speaking terms,' Rhonda said testily. 'Thank you for telling me.' Abruptly, she stood up and turned to me. 'Can we go now, please? I'm not feeling well.'
To my surprise, Detective Reyes-Gonzales didn't object. 'Of course, Mrs. Attwood. I'll be happy to finish going over all this with you some other time.'
'Thank you,' Rhonda murmured and fled from the room. Without moving, Detective Reyes-Gonzales watched the door swing slowly shut behind the departing woman.
'So that's it?' I asked.
'For right now,' she replied. 'If I have any more questions, I can ask them tomorrow.'
Being this close to the action and at the same time being totally shut out of it was driving me crazy. I decided to try a direct approach. What did I have to lose?'
'How about your answering one for me, then?' I asked.
'Such as?'
'Yesterday when you were interviewing me in Louise Crenshaw's office, something happened. Somebody came to get you, and you got up and left me, just like that.'
A curtain of wariness fell across the detective's face. 'What about it?'
'What was it? Why did you leave?'
'A lead,' she answered coolly. 'I'm not at liberty to say what kind.'
'Just tell me one thing. Was it something to do with Joey Rothman's murder?'
'You're not listening, Detective Beaumont,' she said, standing up. 'I can't say anything more without jeopardizing my investigation. Won't,' she added.
'But you do have a suspect?' I insisted.
I had turned the questioning tables on her suddenly enough that I caught her off guard. An affirmative answer flashed in the lucid brown eyes before she could properly mask them. Yes, she did have a suspect.
