'What happened to the marriage?'
'I guess they just weren't compatible. It didn't last a year. Bill left his job with the bank and moved up to Albuquerque before the divorce was final. Linda wouldn't talk about what happened, although I heard rumors that she was having an affair.'
'Did Bill talk to you about it?' Kerney asked.
'Not really. I saw him in Albuquerque about a year after he'd moved. All he said was it had been a big mistake and that Linda wasn't the person she appeared to be. I thought that was really strange.'
'Why?'
'Because they seemed like such lovebirds before the wedding.'
'Have you kept in touch with Bill?'
'Sometimes I see him when he brings his family down for a visit. He remarried, has a nice wife and a cute son.'
'I take it Linda doesn't like to talk about family or personal problems.'
'Not ever.'
'Was that true when she was younger?'
'Oh, yes. Whatever went on in the family stayed in the family. About all anybody knew was that Mrs. Langsford was sick most of the time and Eric was a problem child. That, they couldn't hide.'
'Thanks.'
'How can any of this possibly be helpful to you?' Deedee asked.
'It may not be.'
On his way out of the neighborhood, Kerney noticed golfers in their carts puttering along on the paved pathways adjacent to the street, cruising toward the links. He noted the absence of parked cars, the clean gutters and curbs, the groomed lawns that showed no sign of the first kiss of autumn leaves, the uniform placement of mailboxes in front of each house.
Such a tidy little neighborhood, he thought, with nothing out of place.
Just right for all those people who find comfort and safety in a world of uncluttered sameness.
Parked a block down from Penelope Gibben's house, Kerney watched Kay Murray's Explorer coast to a stop in the driveway. The women talked for a considerable time before Gibben got out of the car and Murray drove away. He gave it a good five minutes before approaching the house.
Penelope greeted Kerney with a haughty look, ushered him into the living room, and immediately made her feelings known.
'This is hardly the time to be bothering people with your pointless investigation,' she said.
She wore a simple black mourning dress with a single strand of pearls. No grief showed on her face, only displeasure.
'I understand Kay Murray spent several childhood summer vacations with you.'
'What a perplexing man you are, Chief Kerney. You come up with all these little tidbits and wave them around like important facts. Yes, she did. My sister and her husband had very little money, and it was my idea to have Kay stay with me. I wanted to expose Kay to a better way of life. Was I remiss in not telling you?'
'Vernon would bring Linda over to play with Kay.'
'Yes, he would, upon occasion. Looking back on it now, surely, it must have been a capital offense.'
'Were you sexually involved with Vernon at the time?'
Penelope smiled with tight lips. 'Looking for more little tidbits, Chief Kerney? I was not.'
'Have you heard from Eric since he left Linda's house?'
'I have not. Good day, Chief Kerney.'
Frustrated by meaningless tidbits, Kerney left, thinking that Gibben's sarcasm might well be right on the mark.
It was lunch hour and the executives had not yet returned from the funeral services when Kerney arrived at the corporate offices of Ranchers' Exploration and Development. The only employee on duty, a young secretary seated at the reception desk, greeted him as though his arrival was a relief from absolute boredom.
Kerney explained that he needed to compile a list of all past and present employees as part of the investigation into the judge's murder.
The young woman nodded gravely, escorted him to the personnel director's office, showed him how to access files on the computer, and returned to the reception area to answer phones. While the printer reeled off names, addresses, and phone numbers, Kerney read through Penelope Gibben's personnel file.
She'd begun her rise up the corporate ladder long before she'd be come Vernon's lover. After that, the promotions came more quickly and the salary increases were more substantial. Presently, Gibben was drawing a hefty six-figure income and held a nice chuck of corporate stock options.
For Roswell, Gibben was doing very well indeed.
Kerney shut down the computer, thanked the secretary on his way out, and went looking for Eleanor Beyer, a retired employee who'd joined Ranchers' about the same time as Gibben.
She lived in an older two-story apartment complex that had been converted into an assisted living center for senior citizens. Four rectangular buildings were sited around a central courtyard. One had been transformed into a community center consisting of a visitor's lobby, recreation area, dining room, infirmary, and offices for the administrator and medical staff.
Kerney got directions to Beyer's living unit and walked down the pathway. Mature shade trees and freshly painted park benches graced the landscaped commons, but the effort to soften the stark facades of the concrete block buildings failed. It looked like a way station for low-income seniors slated to eventually move on to equally depressing nursing homes.
It made the prospect of growing old-an idea Kerney had never found particularly appealing-even less inviting.
Eleanor Beyer opened the door to her first-floor apartment and looked at Kerney's shield.
'Ms. Beyer?' Kerney asked.
Considerably older than Penelope Gibben, she was small in stature and suffered from osteoporosis that bent her almost in half. She looked up at Kerney through thick, heavily scratched glasses that were taped together at the nose piece.
'Why are the police here?' she asked in a frail voice. 'Has someone died?'
'Nothing like that. I'd like you to tell me about Penelope Gibben and Vernon Langsford.'
'I haven't seen either of them for several years.'
'You worked at Ranchers' Exploration and Development.'
'I was the senior billing clerk until my eyesight got bad and I had to retire,' Eleanor said.
'You do know Judge Langsford was murdered.'
'I heard it on the evening news.'
'Did you know of Penelope Gibben's relationship with the judge?'
'Everyone in the office knew about it. But if you wanted to keep your job, you never mentioned it.'
'When did the affair start?'
'Some years after Penelope joined the company. I can't say exactly when. I never understood why Vernon took up with her.'
'Why do you say that?'
'She was so standoffish and cold. But I suppose every man has a type of woman he's attracted to.'
'Did you know Vernon's wife?'
'Oh, yes. I saw her quite often until the children were born. She was a local girl, so I knew her even before she married Vernon. He really shocked everybody when he proposed to Marsha.'
'Why is that?'
