Chapter 12

Delta gave Gary a smooch on the cheek and slipped out of the truck. "I'll let you know what we find out."

Back inside the house, it took a minute for her to track her boss down. She found Jo in her office, chatting on the phone.

When Jo saw Delta, she held up a finger. "Yes. I'm here now. How long?" She glanced at the clock. "Five minutes. I'll be waiting. Goodbye."

"Who was that?"

"Detective Vine has officially taken over investigating Shane Barr's death. He wants to stop by to ask a few questions about Leah."

"Because she's on the radar."

"Without a doubt," Jo said. "Were you and Gary able to find anything out while you were at Dave's farm?"

"We asked Dave point-blank if he thought any of his employees were capable of killing Barr. He mentioned Buzz, said the guy couldn't stand him, but when pressed, he said he didn't think he did it."

"Which brings us back to square one."

"Gary and I made small talk with some of the workers. No one hit the radar, not even Jase, Dave's nephew. Gary talked to the office gal, Sandi. He said she seemed pretty broken up about it and thought she was going to cry."

Jo wandered to the window. "Yet Leah said she overheard Jase, Buzz, and Sandi talking, and one of them called Barr a jerk."

"Could be she's pretending she liked him. Or maybe she genuinely feels bad about his death," Delta said. "Dave mentioned Barr wasn't well-liked around town. I was thinking we might swing by Marlee's deli to see what she knows about him."

"I like that idea. We can head out as soon as Detective Vine leaves. Since Sherry works at the deli, I'm sure she knows most of the locals by now. Maybe she's heard something about Barr." Jo told her what Carrie had said, how Barr was a womanizer and having an affair. "In fact, right after Leah met Barr, she told me he was making comments about her, making her uncomfortable."

Delta made a choking sound. "So maybe the woman he was messing around with was married. The husband found out and killed him."

"It's worth looking into. Vine is here." Jo made it to the front door and waited for the detective to climb the porch steps.

"Thank you for agreeing to talk to me on such short notice. I won't take up too much of your time." The detective stared at her. "Have we met before? You look familiar."

"I believe we have. You investigated a death outside the movie theater some time ago."

"I remember now. You have an excellent memory."

"You questioned me when Mr. Cantwell accused me of health department violations at my bakeshop and then he died. You also questioned my brother, Miles Parker."

"It seems so long ago."

"It does, and at the risk of sounding rude, I would have been fine with us never having crossed paths again."

The detective cracked a smile. "No offense taken. Most people don't want me around."

Jo ushered him into her office, where Delta stood waiting. "This is Delta Stein. She runs my bakeshop and kitchen. You might remember her from before."

"It's possible. I meet a lot of people." The man shook Delta's hand. "Detective Vine. You know Leah McEllish, the farm's former resident?"

"Yes, sir. Leah is like a daughter. I would trust her with my life."

"You don't beat around the bush, do you?"

"Not when I have something important to say. Leah didn't kill Barr," Delta said bluntly. "I would bet my life on it."

"You've never witnessed her exhibiting signs of anger or uncontrolled rage?" the detective asked.

"Everyone gets angry," Jo said. "Have I ever seen her angry to the point of losing it? No. Absolutely not. In fact, out of all my residents, she was the most even-tempered of the bunch."

"And you would take her back here, if you could?" the detective probed.

"Without hesitation," Jo said. "She was a model resident, a hard worker, trustworthy, and a friend to everyone she met."

"Except for Shane Barr."

"I'm sure Dave Kilwin already told you Mr. Barr was not well-liked by anyone who worked under him." Jo almost mentioned what Leah had confided to her, how Barr had made her uncomfortable with his comments about her appearance, but kept quiet, figuring Leah had probably already told the investigators what happened.

"He did." The detective removed a notepad from his pocket and flipped it open. "Mr. Barr wrote Ms. McEllish up the day of his death."

"That's what I was told," Jo said.

"Did you ever write Ms. McEllish up for misconduct?"

"No."

"You're sure."

Jo crossed her arms and leveled her gaze at the detective. "One hundred percent."

He leaned back in his chair. "You run a state-sponsored home, which means you're required to keep records on each of your residents."

"Correct."

"And you have complete faith your former resident wasn't involved in Mr. Barr's untimely demise."

"That's what I said."

"So, you wouldn't mind me taking a look at Ms. McEllish's records."

"Each resident's file contains private and confidential information. I don't share that with any other employee at the farm. The only person who has access to those records, besides me, is the resident's probation officer."

"I could petition to see a copy, or you can save me some time and allow me access."

Jo's eyes flashed with anger. "Your request compromises my relationship with my residents."

"Leah is no longer a resident. It seems to me if you want to help her, to help clear her name, you wouldn't mind letting me see her files."

"You're asking for a lot," Delta snapped. "You're asking Jo to compromise her integrity because you don't want to do the legwork to figure out what happened to Shane Barr. It seems kinda lazy if you ask me."

"Quite the contrary." Vine appeared almost amused by Delta's jabs. "I, ma'am, am doing my job and my job is to figure out who killed Shane Barr." He turned his attention back to Jo. "It's up to you. Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

Jo sank into her office chair and grew quiet as she accessed the files. She clicked on Leah's file and abruptly stood. "I've pulled her file up."

"Thank you." Vine settled in at the desk and Jo clenched her fists, resisting the sudden urge to wipe the smug smirk off the man's face.

She stood behind him, watching as he perused the reports and each of her file updates. He spent some extra time on the files she'd recently uploaded, releasing Leah from the program, and then jotted some notes in his notepad.

Finally, he slid the chair back and slowly stood. "Ms. McEllish appears to have been an exemplary resident, well-liked by the staff and other residents."

"Which is exactly what I told you," Jo said.

"Thank you for your time."

"I only agreed to meet with you to help Leah. She's innocent." Jo escorted the detective out of the house with Delta close behind. "I'm assuming given this information you no longer consider Leah a suspect."

The detective shook his head. "No. She's one of several suspects."

"I'm sure you could see Leah's been here for several years without a single problem, a single instance of being disciplined."

"True." Vine rocked back on his heels. "Call me jaded, but I'm of the belief a tiger cannot change his stripes. The bottom line is Ms. McEllish is a former convict."

"Who did her time and paid her dues," Jo pointed out. "Don't you believe if she paid her dues she deserves a break, a second chance?"

"Of course. Again, my job is to figure out who killed Shane Barr." He tipped his hat. "Good day, Ms. Pepperdine." He began whistling under his breath as he sauntered to his car. He climbed in, and after letting it idle for several long moments he slowly drove off.

"What a jerk," Delta fumed. "And a lazy detective to boot."

"Reading between the lines, I think he's already decided Leah killed Barr." Jo rubbed the sides of her arms. "We aren't going to stand by and let this happen. As soon as you're ready, I want to head into town."