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“No problem, Sheriff. Anywhere I can talk to him is fine with me.”

I grabbed the keys from the rack in my office and let Tomlinson into the run. As soon as the door opened, JosieMasters began hollering for a lawyer and she didn’t hesitate to beg Chris Tomlinson to represent her and get her out of jail.

“I’m afraid I can’t help you, ma’am. It would be a conflict of interest. Sorry.”

That statement made me prick up my ears. Conflict of interest? What did Dangerfield’s lawyer know that I didn’t?

After his talk with Ray, Tomlinson stopped into my office before he left. “I’ll arrange for Ray to be arraigned tomorrow morning, Sheriff. I told him I’d meet him at the courthouse.”

“What did you mean when you told Josie Masters it would be a conflict of interest to represent her?”

He hesitated for a minute and realized he shouldn’t have said that in front of me. Spewing out a lie like lawyers sometimes do, he tried to cover up his mistake.

“I used that as an excuse, Sheriff. I’m just too busy to take on another client right now. That’s all it was. That woman has nothing to do with my client.”

“Hard for me to believe that now, sir. You said it and you can’t unsay it. I’ll be watching you.”

“You threatening me, Sheriff?” Tomlinson gave me his best tough-guy look and it wasn’t very effective.

“Oh, yeah. Sure am. You have a nice day.”

Ted arrived moments later for another day of non-work, and he didn’t look like he’d improved one bit overnight. Hunched forward because of his broken ribs, he could barely put one foot in front of the other.

“Sit down and have a coffee, Ted. Take it easy.”

He nodded. “Not making any money taking it easy, Travis.

“Yeah, you are. County’s got you covered. You were beat up because of the job and now you’re on the DL. You’ll get paid. Stop worrying.”

“Didn’t know that, Travis. Didn’t think to ask.”

“You’re okay for as long as it takes. County has medical insurance to cover the sheriff’s office staff.”

“Thanks. Maybe I’ll be able to make my truck payment after all.”

“I’m sure you will, and if you’re short, you come to me. I’ll cover you, Ted. It’s my fault you’re in the shape you’re in and I’ll help you through it.”

“Thanks, Travis. I’ll have a coffee and work on my truck for a while. Harlan getting any tow calls?”

“Nope. Been good weather and not many people are stuck. No highway accidents.”

“Winter is my best season,” said Ted.

“Not my best season in Montana,” I said.

Molly called me to the squad room when she finished her research into the insurance policies on Tory Masters and Floyd Boyd. Josie was Tory’s beneficiary in the amount of half a million, and Boyd had three million on him, all going to Tanya.

Finding out the amount of Boyd’s policy made me want to talk to Tanya one more time. Three million bucks was a powerful motive.

Boyd Residence. Shelby.

Tanya Boyd greeted us at her front door with a friendly smile. That didn’t mean much after realizing that Tanya was about as genuine as her hair color. Her body language told me something was off, but I smiled back at her.

“What can I help you with, Sheriff?”

“I just dropped by to see if you’ve heard from the insurance company yet. I guess they’ll want to be sure you’re cleared of all wrongdoing in your husband’s death before they write you a check for three million bucks.”

“They can take all the time they need,” said Tanya. “I’m not desperate for money. Floyd and I have a healthy savings account and a large investment portfolio. I can wait.”