Page 11 of Death on Riddle Road

“Mighttalk to us.”

She ignored that cautious caveat.“And then there’s the family of his first wife.They must have been happier with the authorities over Derrick’s conviction, but not about his getting compassionate release.And if they did something about it—”

“Something being murder.”

“—they might not see us as a threat like the sheriff’s department.Iknewit was brilliant.”

“We’ll certainly have to try to talk to them — both sides.”

“And we’ll succeed.”Apparently, her line of thought went back to Teague, because she grumbled, “Civic duty to tell him everything...Teague wants his cake and eat it, too.”

“Don’t we all?”

“Well, maybe.But that doesn’t mean we have to give it to him.”She looked at me from the corner of her eye.“Does it?”

“We’ll need to tell him some.”

“Oh, right.Or he’d get suspicious about what all we know.Good thinking.”

“And because it’s the right thing to do,” I added.

“Right, right.”

“Really, Clara.The goal is to find out who killed this man and relieve the mind and heart of his son, as Mamie asked you to.”

“Asked us.”

I skipped over her correction.“If telling Teague whatever we find out makes that happen faster, that’s what we do.”

“What about Teague?If he told us everything he knows that might make it happen faster, too, so he should share.In fact, the whole sheriff’s department should.”

Hard to decide which was less likely — Teague or the entirety of the sheriff’s department taking us completely into their confidence about a case.I focused on Teague, as the aspect more likely to make her see reality.“It’s his job.His profession.”

After a couple beats her frown cleared.“Oh, you’re thinking about his job security.That if he doesn’t help them solve cases, the sheriff’s department won’t have any reason to keep him on as a consultant.But you shouldn’t worry about that.Harris—”

Teague’s partner in the Chicago area department he’d left after being declared legally blind in one eye and long-distance buddies with Clara since she sought him out during a visit she and Ned made to Chicago.

“—says that even if their old boss who let Teague go was too stupid to tie his own shoes, lots of other departments in the area know how good Teague is and would take him in a heartbeat.”

Her frown immediately returned and she gave me no chance to respond before she turned another verbal corner.

“But that would mean he was back in the Chicago area and unless you moved up there—No.No.You can’t do that.So he can’t do that.You’re right.We have to see to it that he gets all the credit for solving this murder.Even if we have to spoon-feed him the information.”

I tucked the insides of my cheeks between my teeth.“I don’t think we need to go to that extreme, Clara.As you said, Harris said Teague’s a pretty good detective all on his own.Let’s play it by ear and see how this works out.”

“Great.Who do you want to talk to first?”

“You.”

She grinned.“That’s exactly why I came over.I don’t know a lot of details, but ask away.”

CHAPTER FIVE

“Start by tellingme what you know about the death of Robbie’s father.”

“Not much — yet.I first heard Derrick Dorrio was killed this morning when a neighbor stopped me while I was walking LuLu — I wanted to give her a long walk because I wasn’t sure you’d get Gracie to the dog park today with Kit flying out.Anyway, this neighbor said he’d been found dead early this morning at the hospice that’s part of Kentucky Manor, out there between Stringer—”

The biggest town in the county, close to the interstate, and southeast of Haines Tavern, the county seat and where we both lived.