Page 84 of Precise Justice

“It’s about time one of us did,” Lucy replied.

“We’ve been looking hard at the husband. He has motive, means, and opportunity. He can’t positively alibi himself except for his claim he was home alone.

“He’s about to come into a lot of money because of the murder. But we got nothing in the way of evidence,” Melissa said.

“Yet, none of the stolen items have turned up with a local fence, we’ve checked. The husband would know what to take. The stuff he doesn’t care about,” Lucy said. “Where are you going with this…?”

“What about the kid. The daughter, Robbie? The trans girl? We pretty much dismissed her,” Melissa said.

“Her roommate gives her a solid alibi,” Lucy reminded her.

“What if she’s lying. The roommate is also a trans girl. What if Robbie is pissed about it? What if Priscilla forced it on the kid?” Melissa asked.

“Possible,” Lucy agreed.

“We got nothing else,” Melissa said.

The two of them went silent while thinking about what to do. Eventually, it was Lucy who came up with an idea.

“Her friends, Priscilla’s little get together club of friends. All of them said the same thing,” Lucy said.

“Yeah, like that creepy movie about those women who all smiled like idiots and…” Melissa said.

“The Stepford Wives. You’re right. It was like they were all reading from the same script,” Lucy replied.

“Except for the lawyer. Remember, one of them was a lawyer and she was not anxious to talk. We just figured it was because she was a lawyer and didn’t want to talk to us. But what if she was worried about getting caught lying to us? She could get jammed up with the Bar people,” Melissa asked.

“Looking for her name,” Lucy said while going through the case file of witness interviews. “Here it is, Barbara Bivens. She’s with a modest sized firm downtown. Merrick and several other names. Let’s go.”

“Shouldn’t we call and make an appointment?” Melissa asked.

“Hell, no,” Lucy said while getting ready to leave. “We’re the cops. We don’t make appointments.”

“May I help you?” the pretty receptionist who looked to be sixteen years old asked.

“Barbara Bivens, please,” Lucy asked.

“Do you have an appointment?” the teenager asked.

By now, both Lucy and Melissa had their shields out.

“Sorry sweetheart,” Lucy said. “We’re the cops. We don’t make appointments.”

The teen, whose name plate read Tori, was instantly on the phone.

“Ms. Bivens, there are two mean police women here to see you,” Tori said.

“Are we mean?” Melissa facetiously asked Lucy.

“Damn right we are,” Lucy said.

“That must be why they insist we carry guns,” Melissa said looking at Tori with a smirk.

“I’ll tell them,” Tori said. She cut off the call and told Lucy, “Someone will be right out.”

Tori then looked at Melissa with a smile and said, “You don’t scare me, I know a lot of lawyers.”

This caused both detectives to laugh.