Page 5 of Wild Oblivion

I did.

Klaus searched his mind.

“Does he sound familiar?”

“No.”

“Did Rudolph have any enemies?”

Klaus’s eyes found mine. “No. We don’t really know anyone here.”

The look in his eyes told me Klaus had enemies somewhere.

“Well, you’ve been here two months already. Maybe you made some.”

“Impossible,” he said.

“We’ll need you to come to the medical examiner’s office and make a positive ID.”

“I just told you, that’s Rudolph. What more do you need?”

“It’s a matter of procedure.”

Klaus thought for a moment. "I could stop by later this afternoon, if you give me an address."

I smiled. "Sure.” I dug into my pocket and gave him a card. “I'll need to get contact information from you. I'll text you the address."

Klaus gave me a quizzical look, then said, "I don't have a cell phone."

My brow wrinkled with confusion. "Really? How do you manage?”

"Easily. There are not many people I want to talk to.”

“Fair enough,” I said.

"I'll get you a pen and paper. You can write the address down for me."

He disappeared into the cabana, grabbed a stationery pad and a pen from the top counter, then returned.

I wrote down the address and the number to the ME's office, then handed it back to him. "How long do you plan on being in town?”

"My stay is open-ended. Obviously, this significantly changes my plans. But life must go on. I still have work to do.”

I forced another smile. "Well, we don't want to take up any more of your time. Please get in touch if you think of anything that might be helpful. My condolences for your loss.”

Klaus nodded, then shut the door.

JD and I shared a curious look.

"That was weird," he muttered as we walked back toward the pool.

Klaus had an odd manner about him. Direct, guarded, and stiff.

We strolled down the path, pushed through the gate, and took in the sights as we walked around the pool. Jack smiled at the ladies, and they smiled back.

The sheriff buzzed my phone about the time we hit the lobby. "I think we've got the shooter. Get over to the hospital. A guy who matches the description was just brought into the ER with symptoms of a heart attack. He had collapsed on the sidewalk. A couple of tourists found him. The triage nurse found a .38 caliber revolver in his pocket. Get over there and collect the weapon and see what else you can find out.”

"Do we have an ID on the assailant?”