told us?” Emily pushed, studying his expression and body language for any tells.
“No, that’s it. I just didn’t want to drag my uncle into this. He’s always looked out for me, like a dad. I don’t want you trying to pin this on him to save me.”
~*~
“Let’s get some lunch, Emily,” Colin suggested, driving out of the county jail parking lot. “I’m famished. Why don’t we head over to Goodwood?”
“You and your barbecue.” She grinned at him. “I’d like to call Sully first, see if I can meet with him to get his side of the story, you know?”
Emily dialed Sully’s personal cell phone number as they drove. It rang a few times. “It’s just going to voicemail,” she told Colin. Then, Emily left a brief, vague message asking Sully to call her back.
“Maybe I should call Camille and see how Maggie’s doing,” she suggested, “or head over there after we have lunch.”
As they drove down Main Street toward the rib joint, they passed the Paradise Valley police station and noticed a crowd gathering around the main entrance. It looked like maybe thirty or forty people.
“I wonder what’s going on over there.” She pointed toward the station.
“I can’t imagine. Why don’t we check it out?” Colin made a U-turn in the middle of the street.
“Hey, you can’t do that! U-turns are illegal here,” Emily scolded. “Only police with flashing lights and sirens can do that.”
“Sorry, I’m used to the big city. Let’s just say it was an emergency. Looks like Ernie could use our help,” he chuckled.
Colin pulled the car into the police station parking lot and then he and Emily wormed their way through the crowd. He tried to open the front door, but it was locked. They turned and faced the men and women milling around.
“What’s going on, Mr. Peterson?” Emily asked. The gray-haired man standing in front of her was her office landlord and the scowl on his face told her he was not happy. “Why are all these folks here?”
“We all heard what happened to Lucas Wakefield on the TV news last night and we’ve been calling each other, trying to figure out what’s happening with our money,” he explained, with crossed arms and a deep frown. “We all invested quite a bit of dough in his resort. What’s going to happen now that he’s dead?”
“I don’t know. That’s an excellent question, Pete, but you can’t believe the police chief would have the answer, do you?” she asked.
It sounded like it would be more of a question for the bank Lucas put the money into, or an escrow company who may be holding the funds, neither of which would be open on a Sunday.
“We tried to call the mayor, find out what he knows about this, but no one can seem to reach him. I left a message, so did Ralph and Kaye and John and Travis—heck, most of the people here probably left him a message. The city offices are closed today—it is Sunday, you know—so of course no one is answering the phones. So a bunch of us thought we’d ask the police chief or Ernie—I mean, Detective Kaufman, see what they know.”
“So why are the front doors locked and all you guys standing out here?” Colin asked.
Mr. Peterson’s face flashed with recognition. “Hey, I know you. Aren’t you that California guy who was the police detective here before Ernie? You didn’t last long.”
“Yeah, that’s me,” Colin replied with a sheepish look, “but I hope to be back before long.”
“Yes, Pete, Colin will be back in Paradise Valley before you know it.” Emily winked at Colin, then turned her attention back to the elderly man. “You didn’t answer the question, though. Why are the front doors locked?”
“A bunch of us went in and I guess we filled up the reception area. Stella said there were too many of us and we were making too much racket, so she shooed us out and locked the doors. She said the police chief would come out and talk to us as soon as she located him and got him to come down here. It is Sunday, you know.”
“Yes, you said that.” Emily turned to Colin and whispered in his ear. “I’d be interested to know what’s happening with that money, too.”
Colin nodded, then figuring there wasn’t anything they could do, they continued on to the barbecue place down the street for lunch.
Colin got his finger-lickin’ fix, while Emily, having only a salad, took pleasure in watching him