Bitter Sweet by Connie Shelton Page B

appetite.
    “There are a couple of ways we
can approach the case, and I’m going to be working with the Las Vegas PD to
catch this guy.” Beau took another bite of sandwich. “First, they know his
habits. Staying married to the same woman for more than twenty-five years, he
does show up back at home now and then. Even when he has stayed away for months
at a time, he always seems to go back to her. They’ll be watching her house
closely. Secondly, since Lila Coffey was a well-known artist, her work is
recognizable. If he took pieces and tries to sell them, there will be people
watching for those transactions too.”
    “But yesterday I saw a lot of
people buying her work, right there at the studio. They have a legitimate claim
to whatever they bought, don’t they? I mean, some of them might try to turn
their purchases for a quick profit—people who aren’t remotely connected to Ted
O’Malley.”
    “True, I suppose that could
happen. The artwork is definitely the weaker link back to Ted, but one we can
keep an eye on anyway.”
    “So, what next? Will you have to
hand the case over to the Nevada authorities? Surely O’Malley is far from here
by now.” She picked at the French fries absently.
    “I’m thinking I can budget a
quick trip there, to go over the case with them and to talk personally with the
wife.” He gave her a quick smile. “ Wanna come?”
    She opened her mouth to answer, but her cell
phone buzzed. She felt a guilty twinge. “It’s Delbert Crow, and he’s left
multiple annoying messages. Hold that thought.”
    The restaurant noise level rose
by the moment so Sam carried her phone out to the parking lot to take Delbert’s
call.
    “Sorry I didn’t get back to you.
What’s up?” she began.
    “A glitch.” In Crow-parlance,
glitches were not a good thing. “That property on Tapia Lane . . . I just got
word that the lady passed away. So, it’s still an open file.”
    “What? Sadie Gray died?” Sam felt
a pang for the poor, birdlike little lady she’d met only once.
    He went on, but Sam only half
heard him as she switched gears to remember where things had left off.
    “Didn’t Marshall Gray contact
you?” she asked. “He told me he was going to get the payments up to date and
that everything would be okay. He seemed to think there was some kind of
paperwork error.”
    She could hear Crow flipping
through pages in a file, then clicking some computer keys.
    “Nope. The whole thing is still
in arrears. Not a penny more has been applied to the account.”
    “But are you sure? Maybe there’s
just a delay before the record is updated.”
    “Ms Sweet, if you can’t make time
to fulfill your contract . . .”
    “It’s not that. It’s just, I hate
to see that poor lady lose everything.”
    “Hello? Did you not get that she has lost everything. She died.” He paused for a moment. “I will go so far as to
recheck the account and make sure no last-minute payments were made. There
could be heirs to her estate and heaven forbid that they lose out because she
didn’t pay her bills. But don’t count on any real change of plan. It looks like
you’ll still have to clean the place out and get it ready for auction.”
    Heartless creep. Sam
jammed her phone into her pocket and walked back into the restaurant, where
Beau had thoughtfully boxed up her half of the sandwich. He was standing over
the table, dropping some cash to cover the bill.
    “ Darlin ’?
You okay?”
    She turned back toward the door
and he followed. “It’s just that— grr —frustrating Delbert Crow. He thinks I’m being lazy and
not wanting to do my job, but it’s not that. I just can’t help picturing that
poor old lady, and now her husband will get kicked out of their home.” She felt
emotion welling up.
    Beau snaked an arm around her
shoulders and pulled her close. “It’s not your fault, babe. You can’t always
make everything all better.”
    “I just have a hard time watching
the system come in and take