Forged (Gail McCarthy Mystery) by Laura Crum Page B

"I did hold his hand until the ambulance came." Searching for some comforting words, I said, "He didn't seem distressed."
    "That's good." Barbara was crying again, quietly now. Judging by her appearance, she'd been crying all day.
    Before I could speak again, she got up and led me towards the door. "Go home, Gail. I'm sorry I got you out here on a fake emergency. I just had to talk to you."
    "I understand," I said. "Are you sure you'll be all right?"
    "I'll be fine," Barbara said softly. "As fine as I'll ever be."
    I opened my mouth, but she literally pushed me out the doorway. "Go home, Gail," she said again. And shut the door behind me.

TWELVE
    Tuesday morning was every bit as busy as Monday had been. I looked at my list of scheduled calls in dismay. All fourteen of them. My God. Every day more hectic than the last.
    Even as I contemplated, I felt a hush go over the office and waiting room. Looking up sharply, I immediately spotted Detective Johnson striding in the office door, every inch of his bearing proclaiming non-horsey officialdom.
    Mustering a smile for the benefit of staff and clients, I greeted him as if I were glad to see him. "Hello, Detective. Come into my office."
    Detective Johnson didn't deign to answer, but he did follow me through my office door. "You're a difficult person to get hold of," he said brusquely.
    "I am that," I agreed. "What can I do for you?"
    "We need to talk."
    "Well, it can't be now." I waved my list of scheduled calls airily. "I've got a full day ahead of me, just like you."
    "How about this evening?"
    "Don't you ever rest?" I sighed. "I'm on call this week, so there's no knowing where I'll be, but you're welcome to come by the house. Any progress on the investigation?"
    "We're working on it."
    "Any unbreakable alibis?"
    Detective Johnson hesitated a minute and then said sharply, "No, and there's no shortage of suspects, either." It was the most human remark he'd made yet.
    "The more you look at Dominic's life, the more people there are who seem to have a possible reason to kill him. That's what I thought, too," I said sympathetically.
    "Any particular person come to mind more than another?"
    "No. I'm afraid not. And I really do have to go. Perhaps I'll see you this evening." I held out my hand, and for the first time in our brief relationship, if you could call it that, Detective Johnson shook it. Maybe I wasn't a suspect after all.
    Turning back to my calls, I returned to the one that had piqued my interest before the detective's entrance. Sam Lawrence had a lame horse. I wondered if Detective Johnson had already been up to Summit Road to see Sam. I wondered if anyone had mentioned the rumor concerning Dominic and Tracy Lawrence to the detective. Maybe it was time to find out.
    "I'll do Sam Lawrence's horse first," I said to Nancy as I passed the desk on the way out, "and then do the other calls up on Summit Road. There's three, it looks like. After that, I'll work my way back in this direction."
    Summit Road was an hour away, at least in the heavy morning commute traffic. I crept slowly down the clogged freeway, thinking nostalgically of my youth, when a traffic jam in Santa Cruz County was virtually unheard of, unless it concerned tourists bound for the beach.
    Things were certainly different now. All the roads crammed full with the county's many residents, on their way to work or school or play. The pace picked up a little after I left the freeway and began threading my way through the mountains.
    Summit Road followed the ridgeline that separated Santa Cruz County from the Silicon Valley. A popular area with folks who wanted to live in the "country" but commuted to jobs in the city, Summit Road was lined with small horse ranches, mini-vineyards and the like. Though the area was mountainous and remote, still a long stream of traffic trailed down the two-way road; I drummed my fingers impatiently on the steering wheel.
    Many minutes later I was turning onto the graveled drive that led