“Me too.”
“Do you have a lead on who might want you shot and Dan in jail?”
“Not really. But Dan said he talked to Walt, the night before Heim washed up.”
“Not following you on this.”
“Heim’s drowning.”
“Yes?”
“Dan makes a great fall guy. No one likes him. No one would miss him if he were locked away for murder. No one would argue that he was capable of being angry enough to pull a trigger on a judge over a rhubarb contest.”
“No one would have to argue that because he did pull the trigger.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I know. But if he’s telling the truth and there were no bullets in his gun, then he should be up on aggravated menacing charges of pointing a gun at a police officer instead of attempted murder.”
She sighed.
“How does Walt fit in with all this?”
“Dan saw him drinking at Chris’s bar the night before Heim died. He was bragging about making money. Earlier that night, Walt had been sitting with Margot Lapointe.”
“So?”
“Margot and Lila recently moved into a rental in Dan’s neighborhood.”
“Hold on.” The phone was muffled as she pulled it away. I heard her sharp whistle, then: “Down from there. Don’t lick the jellyfish!”
I grinned and wandered over to start a pot of coffee.
“Okay,” she said a couple seconds later. “Walt was talking to Margot. No crime in that. How does that link her or Dan to Heim’s death?”
“I don’t know yet. But outside my house I found something.”
“You went back to your house? Alone?”
“To get my car. Pearl dropped me off.”
“Why did I think you’d actually listen to her and stay put?”
“I have no idea. You know how I hate being sick on the couch.”
“Since when?”
“So I was looking through the bushes.”
“Delaney.”
“I found a feather.”
“That’s important because?”
“Lila and Margot have feathers in their hair.”
“Birds shed feathers all the time.”
“Not purple feathers.”
