I dug into my pocket and handed her a card.
“How did Laura get it?” Hannah asked with glee.
“I can’t discuss the details.”
She frowned. “Oh, you can give me something to satisfy my curiosity.”
“It wasn’t pleasant, if that makes you feel any better.”
Hannah smiled.
The song ended, and she said, “Well, gentlemen. Unless you want to help pay my rent, I need to get back to work.”
If she hadn’t been a suspect, I might have contributed to the fund, in the spirit of giving, of course.
We finished our burgers, and Jack left a nice tip for the waitress. We found Sadie on the way out, and she verified Hannah's story. What else was she going to say?
The sun squinted my eyes as we stepped out of the dim club onto the sidewalk. Cars rumbled up and down the avenue, and tourists strolled the boulevard.
"What do you make of her story?" JD asked.
I shrugged. “Maybe she killed Dr. Latham with Sadie's help."
Jack looked at his watch. "I called Dr. Tillman's office. They're able to squeeze me in this afternoon. I think we've got time to track down Tucker Conroy.”
We hurried back to the car, hopped in, and drove across the island to Salt Point Harbor. Tucker lived on a 45-foot sportfish namedBite Me.
Salt Point was mostly a commercial harbor, but there were a few liveaboards.
Jack parked by the dock. We hopped out and looked for Tucker's boat.
I banged on the stern when we found it and shouted, "Tucker! Coconut County."
Footsteps shuffled across the salon, and Tucker pulled open the hatch a moment later. He was a skinny guy in his mid-60s with silver hair, narrow eyes, and sun-weathered skin. He looked at us with mild annoyance. "What the hell do you want?”
He had the gravelly voice of a man who smoked a few packs of cigarettes a day and topped it off with a fifth of Jack Daniels.
I flashed my badge.
"You two don't look like cops.”
"It's my understanding you’re a former client of Dr. Latham's.”
His face twisted with disdain. "I can't stand that woman. I heard she met with an untimely demise. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person. I reckon that's what you're here about, ain't it?"
"I heard you had some complaints about the work she did," I said.
"Damn straight. She messed me up real good. Months of pain. You know what the kicker is? I don't think I needed a crown in the first place. Nothing wrong with the tooth. Didn't hurt when I went in. She sold me a bunch of BS about how I had cracks in the tooth, and how it would be hard to manage, and that we should just go ahead and take care of it. If you ask me, she just needed a way to pay for all that fancy new equipment she's got. I bet she had a lot of student debt, too. I tell you one thing, I'm never doing that again. I'll let them rot and fall out.”
Jack cringed. None of this was encouraging.
“You went to the office and made threats,” I said.
“I was in pain.”
"Can you tell me where you were between 9 and 11:00 PM last night?" I asked.
"I was right here on this boat."
