“How long have you been the coroner for Lakewood County?”
“Ten years.”
Yvonne nodded, and took notes. “Hold on a second,” she said, then looked at Myrna. “How long ago did Mary die?”
“Six years, give or take a couple of months.”
“Okay, Jud, how far back do your records go?”
“Back to when this office opened. At first, they were stored in the basement, but after what happened up in Denver when a water main broke and they lost almost everything, I pushed hard to getthem digitized. Files from day one up until eight years ago are all digitized. Why?”
“I’m going on a hunch, but do you know if a Mary Griffin came through your office about six years ago?” Yvonne paused and looked at the items Myrna was pointing at in her photo album. She nodded as she read the information off to the person on the phone.
“When do you need this information?”
“Yesterday.”
“Of course you do,” he said with a chuckle. “Do I have to tell you that you might have to get a warrant?”
“Working on it,” she looked at Gregory, and he nodded as he rose and left the kitchen.
“Is there anything in particular that I’m looking for?”
“I’ve just learned that Mary never, ever had stomach problems until she had marital problems.”
“Shit, so it might have been a homicide, and it could have been ruled accidental.”
“Correct, I’m working on a warrant, but I’d like you to gather all the information you have, and keep it safe until that warrant comes through.”
“I understand. Now, let me ask the next question. How are you?”
“I’m good, we’ll talk later. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” he said, and they hung up. Heragents looked at her like they didn’t know her, and she sighed.
“Jud is my twin brother. He’s also the head coroner, and as you heard, he’s been there for ten years. He might have even done the autopsy himself. If there was one. If not, or if she was cremated, then we might be screwed.”
“I don’t understand why you’re going in this direction,” Myrna said as she rose and refilled all the coffee cups. They paused when Gregory returned.
“The office is working on it,” he said, and reached for one of the sandwiches.
“I’m going in this direction to rule out foul play in Mary’s death. When you said Mark told her it was the horse or him, and he slapped her when she told him to stop the boys’ nights, it made me wonder if he was cheating, and he wanted to be with his side piece, but didn’t want to lose anything if he divorced Mary. What’s to say that there wasn’t a hefty life insurance policy with his name on it as a beneficiary?”
“Shit, like those TV shows?”
“Yes, it happens more than you may think.” They sat there in silence trying to wrap their head about the direction their investigation took. It wasn’t anything Myrna thought.
“Question,” Lela said as she looked up from her notes. When everyone turned to her, she nodded once. “You said your cousin has a copy of all the papers from the sale of Sally. May I ask why?”
“Oh, Jim is my only living blood relative. I wanted him to have a copy in case anything happened to me, then he could take Sally for his children or grandchildren. It’s in my will, and he has a copy of that also.”
“Okay, very smart, now who is Jim?”
“Sheriff Jim Faulkner.”
“Ah, okay, now I understand. Another question, and this one is for my co-workers.”
“What’s that?”
