Connor stepped nearer.“And you were the last person we know of who had a beef with him.”
“Now, please.”Carl lifted one hand.“I didn’t want the man dead.”
“Marlene says you threatened him.”
“When?”
“You appeared at his door a couple of weeks ago and told him he’d get what was coming to him.”
Carl looked toward the pool, then back at Connor.“Oh, yeah.That.”
“That?”
“I was drunk.Angry.I just meant I’d be taking over his business with any luck.That’s all.”
“It sounded like Marlene thought it was more than that.”
Carl’s eyes narrowed.“Well, if she goes around insinuating anything about my involvement in his death, I’ll be suing her.Grieving widow or not.”
Connor nodded once.“Still litigious as ever.”
“You have to protect yourself.”
“You don’t protect,” Connor said.“You go after people.Business or personal.We both know what kind of man you are.”
A clink sounded behind him.
Maxine had arrived with her martini glass full again.Either she had fetched another drink while they spoke, or the first one had never been far from empty.
“There you two are,” she said.“So, spill the gossip.What’s this all about?”
Carl turned his head.“Stay out of it, Maxine.It’s none of your business.”
Maxine pressed one hand dramatically to her chest.“Do you see the way he talks to me, Sheriff Chase?Isn’t it scandalous?”
“Maxine,” Carl warned.
Ignoring him, she crossed to Connor and stood close enough for her perfume and drink to reach him.“I’m sure a man like you would never treat me like that.”
“I suppose not,” Connor said.
Her smile sharpened.“Then tell me, how would you treat me?Give me all the gory details.”
Carl snapped, “Are you quite finished, woman?”
Connor’s patience narrowed to a point.“I’m not.Where were you last night, Carl?”
Carl swung back toward him.“Here.With Maxine.”
“All night?”
“All night.”
Maxine took a slow sip from her glass.“I don’t remember that.”
Carl turned on her.“Woman, you know fine well we were both here.Stop playing games.”
A glint moved in her eyes.She enjoyed the trouble.Maybe she enjoyed any break in the day that did not involve waiting for lunch and hating the man she had married.
