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“Were you and Stickly working on something together?” Ames asked after he, Radcliff, and Margot all sat down. The deputy found a wall to lean against and folded his arms.
“Not exactly. I hired him.”
“You hired a private detective?”
“Yeah, it was for my sister. I felt what she wanted was too personal, so I contacted Stick. Since I knew he’d give a professional courtesy discount, I figured I’d save my sister a few bucks and be the client of record.”
“What was the case?”
When Margot didn’t answer right away, Radcliff told her, “I know it’s confidential, but there’s a good chance he was working your case when he met his unfortunate end. If there’s a connection, it would help us out a great deal.”
Margot looked at Ames. “What? No threats? No dragging me off in handcuffs?”
“Radcliff seems to think being nice is more effective. I figure I’d let him learn the hard way. So, are you going to tell us?”
“You’re not going to like it.”
“Why is that?” Ames asked.
“He was looking for Randy and Randy’s mother. Melanie wanted to prove his innocence.”
“And you were helping her?”
“As I said, it was a little too personal for me to take it on and be objective. Stick had a well-earned reputation of being a straight shooter. He’d find the truth and report, no matter what it was. I’ll admit I was hoping Stick would find something to put Randy away.”
“That explains the location,” Radcliff said.
“Where was he? I thought you said he was almost to the hospital.”
“He was, but that was where he bled out, not where he was shot. The shooting took place somewhere else. We would have had a witness if it’d taken place anywhere close to Tri-City. There is some evidence the bullet that ended his life might have fired indoors.”
“Indoors where?”
The deputy looked up. “Sunset Inn, a little place in Borrego Springs.”
“Borrego Springs was one of the places Randy claimed his Aunt was staying,” Radcliff said.
“Claimed being the operative word,” the deputy added. “I checked the address where she was supposedly staying myself. The same family has been living there for fifteen years and none of them had heard of this woman.”
“Let me guess,” Ames said, “Randy told your sister we didn’t check out any of the places he told us she would go.”
“Sounds like the Deputy actually did the checking,” Margot replied.
“You know what I meant.”
“Yeah, that was the claim. I take it she was wrong.”
“Yep, best kind of murder case is one that turns out not to be a murder case.”
“So, was Stick killed back here or out in Borrego?”
“Well, that’s where it gets a little tricky.”
“How so?”
Before Ames could tell her it really wasn’t her business, Brantley said, “There was blood and signs of a struggle in the room, even a bullet hole in the wall but no body. I put out a Bolo on him. Considering the amount of blood, it seemed either Stickly was dead or he killed somebody.”
“We called Deputy Brantley when we learned about the BOLO,” Radcliff told her.
