Free Day Shift (Midnight, Texas #2) by Charlaine Harris

passed away at the same moment. I can’t really know the answer to that. What did her autopsy say?”
    “That she was an overweight and sedentary woman past her prime who’d had a bad case of pneumonia. But the tox screen isn’t back yet.”
    “Do you think there was something in that water bottle?”
    “I’m not saying anything right now, because the results haven’t come back yet,” Smith said firmly.
    “So what is all this about?” Manfred pointed at his front door as if he could still see the media people outside.
    “A lot of Mrs. Goldthorpe’s jewelry is missing,” Arthur Smith said. “The police got the list from her insurance agency. After her son accused you of stealing it from her purse.”
    Manfred could feel his mouth fall open. “You mean he was serious?” he said incredulously. “His mom just died and he’s worried about her
jewelry
?”
    “That’s what he says.”
    “She said he’d planned to take it.” Manfred couldn’t help sounding bitter.
    “What did she say? Exactly?” This was clearly the question Smith had come to ask.
    “She told me that she had had to hide her jewelry from Lewis. She was angry, and she was hurt, too. She said that Lewis had told her she was senile, that he needed to keep her jewelry for her own good.”
    “What did you say in response?”
    With a certain grimness, Manfred said, “I didn’t say anything. But I thought that before she left, I would be sure to tell her to share the hiding place with her daughters. Or to rent a safe-deposit box and give a power of attorney to Annelle or Roseanna.”
    “It’s really bad luck for you that she didn’t get that advice from someone else before she saw you,” Smith said. “Did she ask you to see Lewis’s future?”
    “I’d never try to see the future of anyone who wasn’t a client,” Manfred said, rather shocked. “She wanted to talk to Morton first, and he . . . took her with him.”
    It was Smith’s turn to look incredulous. “You’re saying a dead man killed his own wife.”
    “No!” Manfred could feel his cheeks redden. “I’m not saying that at all.” He took a deep breath. “When I called Morton, he was there in a flash. I was . . . startled, really. I was actually feeling kind of proud, thinking it was my great psychic prowess that drew him with so much speed. Now, I think he was just waiting for the call. I think he knew his wife was failing, and he wanted to be with her for the transition so she wouldn’t be frightened.”
    Manfred had the familiar experience of watching a rational man try to cope with something he believed was irrational and incredible.
    “Do you . . .” Arthur Smith stopped. He took a deep breath, then cocked his head from one side to another as if he were adjusting his neck bones. “Do you think Mrs. Goldthorpe knew she was dying?”
    “No,” Manfred said. He didn’t have to think twice about it. “She did not. She was still really engaged with life. She knew she wasn’t well, but she had no idea that something was happening in her body, something so drastic that it would kill her.”
    “You sound real certain.”
    “I am real certain. By the way, I’ve called Jess Barnwell in Fort Worth. He’s represented me before.”
    “Good,” Arthur said. “You need a lawyer. I’ve heard good things about Jess Barnwell. If something about Barnwell doesn’t work out, you can try Magdalena Orta Powell in Davy.”
    “Lot of name,” Manfred said, smiling.
    “Lot of lawyer.”
    They both stood up. “Can you get rid of these people?” Manfred asked, his head jerking to the door.
    “I can try,” Arthur said, without much optimism. “I’ll tell them they have to stay out of the yard.”
    “I’d appreciate that,” Manfred said, and opened the door just enough for the sheriff to exit, his hat firmly in place on his head. Manfred tried not to listen to the questions the reporters were shouting.
    Lucky I work at home,
he thought. He glanced at his cell