Free Rough Country by John Sandford

would have left Ruth for Abby, but Abby sort of blew her off. Had her little fling, went back to Mark, and promptly got pregnant. Erica was really hosed about the pregnancy. That was one thing that Erica couldn't have given Abby. Anyway, Mark's an account guy. He's okay, not great. Firing him would have been a nice little piece of revenge, what with them having the new kid. Magazines don't pay enough to feed a canary.
    Kara the bartender was at the far end of the bar, and Mann held up another finger. She rolled her eyes and started putting together another drink.
    Virgil took out his notebook, wrote Abby Sexton in it, asked, What magazine was that?
    Mann said, Craftsman Ceramics, something like that. They specialize in Arts and Crafts tile and pottery and so on.
    You're a smart guy, Virgil said. What else should I know?
    I don't know. The Abby thing hadn't occurred to me, because I don't think like a cop. But I do take this hard, this murder. If I think of anything, I'll call you.
    Virgil nodded and said, Thanks and I'll give you a call tomorrow morning about that list. If you could get me a phone number for Abby Sexton, that'd be a bonus. He caught the eye of the bartender, drifted out of the bar, turned left, and walked down toward the restrooms.
    THE BARTENDER pushed through the back door a moment later, stepped close, and said, You could lose me this job, and there aren't any more jobs like it. Not around here. So, I'd appreciate it if . . . you know.
    Virgil nodded. He was like the Associated Press lots of sources, all anonymous.
    I saw you with Zoe, getting in her car, Kara said. You know she's gay?
    Yeah.
    Well, the thing is, I like her fine I'm straight, by the way but I thought you should know that Zoe has had two short, mmm, involvements, with a girl named Wendy Ashbach, who's a country singer down in Grand Rapids.
    Sings at the Wild Goose, Virgil said.
    She nodded. Zoe told you? Anyway, Wendy has this longtime girlfriend named Berni Kelly . . .
    The drummer?
    Yes. You know, you're smarter than you look, picking up all this stuff.
    Thanks, I guess, Virgil said. So there's a love triangle with Zoe and Berni and Wendy.
    Up until night before last, Kara said. Then it became a rectangle. Or a pentagon.
    Yeah?
    There were some women in here late, getting loaded. My deal is, I stay until they leave. So I got out of here late and walked down to my car when I saw Miz McDill's car pull into the parking lot. They didn't see me, I was down at the far end of the lot, where the employees park. Miz McDill and Wendy Ashbach get out of the car and walk around to the end of it, and Miz McDill throws a lip-lock on Wendy and Wendy gives it right back to her. So they're fooling around for a minute, which made me kinda hot, I gotta admit, and then they go sneaking off through the dark, toward Miz McDill's cabin. I don't know what happened the next morning, or if they snuck out early, or what.
    You didn't mention this to anyone? Virgil asked.
    No, but if somebody saw them the next morning, the word would have gotten around, Kara said. A lot of the lesbos know Wendy, and they know she's hot and likes girls, and if McDill got her in the sack, everybody would have been interested.

Rough Country (2009)

    Huh.
    That's exactly what I thought. Huh. She glanced down the hall. I gotta go . . .
    Listen, Kara . . . don't tell anybody about this. There's a crazy woman around here and you don't want to attract her attention.
    No shit, Sherlock, she said. My last name's Larsen. I'm in the Grand Rapids phone book. If you need to ask me any more questions, call me. Don't talk to me here.
    VIRGIL FOUND MARGERY STANHOPE in the main office, alone, staring out the window at the darkening lake. She turned in the chair when Virgil stepped in and asked, Figured it out?
    Not yet. Margery: if you knew anything at all that might put some light on this thing or even if something unusual happened with Miss McDill in the last day or two, behavior-wise, you'd be sure