Free Bones to Pick by Carolyn Haines Page A

percent, that one person in all the suspects who could step over the line and take a human life.
    I'd only been a private investigator for a year, but I'd worked on some interesting cases, and I felt I'd learned a lot about human nature. The seed of Cain was in all of us, but most people never acted on a hot desire to murder. Whoever had killed Quentin had plotted it out. She'd been lured into an empty cotton field in the middle of the night. The killer was someone she knew, or someone who could convince her to ride into the darkness with him or her. Quentin's vehicle was parked at the bed-and-breakfast.
    I picked up the cell phone Tinkie insisted that I carry and dialed her number. "If you get a chance, could you stop by the jail and ask Allison a question?"
    "Sure."
    "Quentin must have ridden into the cotton field with her killer. Who was she talking to the last time Allison saw her? And we need to have the tires on Quentin and Allison's vehicle analyzed for composites of mud. We may be able to prove that Allison never went into the cotton field."
    "Good thinking, Sarah Booth. By the way, I returned the little gift to Humphrey."
    I could hear the amusement in her voice. "And?"
    "He said he had another idea for something that might be more up your alley."
    "I hope you convinced him to cease and desist."
    "No, I told him I thought black leather was more your style."
    I couldn't be certain she was teasing. Tinkie enjoyed tormenting me as much as I did her. "I'll get even."
    "Oh, no doubt. I mentioned that he might want to take a camera. Just think, Sarah Booth, our client list would double if you'd pose for a few snapshots in a little leather outfit. Thigh-high boots, something with chains on the front."
    She was having way too much fun. "I'm in front of the McGee estate." I gave a low whistle as I took in the manicured twenty acres with the curving drive, white fences, and Thoroughbreds grazing in a field. "Very nice."
    "Old money is always the best," Tinkie said. "Before you hang up, the wake is set from six to nine. A lot of our suspects are still in town. I'm hoping a few of them will show up at the funeral home."
    "We'll meet there, then." I hung up and drove toward the white-columned mansion, which would have done any Southern belle proud.
    7
    The McGees weren't expecting me, and the maid let me know it at the front door of the Monticello-style mansion.
    "Miss Caledonia didn't say she was expecting anyone." She glared at me as I read her nameplate. Wow. Imagine having so many servants they had to wear name tags.
    "I realize that, Tonya, but I'd like to talk with her and her husband, anyway."
    "Do you have a card?"
    It took me several minutes, but I dug out a slightly used looking business card and put it on the silver tray she extended.
    "Wait here." The look she gave said "don't touch anything."
    The entrance hall was beautifully appointed with marble floors, taupe-colored plaster walls, huge mirrors, and a vase of fresh lilies. Stargazers. Not so long ago a man had sent me such a bouquet. Standing in the foyer of the McGee home, I wouldn't allow myself to think of Hamilton Garrett and the future I'd thrown away.
    "Miss Delaney, follow me."
    Tonya had reappeared, and I straightened my posture as I followed the gray uniform-clad maid through a formal dining room to a music conservatory dominated by a grand piano.
    Franklin and Caledonia McGee sat on a brocade sofa. She held a book, her thumb marking her place, and a newspaper was scattered at his feet.
    "What brings a private investigator to our home?"
Franklin
stood as he spoke. He walked behind his wife, his stance protective.
    "I'm working for Allison Tatum."
    "I think you should leave."
Franklin
's voice thickened with emotion. "That young woman killed our daughter. We have no business with you."
    "I think Allison is innocent." I spoke quietly but with the force of my convictions. "Surely you want to find the real murderer."
    "And if Allison is the real murderer?"