Free Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 04 - Saddle Up by Peggy Dulle Page A

Banner. It’s probably a little biased.”
    “What does her husband do?”
    “She’s a widow.”
    “Any other kids?”
    “Nope, just the one daughter.”
    “Can I ask you a cop question?” I asked, setting down the pad on the coffee table.
    “Sure.”
    “Why does an entire family get killed? It’s different than one death, which I know can have the usual motives.”
    “That’s a good question. I don’t have any experience with it, but it seems to me it would have to be something major like you see in gang wars, where they wipe out an entire family. Or one of the family members or associates might be crazy and do it for a motive you or I wouldn’t understand.”
    “It’s such a small country town; I wouldn’t think there would be a gang problem in Ridgedale.”
    “You’d be surprised how gangs have spread out into rural areas. We even have problems here now and again.”
    “Well then, that’s an angle to look into,” I said, added the word gangs to the pad and put several question marks by it.
    “Not without me you don’t. I’m not having you messed up with a gang. They play for keeps, Liza.”
    “If you are going to be overprotective, I’m going to cancel your minion rights.”
    “Liza,” Tom growled.

“Well, we’ll just have to see what happens.”
    “When are you going up there?” he asked.
    “Probably not until Friday.”
    “Is there a place to stay in the town?” Tom asked.
    “Yes.” I didn’t bother to tell him about the inn. I would wait until he saw it himself.
    “Okay, then I’ll be up on Friday, too. What time are you leaving San Ramon?”
    “In the morning. I want to check in and wander around the town a bit.”
    “That should take all of a minute or two.”
    “That’s what I keep hearing.”
    My phone beeped. Boy, this was my day to talk on the phone. The number showing was Jordan’s.
    “Jordan is calling, Tom. Can I talk to you later?”
    “Sure, say hello to your sister for me.”
    “I will. Goodbye.”
    “Bye.”
    Tom hung up and Jordan’s voice rang out, “Hi, Sis.”
    “Hi, Jordan, what’s new in New York?”
    “Not much. I heard we’ve got a city name.”
    “You must have talked to Dad.”
    “Yep, I’ve got some information for you, too.”
    Wow, I thought, with Jordan it makes four full time minions. I picked up the yellow pad ready to add more. “Great, what did you find out?”
    “There are two big lawsuits pending against someone named Priscilla Banner.”
    “She’s the mayor,” I told her, glancing at the woman’s name on my pad.
    “That makes sense.”
    “What kind of lawsuits?”
    “One is some kind of environmental suit, but the judge has a gag order so the files are all closed up tight, and I couldn’t get into them.”
    I circled the words ‘cancer cluster’ on my pad and added ‘lawsuit’, then I asked, “And the other one?”
    “Her daughter,” I heard Jordan shuffling papers, then continued, “Grace Banner, is suing her.”
    “Really? What for?”
    “She wants her trust funds released.”
    “How old is Grace?”
    “She’s twenty-two but there’s a loophole in the way her dad’s will was written. It says she’ll get the money when she’s twenty-five, or when she’s totally independent.”
    “So she thinks she’s independent now and her mom doesn’t?” I suggested and drew an arrow between Grace and Priscilla’s name, adding the word ‘lawsuit’.
    “Yep.”
    “Anything else?”
    “Not really. There was a sexual harassment case against someone named Earl Backston, but it was dropped.”
    “Who is he?”
    “Some kind of cop, but not anything official that I could find.”
    “Tom says their police and fire departments are all volunteers.”
    “Okay, that makes sense.”
    “Why was the case dropped?”
    “It doesn’t say. My guess would be that either the plaintiff,” more shuffling of papers, then, “Renee Cumberland, was paid off or she dropped the charges.”
    “I don’t know if it’s