Free Murder by Chance (Betty Chance Mystery) by Pat Dennis

to interview everyone by myself, did you? I don’t have time for that. Two other officers will be interviewing suspects at the same time I do.”
    Betty bristled. There was no reason for the sheriff to refer to her elderly clients as suspects.
    “Should I schedule three interviews at one time then? One for each of you?” she asked through gritted teeth.
    Severson nodded.
    “Okay, I’ll try. But, you should know that most of my clients have purchased an Early Bird Bingo packet, so they’ll be reluctant to ...”
    Betty stopped speaking when Severson flung his pen across the room.
    He glared at her and said, “Mrs. Chance, I am trying to solve a murder. I don’t care if your passengers are scheduled to play Texas Hold’em with the Pope, my investigation comes first.”
    “I understand,” she answered solemnly.
    The sheriff turned on the voice recorder before adding, “There’s one more thing. You’re going to have to arrange for transportation back to Chicago for your passengers. The Take A Chance bus is officially a crime scene. It’s staying in Minnesota until the BCA releases it.”
    “When will that be?” Betty asked, knowing that any investigation by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension could take months.
    “Last time I checked, there was an eight week backlog.”
    Betty sputtered, “Sheriff, I have to pay for the bus every day I have it.”
    He smirked. “Don’t you have insurance?”
    To be honest, Betty didn’t know if the insurance would cover any of the events of the last twenty-four hours. Lori made all of the decisions when it came to insurance, or any financial matter.
    In a stern voice Severson said, “It could be worse.”
    “How?” Betty wanted to know.
    “I could keep every client of yours locked up in the town’s jail, if I wanted. As far as I’m concerned, everyone on your tour is connected to Farsi’s murder, until proven otherwise. That means everyone, from the eighty-year-olds with sticker-decorated walkers to … well, you.”
    Betty knew the sheriff was bluffing but she began to despise the man. If he treated her this rudely, there was no telling how he would treat her clients. He’d more than likely alienate every person he encountered, making it impossible to catch the killer.
    It came to her in a flash. If anyone were going to catch the murderer, it would have to be her. And, she needed to do it before someone else was found dead. Or even, thought satisfyingly, arrested for slapping a gun toting, boy toy sheriff.

Chapter 7
     
    Betty pushed open the exit door and stormed out of the conference room in a fury. As she hustled down the hallway, her heels made loud clicking sounds on the highly polished oak floor.
    “Betty, wait up,” Tom yelled, following closely behind her.
    She kept walking, her breathing labored and her lips tightly pursed. She didn’t have a history of panic attacks, but she felt one could be coming on. An inexperienced rookie was threatening both her and Take A Chance Tours.
    Betty finally stopped moving when she felt Tom’s hand on her shoulder.
    “I saw you bolt out of the room. What happened?” Tom asked.
    Betty sighed. “I don’t know, Tom,” she said. “ Maybe everything’s hitting me all at once.”
    He gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze then let his hand drop to his side. “You’ve had a rough time, no doubt,” he said.
    She responded, “First the murder, then the bus being declared a crime scene, not having slept in over 24 hours, and now the sheriff threatening to toss all of my clients into jail …”
    Tom burst out laughing. “Have you seen this town’s jail? The holding cell’s the size of a clown car. Your clients would have to take turns.”
    Betty smiled. “I guess I just don’t like being bullied, especially by a punk kid.”
    Tom nodded in agreement. “Severson can be a jerk, but I think his heart’s in the right place.”
    “What place is that?” she asked. “The Senior Prom?”
    Tom laughed. Betty reminded