Page 17 of One in a Million
“That shouldn’t be a worry. I’m not allowed to discuss an ongoing case.” Though if they happened to know who he was, somebody might volunteer information, Sam thought. “You’re planning all this now, by yourself?”
“There’s a catering service in Abilene that handles big affairs like this one—the food, the seating, the setup, and the cleanup. They’ll do the work. I’ve already chosen the menu and the location. But the family has to plan the program, and for that we need to get together around the table tonight. I’m expecting some fireworks.”
Sam knew he couldn’t miss this—anything could come out of those fireworks. But inviting himself now could get him turned down. He would find a way. “I’m sure you’ve got a busy day ahead, Lila,” he said. “Let’s get this first interview over with. As I learn more, there may be others.”
“You’ll have to catch up with me first. I didn’t kill Frank, Mr. Rafferty. There’ve been times when I wanted to. But evidently, somebody else wanted to do it even more—and in case you ask, I’ve no idea who it might have been. Frank had enemies. Any powerful man does. But I don’t know anybody who would take the risk of murdering him.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” He took his laptop out of his briefcase and set it up on the table. Glancing toward the open-sided arena beyond the patio, Sam saw a tall, dark man exercising a splendid roan. A stallion, Sam assumed, though he wasn’t close enough to tell. But even knowing next to nothing about horses, he couldn’t help admiring the grace of horse and rider, moving as one in a pattern of turns, circles, gallops, and sliding stops. He’d glimpsed reining events on TV and dismissed them as boring. He’d never been much of a horse fan. But he was struck by the skill of this live display.
“Who’s that?” he asked Lila.
“Roper McKenna. He was Frank’s head trainer. He quit when Frank died but I’ve rehired him as my horse manager.”
“So was he loyal to your husband?”
“As far as I know. He’s loyal to me, too, but mostly because I pay the man well and will be letting him compete on our horses, something Frank didn’t allow him to do.”
“I see.” Sam made a mental note to move Roper McKenna near the top of his list. Ambition could be a strong motive for murder. And if the man had designs on Frank Culhane’s glamorous and wealthy wife, that would double the motivation.
“Let’s get started.” He brought up the interview form and started with the basics, as was his custom. “State your name, birthdate, and birthplace.”
She did. No surprises there, except that she’d started out as an Idaho farm girl. That she’d moved up through the ranks of beauty contests was less surprising. She would’ve had the looks, the presence, and the ambition—or maybe a pushy mother.
“Family?”
“I was an only child. My parents died in a farm truck accident when I was nine. My widowed grandma finished raising me. I wanted to be a nurse. But after a semester at Riggs Junior College . . .” She trailed off, paused.
“If you do your job, you’ll likely discover this. I’ll save you the work. In my freshman year, I got pregnant by a campus lothario who refused to take responsibility. I kept my daughter, with my grandma’s help, and got the job in Vegas to support my little girl. By the time Grandma passed away, I was making half-decent money. I took her in with a nanny. Her name is Jemma. Jemma Smith. She’s a nursing student at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. Frank knew about her. She even spent time here when she was younger. I pay her school expenses, but these days she has nothing to do with this family. She was nowhere near this place when Frank was killed. Promise me you won’t involve her in any way.”
“You know I can’t make that promise. But for now . . .” He shrugged and made a note on his laptop.
“You’ll tell me if you’re going to contact her?”
“You know better than to ask.”
Sam watched the antagonism flit across her chiseled features. She was very protective of her daughter. He couldn’t rule that out as a motive for some kind of action.
“Tell me how you met Frank Culhane,” he said.
“Not much to tell. It was twelve years ago, at the finals of the National Reined Cow Horse Association. A girl in the show wanted to see her new boyfriend ride, and she talked me into going to watch an event with her. Frank was there with three beautiful horses. I think I fell in love with the horses even before their owner walked around the corner of the stall, and I saw him.”
“I take it you’re familiar with horses.”
“Sure. I’m from Idaho. But I’d never seen champion quarter horses before. I was blown away. And I think Frank could tell that. It was like an instant bond between us.”
“Aside from the fact that he was attractive, wealthy, and older?” Sam asked, hoping for a fresh reaction. So far, she’d seemed too cool, too detached.
She drew back, appearing genuinely shocked. “We fell in love, Mr. Rafferty. And the horses were woven into the attraction. That’s what I’m fighting for now, to preserve the horses that were Frank’s legacy.”
Her words sounded a little too noble, Sam thought. “What about his wife and family? I talked to Jasmine. She said you didn’t care at all about them.”
“Jasmine is a useless, conniving little twit who needs to find herself a life. Frank’s kids were lost in their own worlds. I tried to make friends with them, but they weren’t open to it.
“His ex-wife, Madeleine, is a dragon. She was a world-class rider, probably better than Frank, and he couldn’t stand that. They were on the circuit together, constantly battling for domination. I was the one who gave him peace.”
And a pretty good piece.Sam blotted the inappropriate thought from his mind.
“Where’s your stepson?” he asked.