The Alpine Vengeance: An Emma Lord Mystery Read Free

do?”
    Milo regarded me as if I were the dimmest suspect in a police lineup. “Legal problems. Threats. Dealing with a nut-job. I don’t need more grief right now. Hell, it’s only been a little over a month since the shootout at the trailer park.”
    “It’s a crackpot,” I said. “Larry never denied killing Linda. I’ll admit I didn’t attend the entire trial, but that was because the defense wanted a change of venue and the case was tried in Everett.”
    “I know, I know.” He waved away the plume of smoke from his cigarette. “I got so damned tired of having to be there that I spent two nights in a motel. The commute was killing me.”
    “And Larry tried to kill
me
,” I reminded the sheriff. “Thank God you came along or I wouldn’t be here listening to you bitch about some stupid letters.”
    Milo was silent for a long moment. “Did you ever wonder if Larry wanted to tell you something instead of turning you into his next victim?”
    I thought back to what had been one of the most frightening moments in my life. “To be honest, no. In fact, that’s how the whole situation began. It was snowing that night. I was in front of the bank, waiting for Vida and Rick to come out after we inveigled him into letting her inside. Larry drove up and realized something odd was happening. He did say he wanted to talk to me, but I was suspicious of him by then, so I suggested we go over to the
Advocate
. Then everything went downhill. He got very agitated and dragged me inside the car. You know the rest.”
    Milo sighed. “What if Larry did just want to talk?”
    It was my turn to pause before speaking again, trying to force myself back in time to my emotional, as well as intellectual,reactions. “I was on guard from the get-go. I sensed his desperation. It scared the hell out of me. I already figured him for the killer. So did you.”
    The sheriff nodded. “Everything fit. If it hadn’t, I’d never have made the arrest.”
    “Of course you wouldn’t.” I smiled softly. “That’s the way you always work.”
    “Right.” He shook his head, obviously unhappy. “It’s a hell of a way to spend a Monday morning. The first two letters were so vague that I almost chucked them. The timing bothers me, now that Larry’s dead.”
    “The letters were sent before Larry died,” I pointed out.
    “I know. But still …” He shrugged. “Coincidences happen.”
    I waited while he finished the roll before I posed a question. “Are you here because you want us to run a story about these letters?”
    The sheriff stuffed the letters inside his jacket. “God, no!” He frowned, his eyes fixed on my wall map of Skykomish County. “Maybe I just wanted to blow off steam. It must be a crank. The woods are full of them. All this Internet stuff—somebody reads something that sets them off, and even if it has nothing to do with them, they get their rocks off by jumping into whatever. It’s just one step away from the crazies who confess to a murder they didn’t commit or claim to have information about a terrorist plot to blow up Grand Coulee Dam.”
    “Exactly,” I said. “Go solve some real cases. If you have any.” I looked inquiringly at Milo. “Do you? I haven’t talked to Mitch about the police log from the weekend.”
    The sheriff put out his cigarette and stood up. “Mitch hasn’t been in yet. Nothing much to report anyway, just the usual DUIs, traffic violations, and a couple of non-injury vehicular accidents on Highway 2.”
    I also stood up. “No break-ins? No domestic violence? No lost livestock?”
    Milo shook his head. “Funny thing about the weekend after Thanksgiving. We never do get much real crime. I guess everybody’s too stuffed and sleepy from eating big Thanksgiving dinners.”
    “That could be a story in itself,” I said.
    Milo looked amused. “You must be desperate for headlines.”
    “I am, actually,” I admitted. “But we’ve had enough excitement around here already this year,