Long Range (Joe Pickett Book 20)(65)

Joe continued. “It was obvious he didn’t know what he was doing when he was leading the investigation. I thought for a while maybe he had a unique approach to law enforcement or something. But now I see he was just marking time looking busy until something hit him right in the face. In this case, it was an anonymous tip he could jump on. Nate’s just collateral damage.”

“And the real killer is still out there somewhere,” Marybeth said.

“Correct. I think Kapelow probably measured the conference room to figure out where the folding chairs should be, and he’s practiced walking into that room like he owned the place.

“No,” Joe said, “this isn’t about solving the crime. This is about higher office. I know this sounds cynical, but Kapelow is more a politician than a cop.”

She thought it over and nodded. “Military vet, tough-as-nails, law-and-order sheriff. He’s got it all if you don’t dig into it too much. That’s a pretty fine résumé.”

Joe nodded. “He’s probably looking at the political landscape just like he measured that conference room. He might be going for state senator, head of DCI, or even governor someday.”

“What happens when it all blows up in his face?” Marybeth asked. “Assuming, of course, that Nate is cleared.”

Joe shrugged. He said, “I’ve worked with enough politicians over the years to know that some of them survive no matter what, especially if they don’t hold themselves accountable for anything and they have no shame.”

“It sounds like you’re talking about Governor Allen,” she said.

“He’s one of ’em,” Joe said. “But now we’ve got one closer to home. And I’m guessing that since his name and face are going to be broadcast all over the state, he won’t be trying particularly hard to find out if there’s really another shooter. I think his mind is closed to that possibility.”

“So it’s up to us,” Marybeth said.

“It might be.”

“We’ve done it before,” she said, lifting her glass for a toast. Joe clinked his mug against it.

“So where do we start?” she asked.

“That’s the second thing that came to me today at the end of that press conference,” Joe said. He recounted Judge Hewitt’s monologue to him at Sue’s bedside, how the judge had committed to spending more time with his wife if she survived. That he was always either working or gone on exotic hunting or fishing trips.

“I believe he was sincere,” Joe said. “I can’t imagine how much pain he’s in right now.”

Marybeth wiped a tear away. The story had touched her.

“But here’s the thing,” Joe said. “The day after her shooting, I went to the courthouse for the meeting with the other cops in Judge Hewitt’s office. Stovepipe was shocked by what had happened to her. He called her ‘Miz Hewitt.’ Stovepipe said Sue had been coming to the courthouse regularly the last few months and bringing him treats when she did. He said he really liked her.”

Marybeth frowned. “That doesn’t really square with what the judge told you. Do you think he was misleading you about how they’d drifted apart?”

Joe shook his head. “No, I think he was telling the truth.”

“Then why was Sue visiting him so often at the courthouse?” Marybeth asked. “Why didn’t she just call if she needed to talk to him?”

“That’s what I’m wondering,” Joe said. “But who says she was there to see the judge?”

“What?” Marybeth asked. Then she realized what Joe was driving at. She stood up and surveyed the bar to make sure there were no customers in adjoining booths who could overhear them. Satisfied, she sat back down and leaned across the table toward Joe.

She spoke in a low voice. “Are you suggesting she was seeing someone else in the building?”

“I’m just speculating,” he said.

“Who could it be and could that person be connected to what happened?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “It could be someone in the sheriff’s office, or anyone. A lot of lawyers come through those doors. And it might even be someone in the jail where Nate is now.”

Joe could see her mind working. She said, “I can see a scenario where after years of neglect Sue fell for someone who actually paid attention to her. She was an attractive and interesting woman, after all. What if she had something going on right under her husband’s nose?”

“That’s what I’m wondering.”

Marybeth quickly jumped ahead. “Then we’ve got a motive that hasn’t been considered in this case. And maybe we’ve been looking at what happened all wrong. Is Sue the type of woman who would plot with her lover to get rid of her husband?”

“Not likely,” Joe said. “Not from what I’ve heard about her.”

“Love makes some women do crazy things,” Marybeth said. “The Wyoming Women’s Center is full of them.”

“True,” Joe said. In his visits there, nearly all of the women were incarcerated because of drugs or relationships gone wrong, or both. “But if it was that kind of plot, would Sue want to be standing right behind her husband when he got shot? I don’t see it.”