The Bone House - Brian Freeman [66]
The name on the poster, in bold letters, said Harris Bone.
Reich, who was poring over paperwork, took off his black glasses and eased back in his chair when he saw Cab in the doorway. 'Detective Bolton,' he said.
'Good morning, Sheriff,' Cab said. 'I'm surprised to see you here so early. You have a long commute from the island.'
Reich shrugged. 'Most days I fly my Cessna down here. I keep a place in town for the bad weather. Otherwise, I'm not at my desk much. I don't believe a sheriff makes much of a difference when he's stuck inside.'
'That's a good philosophy.'
'I called your lieutenant about you, Detective,' Reich informed him, as he twiddled his glasses in his fingers.
'That must have been an interesting conversation.'
'It was. He tells me you're smart, but you don't play well with others.'
'That's fair,' Cab agreed.
'He also says you're stubborn, indifferent to authority, and condescending.'
'Guilty.'
'He told me about your mother, too. That explains a lot. I figured you were either rich or on the take. Most cops don't rent Corvettes.'
'They don't own Cessnas, either,' Cab pointed out with a smile.
'I'm not saying having money is a crime,' Reich replied. 'I've got a plane, I've got a boat, a couple of trucks. My family was smart enough to snap up a lot of real estate around here back when it was cheap. I could retire, but I don't want to sit on my ass all day.'
'Then we have something in common,' Cab said.
'That's about the only thing, Detective. What can I do for you?'
'I heard about the accident on the island.'
'You mean the Bradleys?'
'Yes. Are they OK?'
'Bruised but fine.'
'Do you have any idea who was responsible?' Cab asked.
'I'm not sure how that concerns you. This is a local investigation.'
'Mark Bradley is a suspect in my homicide case.'
'Well, it looks like someone almost cut your case short. Some cops wouldn't lose sleep over that.'
'I don't want a vigilante killing a man and his wife on the basis of rumors,' Cab replied. 'If he's guilty, I want to prove it and put him behind bars.'
Reich nodded. 'I agree.'
'Washington Island isn't a big place. No one came or went last night unless they had a big boat, right? With your history around here, I would think you'd already know who did this.'
Reich's frown lines deepened into canyons. 'You can be indifferent to authority and condescending in your own jurisdiction, Detective. Not with me. Not on my turf.'
'Fair enough, you're right. I'm sorry.'
'For your information, the truck used in the accident was stolen from an island farm. We're checking it over now. I can think of a couple dozen hotheads who know Delia Fischer and might have done this, but they're not likely to be stupid enough to admit it to me. Don't worry, I'll get them.'
'I'm sure you will.'
'Is that all you wanted, Detective? Because if so, I'm pretty busy this morning.'
'I promised to keep you up to date on my own investigation,' Cab informed him. 'We've located a couple new witnesses among the people who were at the hotel on Saturday. Apparently Glory had a big argument with her boyfriend, Troy Geier, a few hours before the murder.'
Reich snorted. 'Troy? You're wasting your time.'
'Maybe so, but he wasn't straight with me. I'm going to talk to him again.'
'What else do you have?' Reich asked.
'Another witness saw a man on the beach with a girl in the right location and time frame. They were physically involved. Based on the description, we think it was Mark Bradley. I want to talk to the witness myself, but if it pans out, it's significant. If we can combine it with DNA evidence, we'll be on the way to making a case that hangs together.'
'Excellent. I appreciate the update, Detective. As I said, my men and I are happy to help if we can.'
'There's something else,' Cab told him.
'What?'
'I ran into Hilary Bradley yesterday afternoon. She told me about Glory Fischer and the fire.' Cab nodded at the poster on Reich's wall. 'She told me about Harris Bone, too.' 'So?'
'So I'm surprised you didn't mention it to me, Sheriff,' Cab said. 'I asked if there was anything