Marcus Hale, county investigator on your wife’s case.” He had a slow drawl, and he used it.

“I’d like ten minutes, and I’d rather not spend them in front of that lounge.”

We stood at the window.

He set the cup on the sill, took out a brass pen, and tapped it twice against the ring of his notebook.

“Fairview County has a long memory,” he said.

“The family you married into has a building downtown with their name on it and a seat on this hospital’s board.

The sheriff’s office answers a lot of phones.”