Death By Chocolate 6 (Mystery and Women Sleuths) (Josiah Reynolds Mysteries) by Abigail Keam Page B

but I just wrote her off as a suspect. It was too creepy to think she had something to do with her son’s death.
    Daughter – Too young.
    Selena/Wife – Maybe, but I didn’t think so. No discernable motive.
    Farley Webb/Partner – Maybe, but no discernable motive.
    Business Clients – No motive.
    Unknown – Unforeseeable, like a robbery.
    Psycho – Statistics were against it.
    Maybe Goetz was right. Maybe Dwight was buried in some shallow grave because he stumbled across a marijuana patch or because someone wanted his truck.
    Still, we had to rule out the obvious first. Although I didn’t think Selena and Farley had anything to do with Dwight’s disappearance, I needed to prove it. They had to be ruled out first, before the hunt for Dwight’s killer . . . if there was one . . . continued in another direction.
    I scratched my head and then licked the pencil lead. A nervous habit since my accident. I began to write a long list of questions that needed to be answered. After finishing three legal pages of questions, I looked at the clock and saw it was after midnight.
    “Oh, dear,” I said. “I’m late.” Quickly I went to my bedroom.
    There stood Baby waiting at the glass door that led to the patio. He gave me an irritated look.
    “I know. I know. Time just got away from me.” I opened the door to let in Baby’s pet cats, which spent the day in the barn and came to the house every night to sleep with Baby. They had been born in my closet. Last, but not least, straggled in Mama Cat, who would not even lower herself to cast a glance in my direction.
    “You’re welcome,” I chided.
    The next half hour was spent keeping cats out of my bed, away from my toothbrush and hand soap, off the window drapes and my vanity.
    “Come on, guys. Settle down,” I begged. “I have to get up early and see Ginny.”
    Didn’t these animals understand that? Apparently not, as they kept me up for another hour.
    I hope Baby was satisfied.

23
    “You got any of Dwight’s hair?”
    “I have some locks from when he was a child. Why?”
    “Give me some.”
    “How much?”
    “Can you give me an entire lock? That should be enough.”
    Ginny seemed undecided. It was hard to give away your baby’s hair when that was all you had left of the baby.
    “It seems that we didn’t ask enough from the testing lab. They found some hair on the chocolate and it’s human. I think we should compare it to Dwight’s. You in or out?”
    Ginny gave me a smile that would light up the darkest cave. “That’s the Jo I know. I’m in. What next?”
    “Give me a check.” I told her how much it would cost.
    Her smile fell. “I’ll have to take out a loan. Can it wait a few days until I get things settled?”
    “Sure. There’s no hurry. You can still back out.” I gave Ginny a moment. “Are you sure you really want to pursue this?”
    “I don’t trust the cops to look for my boy anymore, Jo. They have other cases and they think Dwight ran off. I’ve got to see this through.”
    I didn’t relate that Detective Goetz thought he was dead and buried under a pile of leaves in the Daniel Boone National Forest. Some things one should keep to oneself. “Okay. I understand. Ginny, is there any reason Dwight would always go to the Cumberland area to fish? Why not Herrington Lake, which is closer?”
    “My people are from that area. Dwight usually goes to the old homestead and checks on the family cemetery. I used to take him there as a child.”
    “Oh, I wasn’t aware of that. Do you still have kin in there?”
    “Everyone’s gone now, but Dwight’s familiar with the area and has happy memories. You know my family was originally from Tennessee but moved up to the Cumberland. I’m a relative of Julia Marcum, being a direct descendant of her daddy. Marcum’s my maiden name.”
    “I didn’t know that. I’ve heard of her but don’t really know her story.”
    “As I said, my family lived in Tennessee, but we were Union sympathizers. We