Gina Cresse - Devonie Lace 05 - A Deadly Change of Luck by Gina Cresse Page B

foggiest idea, but Chuck would know,” she offered.
    “How is Chuck related to Lou?”
    “Brother-in-law, I think.  Yeah.  Yeah.  Lou was married to Chuck’s wife’s sister.  They were twins.  Not identical, but the other kind, you know, paternal?”
    “Fraternal twins?”
    “That’s it.  Fraternal,” she said.
    I studied the cow calendar on the counter.  “Would it be okay if I called Chuck?”
    “Sure .  I’ve got his number right here.”  
     
    I dialed Chuck’s number and waited for an answer.  I used the excuse that I was cleaning up the place and found some photo albums, and wondered if any of the family members wanted them before I just threw them out.  Chuck seemed like a nice man.  He said that he didn’t think any of Lou’s kids would be interested in the albums, but if I wanted to bring them by his house, he’d take them.  I could tell he didn’t really want them either.  He’d probably just toss them out.  I told him I’d save him the trouble and do it myself.  He didn’t protest.
    We chatted awhile, then I eased the conversation into the direction I really intended.
    “Fiona tells me Lou died of a heart attack?”
    “That’s right,” he verified.
    “Gosh.  That’s too bad.  Was he very old?” I asked.
    “Not as old as me, but I’ve got old genes,” he said, chuckling.
    “Isn’t it amazing what they can find out with an autopsy?” I said.
    “Sure is, but they didn’t do one on Lou.  No reason to.  He had a history of heart trouble.  No one thought it was that serious, but Lou proved us wrong,” Chuck explained.
    “I see,” I replied, still staring at the cow calendar I’d set on the counter.
    I wrangled the conversation around to another subject and then gracefully let myself off the hook and said goodbye.
    I headed for the garage and returned with one of the full garbage bags I’d put there earlier.  I rummaged through two of them before I finally found the assorted bottles of vitamins and supplements I’d thrown out.  I gathered them up and put them in a smaller paper sack.
    I made sure all the doors were locked before I left the house, then I gathered up the bag of pills, the cow calendar, and headed for Detective Sam Wright’s office.  If my hunch was right, Lou Winnomore’s cause of death was about as natural as my cousin Marilyn’s platinum blond hair.  

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Five
     
    D etective Sam Wright scowled at me from across his desk.  “Let me see if I’ve got this straight.  You want me to tie up police lab resources to check out these pills because you think some old guy with a known heart condition didn’t die the way a trained medical examiner said he did?”
    I shook my head and rolled my eyes.  “This is exactly the reaction I expected.  I don’t know why I even bother coming to you in the first place,” I complained.
    “Because I’m the only fool here dumb enough to give you the time of day.  Anybody else would throw you out.”
    I’d known Sam for several years.  From the first time I met him, he’d shown a hostile tendency that still crops up from time to time.  We’re actually good friends now, but he still insists on making me prove myself every inch of the way when it comes to my conspiracy theories.  I’ve learned to ignore his hostility, to a point.  Once in a while, he follows through on a threat, so I’ve learned just how far I can go with him.  Most of the time, he puts up with my misadventures and comes up smelling like a rose. 
    “So, are you going to check out the pills?” I pressed.
    “Tell me again why I should?”
    I let out an exasperated sigh.  “Because, as I’ve already explained, Lou Winnomore played his own special numbers.   They’re his family’s birthdays and his anniversary.  I’d bet you a hundred bucks he played those same numbers every time.”  I shoved the calendar closer to Sam and flipped through the pages, pointing out the circled dates.