Cat's Claw (A Pecan Springs Mystery)

himself, I would have thought he’d do it a different way. Lock himself in the garage with the car running, maybe, or take some pills. I would never have thought he’d—” She closed her eyes and clenched her hands. “But if he didn’t do it, I don’t see how in the world…”
    Sheila cleared her throat. “Do you know if he was having problems with anyone? At the shop, maybe? A client, a customer, somebody who works for him?”
    She shook her head. “If he did, I didn’t know anything about it. Somebody at the shop would know if there’s been any trouble.”
    “Can you give me the names of the employees?” Sheila flipped a page.
    “There are three, I think.” She frowned, concentrating. “No, four. Henry, Jason, Richie, and Dennis. I don’t know their last names. Henry is the only employee, though. He’s the assistant manager or something—he’s in charge when Larry isn’t around. The rest are contract people, techs. They only work when there’s a job. From what I hear, things have been pretty slow lately.” She made a face. “That’s what Larry said, anyway. But he might have been saying that so I would settle for less money.”
    Sheila let that go by, at least for the moment. “What about debts?” she asked. “Personal? Business? Did he owe money to anybody?”
    “I think he was still paying off some student loans. The mortgage on this house, car payments, credit cards. The usual, I guess.” She firmed her shoulders. “And me. He owed money to me.”
    It was the opening Sheila had been waiting for. “I understand that you have an investment interest in your husband’s business. Had you worked out the settlement details?”
    A brief flare of anger flashed in the woman’s eyes. “How did you—?” Then she sighed. “Small towns. I hate small towns. Everybody knows everything about everybody’s affairs.” She colored prettily and corrected herself. “Everybody’s
business
, I mean. Yes. My father died just before Larry and I got married, and I inherited some money from his estate. I wanted to buy stocks, but Larry talked me into investing it in hiscomputer business instead. Larry’s really good with computers. And patient with people who don’t understand the technology.”
    She sighed and her shoulders slumped. “But no, we hadn’t worked out the settlement yet. He was trying to figure out how I could get my investment back without his having to sell the business. And of course, there’s this house. It’s underwater, as they say. It won’t appraise for what we paid for it. He was going to have to sell—” She stopped and took a breath.
    “Sounds difficult,” Sheila said sympathetically. “Not just the house but the business, too—I’m sure that lots of couples would be fighting about it, tooth and nail. There weren’t any hard feelings?” She paused, then gave Dana Kirk a direct look. “Especially about your other relationship?”
    “My… relationship?” The woman tried to hold the glance, but her eyes slid away.
    “Yes. I understand that you’ve been involved with another man for some time and that this was why you were seeking a divorce.” Sheila looked down at her notebook, flipped a page, then looked up again. She waited, letting the silence build for the space of a couple of breaths. “I’m sorry. Did I misunderstand? I can always check back with the person who—”
    Mrs. Kirk gave a resigned sigh. “No, you didn’t misunderstand. Yes, I am involved with… someone. But it doesn’t have anything to do with what Larry did today.” She pressed her lips together. “I am not going to say anything more about it. Really. You don’t have any right to—”
    Sheila spoke softly. “Mrs. Kirk. We’re not sure yet what happened here today. Until we are, we will be investigating everyone and everything that is related to your husband. We will be talking with his business associates, the neighbors, you, the person you’re involved with—”
    “No!” she cried, sitting straight up, a dull color flooding her doll-like cheeks. “That’s not right! He has nothing to do with Larry’s suicide! He—”
    “Mrs. Kirk, I am sorry to be blunt. We are keeping everything open.
Everything
.” She turned to a fresh page in her notebook. “Now, perhaps you can help by giving me the names of people we need to notify of Mr. Kirk’s death. Just the names, relationships, and cities right now—we’ll likely be able to fill in the contact information from