Cat's Claw (A Pecan Springs Mystery)

what we find in the house. True?”
    Mrs. Kirk nodded. “Yes,” she said, barely audible. “Well, there’s his phone. You can look there. And he keeps a red leather address book in the top drawer of the desk in the living room. That’s where it used to be, anyway. His mom’s address is there. Her name is Jenny. Jenny Kirk. She lives in San Antonio. His father is dead. His sisters—”
    Sheila noted down the names, then close friends, then neighbors that Kirk might have been especially friendly with. Apparently, he had been a collegial guy, for the list was a long one, although (in his wife’s version, anyway) it was exclusively male. When Dana Kirk ran out of names, Sheila said, “What about women he was dating?”
    “Dating?” Dana’s eyes grew round. “I don’t think he— I’m sure he wouldn’t—”
    “What? No casual dates? No girlfriends? He didn’t say something like, ‘Hey, Dana, what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. I’m seeing so-and-so’?”
    She laced her fingers together tightly. “If he was seeing someone, he didn’t tell me. And I didn’t spy on him. If he wanted to date, that was his business. Although if he didn’t have time for his wife, I doubt he’d have time for a girlfriend.” A little shrug, a little too casual. “I guess you could ask the guys at the shop. They’d probably know.”
    “Okay, then,” Sheila said, and went back to a subject she’d opened earlier. “Help me with the other side. Enemies. People who didn’t like him. People he didn’t like. People he’d quarreled with. Clients, customers, guys at the shop.”
    Dana pulled her eyebrows together. “Enemies? Gosh, I don’t know. Larry’s such an easygoing guy. He gets… he got along with just about everybody.” She swallowed. “We had a little trouble with Sam Schulz, the neighbor over there.” She nodded toward the house on the west. “After we bought this place, it turned out that the survey markers were wrong and our garage is two feet over the property line. That’s been a problem. But otherwise—”
    “No long-term feuds? Did he ever mention being concerned that somebody might be stalking him?”
    Mrs. Kirk shook her head. “No feuds, other than Mr. Schulz. And…
stalking
?” Her eyes widened. “Is that what you said?”
    “Stalking, following, somebody hanging around. Did he mention anything like that?”
    “Absolutely not.” She frowned again. “I don’t see what you— He killed himself, didn’t he? I mean, I saw the gun in his hand, in there, in the kitchen.” She shivered. “So why are you asking—”
    “How about former employers? Where did your husband work before he opened his own business?”
    Dana sighed. “Both of us were working for Harmon. He installed this big software package, set up the new accounting system, and put up a website, too. Ms. Harmon was really impressed. Larry blew her away. In fact, they were…” She broke off, smiling crookedly.
    “Were what?” Sheila asked.
    She looked down at her hands. “Oh, friends, I guess. I don’t know.”
    “More than friends?”
    “Maybe. But then we started going out together. He blew me away, too, you know, with all that energy. He was working his way through school—a master’s in computer science—and doing freelance stuff, too. Harmon wasn’t the only place he worked. He’d take jobs whenever they came along. I thought it was great that he could manage everything. His classes, consulting, all that stuff.” She flexed her fingers and Sheila noticed that she wasn’t wearing any rings. “But I guess it should have told me something.”
    “Told you what?”
    She hesitated, then looked up, holding the look almost defiantly. “That there wasn’t room in his life for anything or anyone else but work.” She took a deep breath. “If there had been, I never would’ve…” She ran out of steam, puffing out her breath. “Oh, never mind. Just never mind.”
    Sheila understood. When you loved your work, it was hard to find time for other things. For people, even the ones who mattered to you. She changed directions. “I need the names of the people you work with, who can verify your whereabouts today.”
    “But
why?
I don’t understand—”
    “I’m sorry, Mrs. Kirk. It’s necessary.”
    This list was shorter. On it was Donna Givens’ name, the woman that Dana Kirk was currently staying with.
    “That reminds me.” Sheila took out the card. “Ms. Givens wanted you to know