Down Home and Deadly

clock hanging by the front door. It was only 8:30 . I considered my options. Dry my hair and go on to bed. Toss and turn all night wondering what happened to Lisa. Or go down to the police station and offer moral support and comfort to Bob and Wilma. Not to mention hav e a little talk with John.
    An easy decision.
    I quickly dressed, combed out my hair , and stuck it up in a messy bun. By a quarter ’ til nine , I pulled in front of the station and headed in.
    “I’d like to see the c hief, please,” I said to the desk sergeant.
    “I’m sorry, ma’am ; he’s in a meeting at the moment.”
    “Will you tell him that Jenna Stafford is waiting out here to see him?” I smiled at him. “I just need to talk to him for a minute.”
    “I’m sorry, ma’am.” He leaned toward me. “He told me not to interrupt him.”
    “Well, I’ll just sit out here and wait if you don’t mind.” I turned to sit in one of the chairs near the desk.
    “If you’d like, there’s a waiting area just down the hall on your left.” He pointed. “There are some people in there already, but the chairs are a little more comfortable.”
    “Thanks. I’ll go down there. Will you be sure Chief Conner gets my message?”
    “Yes, ma’am. I’ll tell him as soon as he comes out.”
    Bob and Wilma were huddled together in the corner when I walked in. They wore identical shell-shocked expressions.
    Bob stood and came toward me. “Jenna, thanks so much for coming. We’ve hired an attorney , but he has to drive in from Little Rock .”
    I gave him a one-armed hug. “I’m so sorry.”
    He returned my hug, but as soon as he released me, he began pacing. “He said for Lisa not to answer any questions, but I don’t know what she’s saying in there. They wouldn’t let us go in with her.”
    “I’m sure her lawyer will be in soon.” I bent down and gave Wilma a hug. “He’ll get this straightened out.” I sat down next to her.
    “Bob, stop pacing.” Wilma leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
    “Jenna, you’ve been around this kind of thing. Can you think of anything else we can do?” Bob sat back down in the chair on the other side of Wilma.
    “You just need to stay strong.” I wished I had a better answer for them.
    “You know, you spend your life protecting your child , and then something out of the blue like this happens.” Tears rolled from Wilma’s closed eyes and made tracks down her cheeks. “It makes you wonder . . . . ” Her voice trailed off. I held my breath while I waited for her to say something more. Or for Bob to answer her.
    When no one said anything, I patted Wilma on the back. “Why don’t I go and get us something to drink from the vending machine?” I left them to their painful memories and headed out the door. “I’ll be right back.”
    I walked down the hall to the outer office where I had seen the vending machines. A uniformed sleeve brushed my arm , and I looked up into Seth’s smiling eyes.
    “Hey, Nancy Drew. What are you doing here?”
    “ Larry called me.” I stuck some bills into the machine and hit the button for water.
    “Lisa is in there with John right now. I feel sorry for her folks, but we’ve got enough on that girl to put her away for life now that we have the motive.”

Chapter Eighteen

    What goes around, comes around .

    I stared at Seth. Now they had a motive. Which I had handed to them on a silver platter. Lisa was frighteningly self-centered , and if she had known her boyfriend and her best friend were cheating on her, well, murder wasn’t so far - fetched. But I was convinced she had no idea. I just had to convince John.
    “I don’t think she did it, Seth.” I hit the button again and watched another bottle fall out.
    His eyebrows drew together. “She had motive, the weapon belonged to her and had her fingerprints on it, his blood was on a towel found in her car, and her alibi won’t hold water.” He ticked each item off on his fingers. “And now she’s lawyering up. You just don’t want to believe it because of her parents.”
    “I don’t want to believe it because she didn’t do it, Seth. Is there any way I can talk to John?” I clutched the three bottles of water to my chest.
    “As soon as her lawyer gets here , he’ll probably want to talk to her alone. When he does, John will come out.” He’d no sooner said that than the front door burst open and a distinguished-looking, black-haired man in a three-piece suit pushed open the double