From Here to Paternity

new one and it made Jane laugh, which the sheriff clearly found a distasteful reaction. “I wasn’t ‘heading’ for anything! It was the first time I ever skied and I had absolutely no control over where I ended up! Do you really imagine I’d have risked running into a tree or something by heading for the woods?“
    “I couldn’t say. I just couldn’t say, ma’am. But it sure is odd that there’s two bodies and somebody who says she never knew the people before found both of them, don’t you think?“
    This was at least the third time he’d made this observation. The first time it had surprised her, the second time it irritated her, but this time—in her own temporary “home“ and with her daughter in the next room—it made her furious.
    “Are you making an accusation?“ she said coldly.
    “No, ma’am. Nosiree. Just sayin’ as how it’s odd.“
    She stood up and walked to the door of the cabin. “It was unpleasant and unfortunate. And I find this conversation to be even more so. I’ve told you everything I know. And I’ve told it to you several times. If you have in mind asking me the same questions again, you’ll have to ask them of my lawyer. Frankly, I’m tired of this. Get out of here.“
    “Now, don’t go gettin’ all riled up—“
    “Get out!“
    He put his hands up. “Okay, okay, I’m going.“ He backed out the door, making vaguely apologetic noises, but Jane cut them off by slamming the door as soon as he was outside. She leaned back against it, shaking.
    Shelley looked at her admiringly. “Wow! I’ve never seen you do anything like that. I’m really impressed!“
    “You’re rubbing off on me, I guess. That ignorant, nasty-minded hick! How dare he—“
    “Now calm down. He’s gone.“
    A few minutes and a restorative cup of coffee and cigarette later, Shelley ventured to reopen the subject. “You see what this means, don’t you?“
    “I have no idea,“ Jane said.
    “Look, the people here are bright and much more sophisticated than they like to let on. They wouldn’t have anybody as sheriff who really is as much of a rube as he acts like. So he must be smarter than he seems.“
    “He’d have to be!“
    “And if he has the wits to stay sheriff, he must know you’re telling the truth.“
    “Rave on,“ Jane said. “So why is he bothering with me?“
    “Because he’s at a dead end.“
    “Are you suggesting that I should be encouraged by this?“
    “Not encouraged, but it does mean there isn’t any evidence that we don’t know about that’s helping him any. So we are just as well equipped to figure this out as he is.“
    “And just as motivated,“ Jane added sourly.
    “Okay, so we can assume that either both deaths have to do with the whole Tsar/Holnagrad thing or they don’t.“
    “That’s a big help.“
    “Jane, it gives us a structure for analyzing what we know.“
    “If you say so.“
    “All right. Let’s assume first that it does have to do with the Tsar business. Which certainly seems likely, since one death was the person promoting Bill Smith as the heir, and the other death was Bill himself.“
    “Okay, I see where you’re going now,“ Jane said. “Who are the people involved in any way? Pro or con?“
    “Right. There are the two victims, of course. There’s Pete, and we’ve already talked about him pretty thoroughly. There’s Stu Gortner, who is really the one with the greatest motivation to get rid of the competition for his candidate.“
    “Wait—go back to Pete. What would this fight he got into with HawkHunter have to do with it?“
    “Hold it, Jane. Don’t sidetrack me yet. We’re just laying out the groundwork for how we’re going to think about this.“
    “So we’re thinking about how we’re going to think? You wouldn’t like to offer to run a couple states and several major corporations in your spare time, would you?“
    Shelley ignored that remark. “So—we have Bill, Doris, Pete, and Stu as interested parties. Now we have to add Joanna. Don’t make faces like that. Joanna’s very much a concerned party. Suppose Doris had made some kind of grand announcement to the press about Bill being the rightful Tsar. On Bill’s behalf as well as her own, that would have a real impact on her life.“
    “Okay, I’ll give you that.“
    “We’ve also got to consider Lucky. He’s the president of the Society and had both Doris and Stu trying to get him on their sides. Maybe he is quietly involved with one or the