In Death 27 - Salvation in Death

water?”
    Her ravaged eyes popped open. Then she huffed out a matronly breath and shook her head. “Oh, Jimmy Jay! He knew I disapproved. An occasional glass of wine, that’s all right. But did our Lord and Savior have vodka at the Last Supper? Did He change water into vodka at Cana?”
    “I’m guessing no.”
    Jolene smiled a little. “He had a taste for it, my Jimmy. Didn’t overdo. I wouldn’t have stood for it. But I didn’t know he was still having the girls tip a little into his stage water. It’s a small indulgence, isn’t it? A small thing.” Fresh tears spilled as she plucked at the voluminous poofs of her skirt. “I wish I hadn’t scolded him about it now.”
    “How about his other indulgences?”
    “His daughters, his grandbabies. He spoiled them to bits and pieces. And me.” She sighed, her voice slurring now with the drug. “He spoiled me, too, and I let him. Children. He had a soft spot for children. That’s why he built the school back down home. He believed in feeding a child’s mind, body, soul, and their imagination. Officer—I’m sorry. I’ve forgotten.”
    “Lieutenant Dallas.”
    “Lieutenant Dallas. My husband was a good man. He wasn’t perfect, but he was a good man. Maybe even great. He was a loving husband and father, and a devoted shepherd to his flock. He served the Lord, every day. Please, I want my children now. I want my daughters. Can’t I have my daughters now?”
    “I’ll check on that.”
    With the oldest daughter’s statement on record, Eve cleared putting the two women together. And she moved on to the manager.
    Billy Crocker sat in a smaller dressing room on what Eve thought of as Jimmy Jay’s side of the stage. His eyes were raw and red, his face gray.
    “He’s really dead.”
    “Yes, he is.” Eve chose to start at a different point. “When’s the last time you spoke with Mr. Jenkins?”
    “Just a few minutes before he went on. I gave him his cue. I went to his dressing room to give him the five-minute cue.”
    “What else did you talk about?”
    “I told him what the gate was, that we were sold out. He liked hearing it, pepped him up, knowing there were so many souls to be saved. That’s what he said.”
    “Was he alone?”
    “Yes. He always took the last thirty minutes—twenty if we were pressed—alone.”
    “How long did you work for him?”
    Billy took a choked breath. “Twenty-three years.”
    “What was your relationship?”
    “I’m his manager—was his manager—and his friend. He was my spiritual adviser. We were family.” With his lips trembling, Billy wiped at his eyes. “Jimmy Jay made everyone feel like family.”
    “Why is his wife stationed at the other side of the stage?”
    “Just a practicality. They come in on opposite sides, meet at the center. It’s tradition. Jolene, oh good Jesus, poor Jolene.”
    “What was their relationship like?”
    “Devoted. Absolutely devoted. They adore each other.”
    “No straying into other pastures—on either side.”
    He looked down at his hands. “That’s an unkind thing to say.”
    “Am I going to dig a little, Billy, and find out you and Jolene have been breaking any commandments?”
    His head snapped up. “You will not. Jolene would never betray Jimmy Jay in that way. In any way. She’s a lady, and a good Christian woman.”
    “Who spiked Jenkins’s stage water with vodka?”
    Billy sighed. “Josie took care of it tonight. There’s no need to bring that out, and embarrass Jolene. It was a small thing.”
    “The church is big business. A lot of money. Who gets what?”
    “It’s very complicated, Lieutenant.”
    “Simplify it.”
    “Church assets remain church assets. Some of those assets are used by the Jenkins family. The plane used for transportation in the work of the church, for instance. His daughters’ homes, which are also used for church business. Several vehicles and other assets. Jimmy Jay and Jolene have—over more than thirty-five years of time and effort—accumulated considerable wealth in their own right. I know, as I was consulted, that Jimmy Jay arranged, should . . . should he go to God, that Jolene and his family are provided for. And that the church itself can and will continue. It was his life’s work.”
    “Did he leave anything to you, Billy?”
    “Yes. I’ll inherit some of his personal effects, one million dollars, and the responsibility of managing the church in the manner he wished.”
    “Who’d he cheat on Jolene