“You don’t know me,” the woman replied, “hut I need to talk to you about your husband.”
Instantly Joanna’s whole body went on full red alert. Here was a strange woman who wanted to talk to her about Andy. The voice sounded young and undeniably sexy. Could this be the same woman Sandra Henning had told her about, the one who had come into the bank, hanging on Andy’s arm and counting out all that money?
“What’s your name?” Joanna asked.
“Tammy Sue Ferris,” the woman said, this time with no hesitation whatsoever.
Sure it is, Joanna thought, but if this was Cora, it was probably better not to accuse her of lying, not just yet. “What about my husband?” Joanna asked guardedly.
“I believe I know who killed him,” Tammy Sue answered.
Not trusting her ears, Joanna couldn’t stifle a sharp intake of breath. “What did you say?”
“I said I think I know who killed him,” Tammy Sue replied. “In the hospital.”
A storm of questions roared through Joanna’s head. “Who is it?” she demanded. “And how do you know about that? Do you work in the hospital? Are you a nurse? Have you talked to the police?”
“I can’t go to the police.”
“Why not?”
“Because if I do and Tony finds out, he’ll kill me.”
“Who’s Tony?”
“The man who killed your husband, Mrs. Brady”
The killer had a name and this woman knew it? Tell me who he is. How do you know he did it? Did you see him?”
“Not personally, but I know he did.”
“You’ve got to talk to the police,” Joanna insisted. “Where are you? I’ll call and have someone come talk to you right away.”
“No, please. No police!” the woman returned. “If you call the police, I’ll disappear. You’ll never hear from me again.”
Joanna was afraid the woman would hang up on her. Even if the woman on the phone was the same woman who had been with Andy in the bank, she was also the first person, other than Joanna herself, to insist that Andy had been murdered. She couldn’t afford frighten Tammy Sue Ferris away.
“What do you want then?” Joanna asked. “Why are you calling me?”
“I want you to help me work a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
“With the cops.”
“What kind of deal?” Joanna repeated.
“I have something of Tony’s,” Tammy Sue explained. “Something important that the cops are going to want.”
“‘That’s simple enough,” Joanna said. “Why don’t you just take it to them?”
“I want them to buy it. I need the money.”
“Wait a minute. You’re saying you have an important piece of evidence, and you expect to be paid for it?”
Although the young woman seemed to be speaking in dead earnest, for some reason Joanna found the whole scheme wildly implausible. Maybe Tammy Sue Ferris was a mental case.
“This is Cochise County,” Joanna said, “a place where budget cuts are the order of the day. I don’t think you’ll find many likely buyers.”
“Oh, they’ll buy, all right. Once they know what I have, somebody will be willing to buy, but I have to stay alive long enough to negotiate. That’s where you come in.”
“Me?” Joanna echoed. “What does any of this have to do with me?”
Tammy Sue Ferris took a deep breath. “I already told you. Tony’s a killer. If you can put him in prison for killing your husband, then he won’t be able to come after me. That’s the only way I’ll be safe, if Tony’s dead or in jail.”
Suddenly Joanna could see that it had everything to do with her. If the woman was telling the truth, if this Tony really was Andy’s killer, then there was nothing she wanted in the world more than putting him in jail. But how could she determine whether or not Tammy Sue was on the level?
“II you didn’t see him do it, how do you know this Tony’s responsible?” Joanna asked.
“He got paid for it,” Tammy Sue answered. And when he saw on the news that your husband wasn’t dead…”
“He got paid to do it? Why would someone pay to have Andy killed?”
“‘That’s what Tony does for a living. He kills people.”
“But who does he work for?”
“I don’t know, not for sure. Drug dealers most likely. They’ve got plenty of money.” Joanna’s mind was awhirl. Some things in Tammy Sue’s wild story made sense in a way that Joanna desperately wanted to believe, and yet she couldn’t escape the sense that she was somehow being suckered. She wanted to be smart about all this, to walk into whatever it was with her eyes open.
“Are you going to tell me about the money?” she asked.
This time the sharp but unmistakable intake of breath was on the other end of the line. “How do you know about that?” Tammy Sue managed. “Maybe I was wrong. I never should have called.”
Joanna could tell that her lucky guess about the money was causing Tammy Sue to lose heart. “Please, don’t hang up,” Joanna put in quickly. “Maybe we can work something out. Where are you?”
“But if you know about the money…”
“That doesn’t matter. You’re right about me. There’s nothing I want more than putting this Tony, whoever he is, away. Where are you? Let me come see you. We’ll talk. I do know people around here. If you can help me find Andy’s killer, if you can help me put him where he belongs, then I should be able to help you with your problem.”
“And you won’t tell the cops about me?” There was something vulnerable and plaintive in the way Tammy Sue asked the question, something that reminded Joanna of junior high-school-aged girls, telling one another tales of adolescent love and swearing each other to secrecy.
“Were you ever a Girl Scout?” Joanna asked.
“No.”
“I was, and I give you my word of honor that I won’t tell the cops. Where are you?”
“At a place called the Copper Queen.”
“You’re here in Bisbee? Why didn’t you say so? I can be there in ten minutes. What room are you in?”
“Four twelve.”
Joanna didn’t want to give Tammy Sue time to change her mind. “Stay right there,” she said. “ I’ll be up as soon as I can.”
She slammed down the phone and leaped to retrieve her shoes. Just then there was a tentative knock on the door, and Jenny popped her head in.
“Grandma Lathrop wants to know if you want some cocoa and toast.”
‘“No. I’ve got to go back uptown.”
“Can I go along?”
“No. I’ll have to go alone. Ask Grandma if she can stay here with you until I get back.”
“I’ll go ask.”
Jenny disappeared while Joanna tracked down another denim jacket, a new fleece-lined one that she had given Andy the previous Christmas. Andy wouldn’t be wearing it now, but putting it on made him feel closer to her somehow in a way Joanna couldn’t explain. She picked up her purse then stood in the middle of the room, looking at the desk, torn by indecision.
All her life she had lived in a small town, insulated from some of the harsher realities of life in other places. But this past week violence had touched her life and home. Her husband was dead, murdered, and she was going to meet with a woman, a stranger, who claimed to know Andy’s killer. Clayton Rhodes had given her a gift, a weapon, an equalizer, that could help deal with any number of unexpected contingencies. Could she, in good conscience, afford to thumb her nose at his gift?
Shaking her head, Joanna went back to the desk, extracting the key from her pocket as she did so. Once the loaded.44 was out of the drawer, she stuck it into her purse which, in its own way, was every bit as spacious as Molly Rhodes’s apron pockets. She was well aware that she had no permit to carry a concealed weapon, but, considering the circumstances, that was a risk she’d have to take.
The gun had no more than disappeared into the purse when Jenny returned. “Grandma says she’ll stay, but she wants to know where you’re going.”