Page 81 of Rocky Ride

“Yeah, Dad. I can’t help it. Dan is her father and she’s bound to be affected in some way.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“I’m not sure if she moved out on good terms or not,” I said. “She never mentioned her father to me, and I didn’t ask her.”

“We’ll take it one step at a time,” said Travis. “We’ll give Darkers a chance to provide an alibi for both of the murders like we would anybody else.”

“Yeah, sure,” I said. “I’m trying to be objective, Dad. Honestly, I am.”

“I know you are, son. See how it plays out.”

Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.

Billy hunkered down in his office as soon as we got to the station, and Dad left him alone to do paperwork. Taking over for Billy, Dad assigned us all our work for the day, and we got on with it.

“Harlan, you and Virge go talk to both of Sandra Ellington’s friends again. Petra Reading in Cut Bank and Barbara Joliceur in Shelby.”

“Copy that, Sheriff,” I said. “We’ll interview them and see what they knew about Dan Darkers and Sandra Ellington.”

Darkers Residence. Sweetgrass.

Thinking of Harlan’s feelings, Travis sent the boys elsewhere and took Ted with him to question Dan Darkers.

He knocked on the door of the double-wide and it was opened not by Dan, but by a short woman with dark shaggy hair. Could have been Penny’s mother, but Travis didn’t see the resemblance. She might have been pretty in high school, but this woman’s high school days were far behind her.

“What do you want, Sheriff?”

“I’d like to speak to Dan for a minute, please.”

“Why?”

“I’ll discuss the reason with Dan if you’ll get him for me, please.” Travis closed the door behind him to keep the cold out and he and Ted stood on the mat with snow melting off their boots.

Dan appeared in front of them a few minutes later looking sleepy-eyed, his long black hair tangled. “You better have a damned good reason for getting me out of bed, Frost.”

“Pretty good reason,” said Travis. “I’m here to arrest your ass for murdering two women.”

Dan laughed. “That ain’t gonna happen. I got alibis for both of those murders. Alibis I can prove.”

“I saw you at Sandra Ellington’s funeral,” said Travis.

“So what? Anybody can go to a fuckin funeral. You don’t even have to know the corpse.”

“Did you?”

“Did I what?”

“Did you know Sandra Ellington?”

“Course, I did. You think I’d waste time putting a suit on if I didn’t fuckin know her?” Dan lowered his voice. “We were special friends. The kind with benefits. Why would I kill somebody who only wanted to have sex with no strings?” Darkers snarled. “Don’t make sense to me, Sheriff. You’d better look elsewhere for your fuckin killer. It ain’t me.”

“I need your alibis in writing for Mrs. Ellington and for Mrs. Hoover.”

“Don’t even know the Hoover woman, Sheriff. I don’t have time to drive around the fuckin county killing women I’ve never met.”

“Give me your alibi for the morning Sandra Ellington was murdered, Mister Darkers.”

Dan glanced over his shoulder to make sure the short woman was out of earshot, then he whispered, “That morning I was with Barb Joliceur in Shelby. It was a sleepover, and it was worth it. Get my meaning?”

---