Page 90 of The Girl from Devil's Lake
“So I should send it?” Joanna asked.
“By all means,” he replied. “Send away.”
She added contact information to the bottom of the sheet. Then, in an accompanying note, she let Anna Rae know she was free to make any changes she deemed necessary. Joanna saved the document first, and then shipped it into the ethers.
“What are you going to do now?” Butch asked.
“I’m going to go into the bedroom, strip off my clothes, put on my nightgown, and go to bed.”
“What about dinner?” Butch asked.
“I just now had breakfast,” she said. “I need sleep way more than I need dinner.”
Chapter 51
Bisbee, Arizona
Sunday, December 10, 2023
Joanna fell into bed around seven and slept forthe next ten hours. By the time she woke up at five a.m., the PR storm had already broken. Anna Rae had sent out the press release, and Joanna’s mailbox was overflowing with requests for interviews from four separate networks, all of them asking for hour-long sit-downs during the day on Monday, after the arraignment and before the press conference. Ditto from TV stations in Tucson.
At that point, Joanna’s mother, Eleanor Lathrop Winfield, would have been turning handstands and booking her daughter in for full hair, nail, and makeup appointments. Joanna wasn’t interested. She looked the way she looked, and that would have to do. She booked the network interviews for an hour and gave the Tucson stations half an hour each. Those already took a huge chunk out of a day where much of the morning would most likely be spent at the courthouse.
Several people requested information about the evidence photos. She forwarded those to Dave Hollicker. Anna Rae wanted to know if there was any response. Joanna let her know there was. Joanna was still lounging on the couch in her bathrobe when Dennis came out of his bedroom.
“You’re not going to church?”
That was something that almost never happened.
“Nope,” Joanna said.
“Why not?” he asked. “Is it because of that Roper guy?”
Joanna’s first thought was that Butch must have said something, but Dennis quickly put that concern to rest.
“One of my friends lives just up the street from him on Country Club Drive. He said there were cop cars all over the place the other day and now it’s covered with yellow crime tape. People are saying it has something to do with whatever happened to that reporter you don’t like.”
Joanna took a breath. “Yes, it has something to do with Marliss,” she said, “but I’m not allowed to mention a suspect’s name until after he’s actually been charged with a crime, and you shouldn’t either. The arraignment is set for tomorrow, but today I don’t feel like going to church and having people asking me questions I can’t answer. It’s the law, yes, but it also seems rude.”
“Will Dad be dropping us off? I’m supposed to hang out with Jeffy after church.”
“I’m pretty sure he will, but he’s making breakfast. Why don’t you ask him?”
Moments after Dennis left for the kitchen, Sage showed up and the conversation repeated itself. No, Joanna wasn’t going to church, but Sage wasn’t interested in a ride. “If you’re not going, can I stay home, too?”
Joanna wasn’t prepared to fight any battles today. “That’s totally up to you,” she said. “Go if you want; stay home if you want.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Sage said, giving her a smooch. “What’s for breakfast?”
“Go ask Dad,” Joanna told her.
She was preparing for a quiet morning at home when her phone rang with a call from Detective Howell.
“Morning, Deb,” Joanna said. “How are things?”
“Sorry to disturb your morning,” was the reply, “but Marliss Shackleford’s mother just called from Tombstone. She’ll be here in about half an hour and wants to talk to you.”
“No rest for the wicked,” Joanna said, closing her computer and putting it aside. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
