Page 19 of One Little Memory
“Dark blue?” Phoenix’s stomach plummeted to his feet. An image of Jo stuck behind the wheel of a dark blue BMW sedan came unbidden to his mind. There were lots of blue cars out there, weren’t there? This didn’t mean Jo was involved.
“Phoenix?”
“Um…Sorry, I missed that. What did you say?”
“I said that chances were good Gus wouldn’t have died from being hit. His left leg was broken and a couple of ribs. Also, it gave his head a good whack, but he would’ve lived if someone hadn’t shot him.”
“Huh. Good to know. Thanks. Anything else on time of death?”
Kennedy smiled. “His watch stopped at ten fifty-three. You can probably assume it broke when the car hit him. He would have died within a few minutes of that. Liver temp puts that time smack in the middle of the window, so it’s a solid guess.”
“That gives me a place to start. Let me know if anything else comes up.”
Kennedy nodded. “I will. This is a bit of a weird one.”
“Definitely.” Phoenix left the morgue and headed to police headquarters. Halfway there, he changed his mind. He needed to check on Jo, and she needed some food. What would she like? No point in calling her. Not only did she not have a phone, but he doubted she’d know the answer.
Thirty minutes later, he pulled into his driveway, parked his truck, and went out back to the converted garage. He knocked on the door. “Jo?”
A moment later, she opened the door. She looked a bit pale, and her smile was tight.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I guess.” She headed over to the couch.
“I brought dinner. I thought you might like a roast beef sandwich.” Everyone liked roast beef. It seemed like a safe choice. Unless she was a vegetarian or a vegan. He hadn’t thought of that. There weren’t many fast-food options in Cherry Valley. It was this or a hamburger, but a burger introduced the questions of cheese and how she liked it done. Plus, all the toppings that could be added.
“Roast beef sounds great,” she commented.
Phoenix unwrapped the sandwiches, hers and his, and placed them on plates. When he walked over to her on the couch, he noticed the puzzle book on the table in front of her. “Was Hazel here?”
“Yes. She brought some clothes, puzzle books and stuff.” Jo thanked him when he put the sandwich in front of her on the coffee table.
“How are they going? Are you into puzzles?” He sat down beside her and took a bite of his sandwich before putting the plate on the table.
“Turns out I’m good at puzzles. I seem to be able to do them with no problem. Crosswords, word search, Sudoku. No real challenge.”
“That’s great.” He offered a quick smile before he took the next bite of his sandwich. He wanted to ask her if she remembered anything else, like hitting a man with her car, but that seemed a little aggressive. He settled for asking about her headache.
“It’s still there, but it’s mild compared to what it was. I haven’t remembered anything if that’s what you really want to know.”
He nodded but kept his mouth shut.
“I’ve been trying but just keep drawing a big blank.” She reached over, picked up her sandwich, and took a half-hearted bite.
“It’ll come.” He paused. “I think I might try and get down to your car sooner rather than later. It’s too late today, but maybe first thing tomorrow morning.”
She perked up. “That would be great.”
He took the last bit of sandwich and popped it into his mouth. There was no need to tell her that he now considered her a suspect in the murder of Gus Marchand. He had zero proof, and he just couldn’t get his brain around the idea. Hitting him maybe, but then shooting him and waiting for him to die? That was just too damn cold for Jo, or at least for the little he knew of her. And then how did she end up halfway down the ravine? It didn’t add up.
“Oh, I should tell you,” she said. “Someone came by earlier.”
He frowned. “Was it a younger guy? Sort of looks like me?” His brother, Falcon, usually called first, but if he had gotten the results back on the blood tests, then he might have come over, but Falcon would have known he was at work.
“No. Or at least I don’t think so. Not unless your brother has salt and pepper hair.”
“He was older?”
