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steady work.”
    â€œAnd you’ve worked for Charley ever since?”
    â€œTen years, almost eleven, now. Charley Sutter’s a good man and a damn fine sheriff.”
    â€œCharley’s been the sheriff a long time. I’m sure he doesn’t remember this, but he wrote me my first traffic ticket when I was a senior in high school—pissed my old man off big time.”
    Call nodded. “Now if I’ve made it through the interview, I’d like to know how I can help with the investigation.”
    â€œI think you have, Deputy Call. I’d like you to get started on a couple of things. First, get hold of the medical examiner’s office and find out when Greenbriar’s autopsy is scheduled. I want you to attend. We need the medical examiner’s report as soon as possible.”
    â€œOkay. What else?”
    â€œThen get a list of all the CFW members as well as any CFW wannabes. Do the same with the EEWA. Keep your eyes and ears open. Talk to people. See if you can identify anybody with a grudge against Greenbriar. Better yet, see if you can identify anybody who may have threatened him.”
    Call was smiling now.
    â€œI didn’t realize I’d said something funny. Care to clue me in?”
    The grin disappeared.
    â€œOnly that you’re going to end up with a long list of suspects. Most people outside the Green movement hated the guy, but I’ll ask around.”
    â€œI’m curious. Does that ‘most people’ include you?”
    Call gave Books a hard stare. “Tell you the truth, I didn’t care much for the guy—trouble-maker if you ask me. But I’ll work just as hard to find Greenbriar’s killer as I would if the victim had been somebody from the CFW. I don’t take kindly to murder in this community, regardless of who did it.”
    Books stared back at him for a long moment. “Fair enough.”

Chapter Six
    When Books arrived at the sheriff’s department, Darby Greenbriar was sitting at a round conference table in Sutter’s office holding the hand of an older woman, who, at first glance, looked enough like her to have been her mother. It turned out that the woman was a neighbor of the Greenbriars and a volunteer in the EEWA office.
    Darby Greenbriar was a knockout and looked to be about half the age of her now deceased husband. She had shown up unannounced in response to the phone message left at her home.
    â€œHow did she take the news, Charley?”
    â€œNot as upset as I thought she might be. She saw the media outside, and I think she knew something was wrong. She just wasn’t sure what.”
    Sutter had delivered the bad news in the privacy of his office prior to Books’ arrival. At the moment, the widow looked composed, although Books could see that she was clutching a handful of Kleenex and occasionally dabbed at tear-filled, puffy eyes.
    The sheriff introduced him to the two women and explained that Books would be assisting the sheriff’s department with the investigation. They excused the friend and sat down for what would turn out to be the first of several interviews with Darby Greenbriar.
    Books offered his condolences and then explained how important it was to have her cooperation if they were going to catch her husband’s killer. He also had to figure out whether she was somehow involved in the murder without alienating her in the process. In murder cases family members often got the first look. That meant finding out whether she had the means, motive, and opportunity to have murdered Greenbriar herself, or whether she might have hired someone else to do it.
    â€œMrs. Greenbriar, may I call you Darby?”
    She nodded.
    â€œTell me, Darby, had David expressed any recent concerns about his personal safety, or did he ever mention specific incidents in which somebody threatened him?”
    â€œWe’ve been receiving threats almost from the time we moved here. They occur so