excused herself to Gloria, and slid into the seat across from me.
Gloria was off like a shot with Dolly calling after her that she wanted tea. Dark and straight up.
âSaw your car in the lot.â She stared back at the people staring at us, then sniffed, and took her hat off, setting it on the table beside her. She had bad, dirty-blond, hat hair.
âWell, what did you think of that?â she demanded in what passed as a whisper for Dolly. Her eyes gleamed. A little too bright for comfort. She dipped her head, gave me a conspiratorial smirk, and thumped her broad hands on the tabletop.
âOf what?â I asked.
âOf the state boys taking over.â
I shrugged. âTheyâre not. Officer Brent said they donât have the time, though Iâd say theyâve got more resources than you and Lucky.â
âComes to the same thing. You watch. Theyâll be breathing down our necks. Like they could do it without us. Like they know the people around here. They donât have a clue where to begin. Who to talk to. They went out to see Amanda again, poor womanâlike she didnât have enough on her hands already. Then what? They wonât know where to go next unless we tell âem.â
âWell, you will, wonât you? I mean, youâll all work together. Theyâre trained investigators, after all. You and the chiefâwell, youâre not really used to murder.â
Dolly scowled heavily at me. âYou think Iâm not a trained investigator? You think the chief and me donât handle all kinds of things? Why, just last winter there was a shooting down at the Skunk. Got the guy right away because we know whoâs fighting who. We went right out and apprehended the culprit â¦â She hesitated, giving me a hard look. âAnything I say to you here is not for publication. Hope we got that clear right here at the beginning.â
I nodded, wondering where she was going with all of this.
âI was thinking.â She dipped her head and glared at me. âBecause of your problems selling those books of yours, and working for the paper, well, maybe we could, well, kind of work together. The two of us could find out who did this to poor Miz Poet in about half the time it would take alone. I mean, you know old Harry Mockerman, out by you. You got other neighbors. I know the people here in town. Iâve got some ideas already â¦â
I smiled. âSo you think this experience will sharpen my detective skills? Maybe Iâll get a book out of it?â
âI donât know about that.â She looked wary now. âAnd no matter what comes of this, donât you ever put me in one of your damned books. Thatâs not what I mean. I just figured with my detecting skills and your reporting skillsâand maybe because youâve got the educationâwe could look into this tragedy and find out what in hell happened to Ruby Poet.â
Dolly looked fierce, and dedicated. I wanted to laugh but the little woman was serious.
âWhere would we begin?â I asked, willing to hear her out because I was a little short of ideas myself and had to come up with something for Bill.
âI thought maybe weâd start with old Harry, across from you. Heâd never give me the time of day if I went there alone, but with youâmaybe he saw something, or heard something. Heâd tell you, wouldnât he? I mean, I hear he works for you from time to time, so he trusts you.â
I nodded then made a decision. It didnât look as though the state police relished giving me information and I wouldnât get much on my own. Maybe, with Deputy Dolly ⦠I sighed. There werenât a lot of choices.
I leaned close after Gloria set a cup of tea in front of Dolly and sauntered off. I was determined to hold up my end, if we were going to do this together. âGloria was just telling me thereâs gossip in town about Ruby Poet.