Roughstock (A Gail McCarthy Mystery) by Laura Crum Read Free Book Online

Lonny a moment to frame a reply to this question; even before he spoke, I knew what the gist of his words would be. "Not well," he said, "but I've known him for thirty years or more."
    At this, the detective pricked up his ears. "Could you tell me about him?"
    Lonny sat down on one corner of the bed, holding his towel firmly around him with one hand, and thought for a minute. "Jack and I were part of the same world," he said at last. "We were both involved with livestock and we knew the same people. We knew each other first through rodeo; Jack was riding broncs and I was a dogger."
    "Dogger?"
    "Bulldogger. It's a rodeo event," Lonny explained. "Basically you jump off a horse and wrestle a steer to the ground."
    I was amused to catch a fleeting expression of what?-surprise? consternation?-disturb Detective Holmquist's flawlessly bland face for a split second. Bulldogging was obviously in the same category as throwing Christians to the lions, as far as he was concerned.
    Lonny was still talking, explaining as well as he could the way in which rodeo people all know one another, and Jack's prominence in that world. I listened, thinking while I did so that no real image of Jack Hollister as a human being was emerging from the words. The Jack of whom we were all talking, and thinking, was a cardboard figure-the "big man," the local rancher's son who'd "done good."
    I tried to conjure up a more intimate version of Jack and found I couldn't do it. I simply hadn't known him closely enough to have any idea what made him tick.
    Claude Holmquist was asking Lonny about Jack's ex-wives.
    "I knew them. Vaguely. I hardly remember the first one. Karen, I think. They divorced a long time ago. When he was in his early thirties."
    "Karen Harding." The detective was looking down at his notepad.
    "The second one was Elaine. He called her Laney. Blond and beautiful-that's about all I remember. The most recent was Tara. They just divorced-a couple of years ago, I think."
    Detective Holmquist nodded. "Can you tell me anything about them?"
    "Not much about the first two. Neither of them rode, and the most I knew of either was that she was Jack's wife. My impression was that Laney was chosen for her rather, um, prominent features. "
    Claude Holmquist permitted himself the ghost of a smile. "And Tara Hollister?"
    "Tara was, is, tough. Tough acting, anyway. She's a lot younger than Jack, and good-looking in a hard way. She rides and ropes. Considers herself a horse trainer." Lonny let it go at that.
    I agreed with everything he'd said, though I might have added that I couldn't stand Tara Hollister. However, nobody'd asked me.
    Claude Holmquist was staring at the pad in his lap. "Bronc Pickett?" he asked.
    "He's Jack's foreman." Lonny grinned at the thought of Bronc. "He's an ornery old fart, and a hell of a roper. He and Jack went roping together most weekends. He's been with Jack a long time-as long as I've known them."
    "Travis Gunhart?"
    "Jack's hired hand. Nice kid." Lonny shrugged. "He ropes a little-he's pretty handy. That's about all I know."
    The detective closed his pad and asked what sounded like a final question. "Did Dr. Hollister have any children?"
    "No. There was always some talk about that, though. I never paid much attention. Ropers are as bad as a bunch of old women at gossip."
    I rolled my eyes mentally at this statement, but managed to keep my mouth shut.
    "Anything else you can add?" Claude Holmquist stood up, looking at Lonny and me in turn.
    I shook my head and Lonny said, "No, I don't think so."
    The detective nodded civilly. "You're both free to go. Someone will be in touch with you in Santa Cruz, Dr. McCarthy, if you're needed."
    "All right." I stood up, too, and escorted him to the door. He thanked me for my time as he stepped out into the hallway, his rabbitlike demeanor unchanged, but my impression of the ferret within was strong. I wondered if he'd been grilling Joanna and decided that if he had, she was probably reduced to