Solitude Creek (Kathryn Dance 4)

"You have the father's address and number? Mr. Friendly. She'd be staying with him now, I'd guess."

"Sorry, didn't get it. Want me to check?"

"I'll try her mother's first."

As it turned out, though, there wouldn't be any conversations of any kind.

"Hello?" A man's voice. Abrupt. Hell, she knew who it was.

"I'm calling for Trish Martin."

"Who is this?"

Unfortunately, you had to play the game honestly. "Agent Kathryn Dance, the California Bureau of Investigation. Is this Mr. Martin? I--"

"Yeah, I met you. I remember. How did you know I was here?"

Odd question.

"I didn't. I was calling for Trish. It's important that I talk to her. I'm hoping--"

"Why?"

"There's been a development in the investigation. The doors at Solitude Creek were blocked intentionally. Your ex-wife's death, the others, they were homicides, not accidental."

A pause. "I heard. It was on the news. Some guy they're looking for. A workman

or something."

"That's right. And we're canvassing to see if anybody might've seen him. Your daughter seems intelligent, perceptive. I'm hoping--"

"She's too upset."

"I understand it's a difficult time for her, for your whole family. But it's important that we understand exactly what happened there."

"Well, you'll have to do that without my daughter." A voice from nearby. He said, away from the phone, "It's nobody. Keep at it, honey."

That would be Trish. She'd be moving in with her father, Dance guessed. She was probably packing.

"Mr. Martin, my specialty is interviewing people. I've spoken to hundreds of teenagers, often in traumatic situations. I promise you, I'll be very sensitive to Trish's frame of mind. I--"

He growled, "And if you call us again, I'll get a restraining order against you."

Dance said, "Hmm, well, Mr. Martin, there really isn't a mechanism for doing that. Why don't we just take a step back and--"

He hung up on her.

Dance wondered if one of the grounds for divorce had been mental cruelty against his ex, in addition to cheating on her.

She dropped the phone into the cradle. TJ was looking at her.

"Scratch her off the list." Dance explained about Trish's father. A shrug. "Probably didn't see anything anyway. Still--"

"You hate itches, boss."

True, she did.

"Anything helpful on the canvassing?"