The door opened and a deputy entered, followed by Sheriff Carter.
“Ah, the Sheriff of Nottingham,” cried Marjorie. “What news, what news, good sheriff?”
Carter grinned at her and then at the others who all turned to watch him advance into the room. He adopted the pseudo-Elizabethan air Marjorie Kane had momentarily offered and sketched a quick bow. “Indeed, good my lady, and gentle people all. There is news from town,”
“Good grief,” Lockem muttered, “we’re all getting positively giddy.”
“Our examination of Benny McCracken and Dereck McKinnon’s effects is still ongoing but a few items of interest have been turned up.” He accepted a cup of coffee from Edie and looked over at Marjorie. “It appears you are traveling with a gentleman of severe educational limitation. Did you know that?”
Marjorie grinned. “Oh, alas, yes I am aware of that. But I’m at a loss to understand why this comes up now.”
“We’ve turned up a collection of audio tapes going back several years. It appears that when Benny was in charge of city maintenance, he managed to wire part of the jail so some of the interview rooms are bugged.”
“As in microphones and cameras?” said Lockem, leaning forward.
“Not video, but pretty sensitive audio pickups. The most recent cassettes are from your interview with Sam here. I have to say, for a lawyer, you appeared to be uncertain about almost everything except how to summon a deputy to escort you out. The recording makes you out to be about the least competent attorney in the state.”
Lockem smiled and looked at Sam. “Oh, yeah,” Sam said. “I remember that interview. I almost called my mother to get me somebody else. But then I thought about the notes and the gestures and realized you were gaming us.”
“Apparently, it worked,” said Carter. “We’ve discovered a scribble from McKinnon indicating you are useless and won’t be a problem.”
Lockem smiled faintly and winked at Marjorie. Once again, he seemed to message, our acting abilities and situational awareness have won the day. Marjorie nodded in response to the unspoken, murmuring “It sounds like you have things pretty well wrapped up, sheriff. If there’s nothing else at the moment, I’d like to take my friend on a leisurely and relaxing trip around the area. You have a lot of beautiful scenery we’ve been too busy to appreciate.”
Lockem nodded his agreement to his partner and rose, extending a hand to the sheriff who smiled. “Just please don’t leave town without seeing me again, okay? There are still a few things we need to sort out.”
Lockem and Marjorie hugged Edie and said their goodbyes to the rest of the mountain people who were there. Outside on the veranda, the early afternoon sun had turned the green of the underbrush into pale, yellow wands of leaves, waving gently in the breeze.
“Ever noticed that how the same scene can change color and atmosphere, depending on other influences?” questioned Lockem as they made their way to the car. “Everything now is so lovely and benign appearing.”
Marjorie slid into the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt. “I have noticed. I’m thinking maybe we should leave Idaho before something else happens.” She smiled.
Lockem chuckled and swung the car around to head up the mountain road instead of directly back to town. “Let’s think about that when we get back to the hotel.”