Page 40 of Forever Dead
“County notes say she disputed the amount and said she’d already hired someone to clear the worst of it. An inspector went out, told her to cut back some vegetation and remove rubbish near an old shed. She complied.”
“And Deacon?”
“Still complained afterward. Said the rats kept coming.”
Connor straightened. “Any threats?”
“Nothing documented.”
“Police calls?”
“None between them that I can find.”
“Previous for Deacon?”
Arnold turned back to the keyboard and brought up another record. “One. About twenty years ago in Florida. Arrested for assaulting a police officer while drunk.”
Connor frowned. “Convicted?”
“No. Case got tossed on a technicality. Problems with the arrest procedure and some issue with the officer’s statement.”
“Anything since?”
“Couple of public intoxication citations. Nothing violent.”
Connor rested a hand on the back of the empty chair beside Arnold. “All right. Let’s keep on him. Find out whether he made threats that never reached us. Talk to county staff who handled the rat complaint.”
Arnold nodded. “You really think somebody would kill an old woman over rats?”
“You know what neighbors can be like.” Connor pulled out the chair and sat. “Half the time I expect Roy Tanner to have bumped off Selma Brown.”
Arnold smiled. “Which one would kill the other first?”
“Depends who gets to the handbag.”
The smile faded quickly. Eleanor’s photograph remained visible over Arnold’s shoulder.
Arnold tapped a finger against the desk. “I do have a theory.”
Connor turned toward him. “You have a theory?”
“Don’t sound so surprised.”
"I am surprised. Usually, you give me facts and wait for everybody else to make fools of themselves with theories."
Arnold shifted in his chair. “Maybe I’m branching out.”
“What’ve you got?”
Arnold intimated toward the murder board with his hand. “Everybody keeps saying Miss Marsh was loved. What if the killer’s someone who didn’t love her?”
Connor waited.
“Could be an old colleague,” Arnold continued. “Someone who resented her. Or a former student who had trouble with her years ago and never got over it.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Discipline. Failed class. She reported them for something. Maybe they blame her for getting suspended or expelled. She taught for decades. That’s a lot of students.”
