Page 3 of Cougar Point

“That’d be nice, Nan.”

“Cream and sugar, Sheriff?” Nan asks.

“Just cream, Nan. Oh, and a donut.”

“Oh my goodness, Sheriff. They’re all gone,” Nan says.

I wish she’d get gone.

“I’ll get some down the road from that new bakery that just opened.”

“Just a moment, Megan.” He puts his hand over the mouthpiece but I can still hear him. “Nan, I’m on a call so just get whatever you want. I’ll pay you when you get back. And can you shut the door to my office, please?”

I hear the door shut, and Tony is back. “Sorry about that, Megan.”

“Office emergency?” I ask, and he snorts.

“Just Nan sucking up. Now where were we? Oh yeah. Councilman Johns and his wife.”

“She didn’t stab him again, did she?” The councilman was having an affair, and his wife caught them together and stabbed him. Johns has quite the reputation for being a consummate liarand now a cheat. Deputy Davis was first to arrive and told me the wife caught the councilman with a naked woman on her knees bent over the bed and spanking her.

“Now, Megan, you know we would never be able to prove she stabbed him on purpose.”

On purpose? The stab wound was on his lower groin, near Captain Happy. Another inch to the left, it wouldn’t have been happy any longer. But Tony’s right. We could never make a case since she claimed she was doing dishes and was drying a boning knife when he came up behind her and surprised her. We knew their stories were bullshit. They called an ambulance and the paramedic called us. The blood was on her clothes and the bed sheets. But he refused to press charges and backed up her story. We never located the spanking victim.

I ask, “Did anyone get injured?”Or lose an appendage?

“Councilman Johns wants to hire you to discreetly follow his wife. He suspects she’s cheating on him.”

I say, “First of all, Washington State has a ‘no contest’ divorce. They don’t have kids. She gets half of everything. Secondly, I don’t do that kind of stuff. Cheating isn’t a crime.”

“That’s what I told him.”

“Tony, I need the morning off. I’m not on a case. It’s personal.”

“You got it, Megan. If you need the day, just let me know. I’ve got some other things backed up here but nothing urgent.”

“I won’t be long and then I’ll take whatever you’ve got.” At least I hope this will be brief.

THREE

The visitor parking lot is surrounded by chain link and razor wire. Two guard towers rise above the front and back sides of the prison, catacorner to each other. It reminds me of a castle in a picture book I once read to Hayden.

Purdy Women’s Prison is the largest women’s prison in Washington State. If it weren’t for the concertina wire surrounding the thirty-two-acre grounds, it would look like a sports complex with the spacious well-kept grounds, outdoor tennis courts, batting cages, and two Olympic size swimming pools.

Inside, a guard takes my weapon and I empty my pockets, including a roll of Tums. A female guard has me step through the metal detector. For good measure I’m subjected to a pat down. She touches places where only my boyfriend, Dan, has permission. I’m led through two more sets of iron-barred doors to an interview room.

The room next to mine has a glass front, a dozen desks and chairs, a chalkboard and projection screen. “What’s that room for?” I ask my frisky friend.

“It’s a classroom.”

“Seriously?”Do they teach them how to avoid being arrested?

“Profs from Washington State University and some trade colleges teach classes, preparing our clients for a job on the outside.”

“Rehabilitation?” I say this, and want to gag.

“Yeah. There are two other classrooms here and a library, a video room where they watch the latest movies, a computer room and a sauna.”

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