Page 52 of To Die For

King said, “I understand you’ve been making inquiries about the deaths of the Odoms?”

“Yes.”

“May I ask why?”

“Alice Odom was Danny Glass’s sister.” Devine stared at the man to see if the reference to the RICO defendant sparked a reaction.

“So?” said King.

“His sister and her husband died. And Glass is seeking to adopt their daughter, Betsy.”

“Does the girl have any other relatives to take her in?”

“Not that I know of.”

“And why is this of interest to the federal government?”

“Danny Glass is a defendant in a federal RICO case in Seattle.”

“Okay. Anything else?” he said, his disinterest evident.

“I’d like to see the autopsy reports on the Odoms.”

“Why?” asked King.

“To look at their causes of death.”

“If I remember correctly, they were drug overdoses, of which we have far too many around here. Drugs of despair, they call them, and they are indeed.”

“So, I can look at the autopsy reports?”

“If you really want to.”

“And would it be possible for me to talk to the first responders?”

“Again, I’d like to know why,” said King.

“They may have some useful information.”

“About what?” asked King as he drummed his fingers on the desktop.

“I guess I’ll know it when I hear it.”

“I’ll see if I can get you their names,” replied King, sounding distracted as he glanced at some papers in front of him.

“I understand their daughter tried to revive them with Narcan,” said Devine.

“If you say so.”

“That was in the police report; at least I was told that,” noted Devine.

“I apologize for not knowing every detail of every incident report in my department.”

Devine stared at the unsmiling man, who seemed to be bored by Devine’s presence. He debated whether to ask King about the duffel that Betsy Odom had mentioned, but he decided that keeping it undisclosed for now was a better option.

“Of course. Like you said, lots of drug overdoses. Now, about their car?”

“In our impound lot. I suppose you want to look over it.”

---