He nodded. “What’s killing me is that we can’t go out and ask the kind of questions we need to. On the other hand, maybe we need to pull together a list of them for Gage and his deputies. Tell him what we need.”
“We should have thought of that right off the bat,” she agreed.
“Well, what can you expect? We still didn’t know what if anything they already knew. Hard to make a list of questions under those circumstances. But now that we’ve seen everything they have...” He shrugged. “We probably should have turned this case down.”
DeeJay surprised herself by laughing. “Yeah, right. You strike me as a man who could walk away from this and let someone else handle it.”
His mouth framed a crooked smile. “Careful, DeeJay. I might get the idea that you like me.”
She turned around to hang up the towel, ending that line of conversation. She was grateful that he didn’t pursue it.
* * *
Nate Tate proved to be a fit man in his late sixties, with dark hair going gray. He had a folksy, friendly manner, but something in his dark eyes suggested to DeeJay that he could turn to steel in an instant.
“Sorry to take so long,” he said. “We’re babysitting grandchildren, and I had an infant falling asleep in my arms. That must not be disturbed.”
“Of course not,” Cade said as they shook hands. He introduced DeeJay, who shook Tate’s hand, as well. “Coffee?”
“Never say no to that.”
“And it’s not Velma’s,” DeeJay tried to joke.
“Ah, you’ve heard about Velma’s coffee. Woman doesn’t even guess she’s famous for that awful brew, but the department would be lost without her.”
They gathered in the living room, away from the toxic files, and Tate took the easy chair, leaving the sofa for the two of them.
“So you’re what the state sent us,” he remarked. “Think I met you once before, Cade.”
“You did, at a conference. It’s good to see you again, Sheriff.”
“Just Nate. There’s only one sheriff in this county. All these years and Gage is still the new sheriff. I tease him about it, but he seems resigned.”
“How long were you sheriff here?” Cade asked.
“Nigh on forty years.”
“Hard for someone to step into your shoes.”
“Only in some minds.”
“More minds than usual right now,” DeeJay said.
“I’ve been hearing a bit of that,” Nate agreed. “Don’t like it. It’s not fair to Gage or the department. What’s more, I’ve been saying for years this county is going to hell in a handbasket. Why wouldn’t we eventually get a serial killer? Had damn near everything else.”
He sipped his coffee, then set his mug down on the side table. “I’m not sure what I got to offer, but you name it and if I can it’s yours. I’ve been mad enough to split a gut before, but this beats all.”