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Just a minute, just one minute, can you tell me
where the funeral is being held? she asked quickly.
At the Weston Street Baptist Church, came the reply,
almost in a whisper, at two tomorrow afternoon. I have
to go. I m very sorry about Dolores. We all liked her.
The phone went dead.
Alice felt sick. Suicide! Had she driven the poor
woman to it, with her questions? Or had she been de-
pressed because of her boyfriend s murder?
104 THE MAVERICK
Strange, that she d shot herself through the heart.
Most women chose some less violent way to die. Most
used drugs. Suicides by gun were usually men.
She called Harley back.
Hello? he said.
Harley, she killed herself, she blurted out.
Who? Dolores? She s dead? he exclaimed.
Yes. Shot through the heart, I was told. Suicide.
He paused. Isn t that unusual for a woman? To use
a gun to kill herself, I mean?
It is. But I found out where her pastor is, she added.
I m going to the funeral tomorrow. Right now, I m
going up to San Antonio to my office.
Why? he asked.
Because in all violent deaths, even those ascribed
to suicide, an autopsy is required. I wouldn t miss this
one for the world.
Keep in touch.
You bet.
Alice hung up and went back to her van. She had a
hunch that a woman as religious as Dolores wouldn t
kill herself. Most religions had edicts against it. That
didn t stop people from doing it, of course, but Dolores
didn t strike Alice as the suicidal sort. She was going
to see if the autopsy revealed anything.
The office was, as usual on holidays, overworked.
She found one of the assistant medical examiners
poring over reports in his office.
He looked up as she entered. Jones! Could I get you
to come back and work for us in autopsy again if I
bribed you? It s getting harder and harder to find people
who don t mind hanging around with the dead.
DIANA PALMER 105
She smiled. Sorry, Murphy, she said. I m happier
with investigative work these days. Listen, do you have
a suicide back there? First name Dolores, worked for
a senator& ?
Yep. I did her myself, earlier this evening. He
shook his head. She had small hands and the gun was
a .45 Colt ACP, he replied. How she ever cocked the
damned thing, much less killed herself with it, is going
to be one of the great unsolved mysteries of life. Added
to that, she had carpal tunnel in her right hand. She d
had surgery at least once. Weakens the muscle, you
know. We d already ascertained that she was right-
handed because there was more muscle attachment
there usual on the dominant side.
You re sure it was suicide? she pressed.
He leaned back in his chair, eyeing her through thick
corrective lenses. There was a rim burn around the
entrance wound, he said, referring to the heat and flare
of the shot in close-contact wounds. But the angle of
entry was odd.
She jumped on that. Odd, how?
Diagonal, he replied. He pulled out his digital
camera, ran through the files and punched up one. He
handed her the camera. That s the wound, anterior
view. Pull up the next shot and you ll see where it
exited, posterior.
She inhaled. Wow!
Interesting, isn t it? Most people who shoot them-
selves with an automatic handgun do it holding the
barrel to the head or under the chin. This was angled
downward. And as I said before, her hand was too weak
to manage this sort of weapon. There s something else.
What? she asked, entranced.
106 THE MAVERICK
The gun was found still clenched in her left hand.
So?
Remember what I said about the carpel tunnel? She
was right-handed.
She cocked her head. Going to write it up as sus-
pected homicide?
You re joking, right? Know who she worked for?
She sighed. Yes. Senator Fowler.
Would you write it up as a suspected homicide or
would you try to keep your job?
That was a sticky question. But if she was mur-
dered&
The if is subjective. I m not one of those TV
forensic people, he reminded her. I m two years from
retirement, and I m not risking my pension on a pos-
sibility. She goes out as a suicide until I get absolute
proof that it wasn t.
Alice knew when that would be. Could you at
least put probable suicide, Murphy? she persisted.
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