"So far, no one misses her," I said. "Poor thing. I heard she was hot for Don. Maybe he'll miss her."
"I don't think so." Hughes leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "He'd have gotten rid of her a long time ago if he'd known it was that easy."
"She was a problem?"
"She had a big mouth and a little brain."
"Not a good combination in this business," I said. "I heard she was at The Players last night saying she knew something about Stellar."
One bleary blue eye tried to focus on me. "What could she know?"
I shrugged. "What is there to know?"
"I don't know. I'm always the last to know."
"Just as well, or you might end up like Jill."
"Somebody killed her," he said to himself. Leaning forward, he put out his cigarette on the toe of his boot and sat there with his head down and his hands dangling between his knees, as if he was waiting for a wave of nausea to pass.
"The cops are questioning Don," I said. "Do you think he could kill a person?"
I expected a quick denial. Instead, he was silent so long, I thought he might have gone into a catatonic state. Finally he said, "People can do the goddamnedest things, Ellie. You just never know. You just never know."
P aris Montgomery sat staring at him with her big brown eyes wide and bright. Not a deer in the headlights, Landry thought. The expression was more focus than fear. She had brushed her hair and put on lipstick while he'd been interviewing Jade.
"When did you last see Jill yesterday?" he asked.
"Around six. She was complaining about having to stay so late. She'd been dropping hints all day that she had big plans for the evening."
"Did you ask her what those plans were?"
"No. I hate to speak ill of the dead, but I have to admit I didn't like the girl. She had a bad attitude and she lied all the time."
"Lied about what?"
"Whatever. That she'd done a job she hadn't, that she knew people she didn't, that she'd trained with big-name people, that she had all these boyfriends-"
"Did she name names of these boyfriends?"
"I didn't want to hear about it. I knew it wasn't true," she said. "It was just creepy and pathetic. I was looking for someone to replace her, but it's hard to find good help once the season has started."
"So, she left around six. Were you aware of anything going on between her and your boss?"
"Don? God, no. I mean, I know she had a crush on him, but that's as far as it went. Don had been after me to get rid of her. He didn't trust her. She was always flapping her mouth to anyone who would listen."
"About what?"
She blinked the big eyes and tried to decide how much she should tell him. "About everything that went on in our barn. For instance, if a horse was a little lame or-"
"Dead?" Landry suggested.
"This is a very gossipy business, Detective," she said primly. "Reputations can be made or lost on rumors. Discretion is an important quality in employees."
"So if she was running around shooting her mouth off about the horse that died, that would probably piss you off."
"Yes. Absolutely."
"And Don?"
"He would have been furious. Stellar's death has been a nightmare for him. He didn't need his own employee adding fuel to the fire." She stopped herself and frowned. "I'm not saying he would have hurt her. I won't believe that. I just won't."
"He doesn't have a temper?"
"Not like that. Don is very controlled, very professional. I respect him enormously."
Landry leaned over his notes and rubbed at the tightness in his forehead. "You didn't see Jill later last night?"
"No."
"You had night check last night. What time-"
"No, I didn't," she said. "Don did. I offered, but he insisted. After what happened in Michael Berne's barn the other night, he said it wasn't safe for a woman to wander around out there at night."
"He told me you had the job last night," Landry said.
Paris Montgomery's pretty brow furrowed. "That's not right. He must have forgotten. God, if one of us had been there last night, maybe we could have prevented what happened."
Or one of them had been there and caused what had happened.
"What time would he have done the check-if he had remembered?" Landry asked.
"Normally, one of us will check the horses around eleven."
Jade had said he'd been at The Players. If he'd gone to the barn later, he would surely have seen the vandalism, might even have caught the girl in the act. It wasn't a stretch to think they might have argued, things might have gotten out of hand…
"Where were you last night?" he asked.
"Home. Doing my nails, doing my bills, watching TV. I don't like to go out when we've got horses showing in the morning."
"You were alone?"
"Just me and Milo, my dog. We fight over the remote control," she said with a flirtatious smile. "I hope we didn't keep the neighbors up."
Landry didn't smile back. He'd been at this job too long to be swayed by charm. It was a form of dishonesty, as far as he was concerned.
That should have meant Estes was the girl for him. He'd never known anyone as blunt as Elena.
"Have you noticed anyone strange hanging around your stalls?" he asked.
Paris made a face. "There are plenty of strange people around the equestrian center. I can't say that I've noticed anyone in particular."
"So, you're fresh out of grooms now," he said. "I hear you lost one a week ago."
"Yes. Erin. Boom. Just like that. Quit and went somewhere else."
"Did she give you any explanation as to why?"
"She didn't talk to me about it. Never even said she was thinking about it. End of the day Sunday she told Don she was leaving, and off she went."
"No forwarding address?"
She shook her head. "I have to say, that really hurt, her just dumping us that way. I liked Erin. I thought she would be with us a long time. She talked about how cool it was going to be when we moved into the new barn. She was looking forward to going with us to show in Europe in the spring. I just never expected her to leave."
"You last saw her when?"
"Sunday afternoon. I left the equestrian center around three. I had a migraine."
"And Erin seemed fine when you spoke with her?"
She started to give an automatic answer, then stopped herself and thought about it. "You know, I guess she'd been distracted the last week or so. Boyfriend blues. She had broken up with some guy her own age and had her eye on someone else. I don't know who. Someone who wasn't a child, she said. Then some jerk keyed her car a couple of nights before. She was upset about that. My money's on Jill for that. She was horribly jealous of Erin."
She stopped herself again, looking confused. "Why are you asking about Erin?"
"She seems to be missing."
"Well, I think she went to Ocala-"
"No. She didn't."
The big brown eyes blinked as she took that in. "Oh, my God," she said quietly. "You don't think- Oh, my God."
Landry slid a business card across the table to her and rose to his feet. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Montgomery. Please call if you think of anything that might be helpful."
"We're finished?"
"For now," Landry said, going to the door. "I'll need you to call with a number for Ms. Morone's next of kin."
"Yes, of course."
"Oh-and a number for a Susannah Atwood and the rest of your clients, but first and foremost for Ms. Atwood."
"Susannah? Why Susannah?"
"Seems Mr. Jade was performing a night check of his own last night," he said, curious to see her reaction. He expected jealousy. He was disappointed.