“Jordan Thompson for one. I spoke to Julia just now, and she said she told you about seeing Jordan at the hotel yesterday when she was leaving.”

“She did,” Kanesha said. “But I have no proof as yet that Ms. Thompson saw the victim yesterday.”

“Well, I have it,” I said, trying not to sound triumphant. “A signed copy of Godfrey Priest’s new book. It’s dated, too. Yesterday’s date.”

Kanesha blinked. That interested her. She picked up her pen and jotted something down. “How did you get this signed and dated copy?”

I told her about my visit to the bookstore this morning, including the gossip from Patty Simpson about Jordan’s affair with Godfrey. Kanesha scribbled more notes as I talked.

“Since Jordan saw Godfrey after Julia did, it seems to me she’s a better suspect. And one with a pretty strong motive, perhaps.”

“Possibly.” Kanesha laid the pen down again. “I’ll check it out, of course, but that doesn’t mean anyone else is off the hook now.”

“Of course,” I said, refusing to be nettled by her dismissive tone.

“Any other little tidbits you want to share?” Kanesha’s lip curled. “Especially since you seem to be so up on the latest dirt.”

She wasn’t making this easy.

With a quick mental apology to my boss I told her what I knew about Peter Vanderkeller’s intense dislike of Godfrey and the cause of it.

Once again she took a few notes, but this didn’t appear to impress her any more than the information about Jordan Thompson.

“I think that’s all, Mr. Harris. If I have further questions, I’ll be in touch.”

That was a bit abrupt, I thought. “Good day, then.” I stood, and Diesel jumped to the floor. Kanesha turned to her computer and started typing.

Azalea would be appalled at her daughter’s lack of manners, I thought. Kanesha could have at least thanked me for coming in after her peremptory summons.

Diesel and I left her office and headed back up the corridor to the reception area. We paused at the desk for the deputy to open the security gate. I could tell Diesel wanted to explore around the desk and visit with the deputy, but I couldn’t wait to get away from here.

“Come on, boy,” I said, tugging lightly at the leash. “Time to go back to work.”

“Bye, kitty,” the deputy said. Diesel rewarded him with a few trills as we moved toward the door.

Outside I blinked a few times, adjusting to the afternoon sunshine. Kanesha’s manner still rankled, but I supposed I shouldn’t have expected anything different. At least I had given her two new potential suspects to consider.