“I took good notes,” I said, “and I also recorded the call.”

Rock: You’re a genius! No wonder Lace loves you so much.

Reid: Good call, Charlie.

Lacey: That’s my girl.

Roy simply smiled and mouthed, “Nice.”

“Can you play the recording for us?” Lacey asked.

“Yeah, of course. I was afraid you all would be angry at me for recording it.”

“Of course not,” Lacey said. “I was actually going to suggest you do so, but then I thought it might not be a very good idea. After all, it won’t be admissible in court.”

Rock: So what?

Reid: I’m with Rock. Thanks for thinking of it, Charlie.

I smiled to myself while Roy beamed at me. I pulled up the recording on my phone.

24

Roy

She was perfect. Perfectly beautiful, perfectly adorable, and perfectly brilliant. Who could ask for more in a woman?

I relived the conversation as the recording commenced.

When it was over, Reid spoke.

“What did she mean by that, Rock? Was she telling the truth? Did you tell her sister that Riley was the reason you were sent away?”

A cleared throat. Rock, I assumed. “I don’t recall telling her that.”

“Then she must have made it up,” Reid said. “This was all a waste of time.”

“The thing that bothers me,” Lacey said, “is the same thing Charlie brought up. Why would she be talking to her gynecologist about this stuff? I’ve got to say, I’ve never told my gyn about any conversations I had with an old boyfriend. Any conversations I had period. It doesn’t fly.”

“Did she know you were acquainted with Manny, Rock?” Reid asked.

“Leta? I don’t know,” Rock said. “Nieves did. Nieves hung out with me on the weekends. We rode, and we often ran into Hoss and Manny.”

“I meant Nieves,” Reid said. “That’s where this information allegedly comes from.”

“You think Nieves—or rather, Leta—could have told Manny on purpose?” Lacey queried. “And this is after she got the phone call the night of Derek’s murder.”

“Pretty convenient, all told,” Rock said. “But I sure can’t see how it means anything with regard to the murder. I couldn’t have done it. I wasn’t in the state, so why talk about it at all with her doctor?”

“I agree,” Lacey said, “in theory. But I also agree with Charlie that women don’t normally discuss this kind of thing while some doctor is looking between their legs.”

“Especially when that doctor is Manny,” Rock said.

“What do you mean?” Lacey asked.

“You saw him. Would you let that guy salivate between your legs?”

“That’s gross, Rock,” Lacey said. “I’m sure he’s a professional. But he is a little creepy.”

“A lot creepy,” Charlie added.

I thought of Charlie on the exam table, Manny’s fat head between her legs.

Yeah. That would never happen.