He stopped her when she mentioned what Roberta had said about Bert and had her repeat Roberta’s last words. He frowned. “I’d like to see her room.”

Michelle led the way. The room was a mess. Roberta never picked anything up, and Michelle hadn’t had time to do any cleaning. She was embarrassed at the way it looked. But Zack wasn’t interested in the clutter. He started going through drawers until he opened the one in the bedside table.

He pulled out his digital camera and shot several photos of the drawer and its contents before he put on a pair of gloves, reached into it and pulled out an oblong case. He dusted the case for fingerprints before he opened it on the table and photographed that, too, along with a small vial of white powder. He turned to Gabriel who exchanged a long look with him.

“That explains a lot,” Zack said. “I’ll take this up to the crime lab in San Antonio and have them run it for us, but I’m pretty sure what it is and where she got it.”

“What is it?” Michelle asked, curious.

“Something evil,” Zack said.

Michelle wasn’t dense. “Drugs,” she said icily. “It’s drugs, isn’t it?”

“Hard narcotics,” Zack agreed.

“That’s why she was so crazy all the time,” Michelle said heavily. “She drank to excess when we lived in San Antonio. Dad got her into treatment and made her quit. I was sure she was okay, because we didn’t have any liquor here. But she had these awful mood swings, and sometimes she hit me...” She bit her lip.

“Well, people under the influence aren’t easy to live with,” Zack replied heavily. “Not at all.”

Zack sat down with Michelle and Gabriel at the kitchen table and questioned Michelle further about Roberta’s recent routine, including trips to see Bert Sims in San Antonio. Roberta’s last words were telling. He wrote it all down and gave Michelle a form to fill out with all the pertinent information about the past few hours. When she finished, he took it with him.

There was no real crime scene, since Roberta died of what was basically a heart attack brought on by a drug overdose. The coroner’s assistant took photos on the front porch, adding to Zack’s, so there was a record of where Roberta died. But the house wasn’t searched, beyond Zack’s thorough documentation of Roberta’s room.

“Bert Sims may try to come around to see if Roberta had anything left, to remove evidence,” Zack said solemnly to Michelle. “It isn’t safe for you to be here alone.”

“I’ve got that covered,” Gabriel said with a smile. “Nobody’s going to touch her.”

Zack smiled. “I already had that figured out,” he mused, and Gabriel cleared his throat.

“I have a chaperone in mind,” Gabriel replied. “Just so you know.”