Chapter Twenty Three
Riley couldn’t imagine how she was going to explain Gretchen Lovick’s unnatural death to her family. The neighborhood where she had lived was made up of pristine rows of modern ranch houses with small but immaculate lawns and manicured shrubbery. Occasional tall, skinny palm trees stuck up along the street like giant feather dusters.
She said to Bill, “I thought this was a desert. But look at all the grass. And there are palms of all kinds all over Phoenix.”
“People are willing to spend for whatever they think is important,” Bill replied. “Looks like the folks around here can all afford some extras. I bet there’s a pool in back of every one of these places.”
Riley pulled up at the address they’d been given. The house and yard were scrupulously neat and well cared f
