Chapter 44I arrive at the rundown motel ten minutes later, driving across town with my sirens roaring and lights flashing through early morning traffic.
When I turn off the interstate and onto the stretch of Route 12, there is a roadblock up ahead, four department-issued SUVs parked in and around the adjacent area of Red Lion Motel. An ambulance backs up against a door at the far end of the lot, near a line of trees.
I drive into an empty slot next to the police chief’s SUV and park my police cruiser. Before I can get out of the air-conditioned vehicle, Chief Barnaby appears from behind a crowd of onlookers, most of the clientele still dressed in pajamas and slippers. Barnaby limps toward me, waving and mopping his sweaty brow. His face is flushed and beady, and the dark circles under hi
