“Sarah Jo Minton.”
She couldn’t hold back her exclamation of surprise. She could name at least a hundred people who might call her before Sarah Jo Minton would. “Are you… is everything all right?”
“I’m feeling well, but terribly ashamed for the horrible things I said to you last night.”
The confession, spoken so contritely, shocked Alex. “You were understandably upset.”
“Would you care to have tea with me this afternoon?”
Maybe she was still asleep, after all, and this was a dream. Nowadays, people said, “Let’s do lunch,” or “How ’bout a beer?” or “Let’s get together for a drink.” No one ever said, “Would you care to have tea?”
“That… that sounds nice.”
“Good. Three o’clock.”
“Where?”
“Why, here at the ranch, of course. I’ll look forward to seeing you then, Miss Gaither. Good-bye.”
Alex stared at the receiver for several seconds before slowly hanging it up. What in the world had prompted Sarah Jo Minton to invite her to tea?
Dr. Ely Collins’s office was probably the most cluttered room Alex had ever been in. It was clean but disorganized, and as unpretentious as the veterinarian.
“Thank you for agreeing to see me, Dr. Collins.”
“No trouble. I was free this afternoon. Come on in. Sit down.” He removed a stack of trade journals from the seat of the straight, wooden chair, making it available for Alex. He sat behind a desk cluttered with mountains of paperwork. “I wasn’t all that surprised to hear from you,” he remarked candidly.
“Why?”
“Pat Chastain called and said you’d probably get around to asking me some questions.”
“I thought he was out of town.”
“This was a couple of weeks ago, right after you got here.”
“I see.”
Alex had decided to utilize the hours before her appointment with Sarah Jo by questioning the veterinarian. When she’d phoned, he had readily agreed to see her.
“Are you familiar with the murder of Celina Gaither?” she began, intentionally playing down her personal involvement.
“Sure am. She was a sweet girl. Everybody was sick about it.”
“Thank you. It was your father who attended the foaling at the Minton ranch earlier that day, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right. I took over his practice after he died.”
“I’d like some background information. Do you work exclusively for the Mintons?”
“No, I’m not a resident vet. I have a practice. However, I must be honest and tell you that the Mintons give me so much business I could almost work for them exclusively. I’m out there nearly every day.”
“It was the same with your father?”
“Yes, but if you’re suggesting that I wouldn’t rat on the Mintons at the risk of cutting off my meal ticket, you’re wrong.”
“I didn’t mean to imply that.”
“This is horse and cattle country. I have to turn down more business than I can accept. I’m an honest man. So was my daddy.”