«That's part of the problem, Turner.»

«What? Her being a widow?»

Manners reached down to the radio and turned the squelch knob up enough to drown out some of the pre-dawn static. «Yeah … there's a lot of stories around about those two. Not that I travel in the same circles, you understand. That kind of life is too rich for me, at least on a cop's salary. I'd never have heard the gossip at all if it hadn't been for Flaherty. You know, that red-headed guy who works second shifts … anyway, he moonlights over at the Valley Farms Club on weekends, keeping an eye on traffic and such. Pays good money, I understand. Well, he said that any time two of those rich ol' cunts get together over there, it's to share a new story about Kate and Lucy Barrett.»

«Wow, what are they a couple of weirdos or something?»

«No, nothing quite so spectacular. The story is that Lucy and Kate inherited an equal share of the Barrett holdings, with Lucy's portion in trust until she's twenty-five.»

«You mean that sweet littl' thing isn't legal?»

«Well, she's fucking legal, if that's what's on your dirty mind. But she's not legal enough to inherit her portion of the estate. So she's sort of dependent on her mother for everything. That's why she's going to business school, to get a job and support herself.»

«All that money and she's worrying about working?»

«She's got a few years yet before she gets it, and from what Flaherty tells me, she probably won't be living at home much longer. She's got a boyfriend, see, some punk she dredged up from somewhere. I don't know what a sweet piece like her sees in a long-hair, but that's the drift. The ol' lady hates his guts … won't even let him on the property. And since she's Lucy's legal guardian and controls the purse-strings, she's pretty much got the upper hand.»

«I should have guessed it … whenever there's a squabble between two cunts, you can be damn sure there's a cock somewhere in the middle!»