Read Swan Song (Julie O'Hara Mystery Series) for Free Online Page B

don’t feel you wasted your time coming up here.”
    “Not at all,” said Julie, standing up, reaching across the desk to shake his hand. “Thanks for your time, Linc. It was nice to meet you, and a pleasure to see Pleasure Ride.”
    “The pleasure was mine,” Lincoln drawled, half-smile back in place.
    “Thanks again, Linc,” said Joe.
     
    “Did the police investigate Lincoln, Joe?”
    “Yeah, they did. He was transporting a thoroughbred to Gulfstream Park.”
    “That’s a racetrack, right? Where is it?”
    “It’s in Hallandale, between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Linc delivered the horse the night before Dianna died and said he stayed the next morning to watch the workout,” said Joe.
    “Did anybody see him there?” asked Julie.
    “The trainer said he always stayed to watch.”
    “That’s not the same thing as saying specifically, ‘ I saw him there that morning’.”
    “I know, but Detective McPhee is ‘satisfied’ with Linc’s alibi, and I’m quoting,” said Joe. “If we want anymore on that we’ll have to get it ourselves.”
    “Maybe we should,” said Julie.
    They rode in silence for awhile.
    “So, what do you think?” said Joe. “Was it worth the ride up here, apart from the scenery?”
    “Yes, it was. He’s an interesting guy. Hard to read, though. He’s a man who’s learned to control his expressions.”
    “He looks like Jimmy Dean, huh?” said Joe, glancing at her with a tinge of jealousy.
    “James Dean. Yes, he does,” said Julie impassively.
    “He’s probably been told that many times. He plays the part because it works for him. Anyway,” she said, “that makes him hard to read. But I think you were right. Dianna was from a different social milieu. For some reason, she hadn’t been up to Pleasure Ride Farm for almost two months, and that’s a long time for lovers. Maybe she decided to stop seeing him. Maybe Lincoln cared for her more than she cared for him. That would be hard for someone like him to take…harder than he’s willing to admit.”
    “He really looked miserable when you first mentioned her name, though.”
    “Yes, he did…but was it grief?”
    * * * * * 
     
    Chapter 8
    T he phone beside her bed was ringing insistently. Julie wanted to disconnect it, but she was too tired. She opened her eyes slightly. It was pitch dark out! Sol was even asleep, upside down on the bottom of the bed, feet in the air. Who had the nerve to call in the middle of the night?
    “Hello…who is this?” she said.
    “It’s me, sleepyhead,” said Joe. “Time to get up. I’ll be there in a half-hour.”
    “What? No. It’s too early.”
    “No, it’s not. We need to be early if we want to catch the trainer at Gulfstream.”
    “Oh, all right ! I’m getting up.”
    •
    Fortified with coffee and doughnuts, Julie felt a lot better. She had dressed appropriately in jeans and low boots, not knowing exactly where they might be walking at Gulfstream Park. The sun was climbing in the east and the Land Rover was chewing up the Florida Turnpike between Orlando and the Southeast Florida coast. They’d been going over the questions they planned to ask and had decided that Joe would take the lead this time. Julie was thinking they’d be at Gulfstream Park in another half-hour or so, when Joe suddenly pulled to the right and got on an exit ramp.
    “We’re getting off here? I thought the track was further south, in Hallandale.”
    “Gulfstream Park is in Hallandale,” said Joe, taking the Boynton Beach exit off the Florida Turnpike. “We’re going to Palm Meadows Thoroughbred Training Center. That’s where Lincoln Tyler actually took Beau Grande, the colt he was transporting. Beau Grande ran in the second race February 4th at Gulfstream, but he trained for it here at Palm Meadows. Jack Folsom, Beau Grande’s trainer, was already here waiting for Linc to deliver the horse. That’s the guy we’re going to see.”
    “So, he’s the one McPhee spoke with?”
    “Yes. He