The Judge's Wife Is Missing

Book excerpt: Captain Amos "Coop" Cooper of Wichita, now retired from the Wichita Police Department, isn't surprised when he is asked to investigate a case; he is shocked, however, to learn he has been personally requested by Judge Elmo Wells. Coop and the judge never liked each other or got along, so why is Wells asking for him after so many years off the force? It turns out that Wells' wife, Marilou, is missing, having boarded a plane in Wichita without arriving in Boston to meet her mother as planned. Coop sees this as an open-and-shut case: Marilou must have changed planes and arrived at another destination via a connecting flight. The only problem is that Marilou's flight to Boston was nonstop. As Coop looks more closely at the disappearance, he discovers that there are plenty of people who might be angry at the judge, giving him numerous suspects but few leads. What's more, secrets seem to surround Marilou. How did the judge's wife disappear, and who's behind the caper that brought Coop out of retirement?