I squirmed a little. “Yes, but that’s just something people say. And anyway, Pam was out of the state that day on a buying trip.” A fact I’d confirmed with one of her neighbors.
Aunt Frances nodded. “Okay, we can eliminate Pam. But what about the others you’ve talked about? That new council member, Allison. Plus Jeremy Hull, Don Weller, and Shannon Hirsch.”
“Jeremy.” I lined my mental ducks up in a row. “He holds a nasty grudge against Denise for leaving his organization in a tight spot and for almost getting him fired. Plus I saw his car out there the day Roger was killed. But I confirmed that he was checking the water levels at the Jurco Dam and the timing doesn’t work. The data sheets have an entry for time of day, and Jeremy’s job hangs on being accurate, so it doesn’t make sense that he did it.”
I’d done some checking up on Jeremy and had quickly found out that although his reputation for management wasn’t outstanding, he was reported to be a top-notch environmental scientist. And he was smart; if he’d wanted to kill Denise, he would have figured out a way that didn’t include falsifying data.
“What about Don Weller?” Aunt Frances asked. “Seems to me anyone who lived next door to Denise would end up wanting to kill her.”
I grinned. “You should have seen that video he made. Don wants revenge, all right, but he didn’t hate her enough to kill her.” And I had no doubt that someday he would get his revenge. Not for a year or two—he was a decent man and would wait until the shock of losing Roger had diminished—but someday he would gleefully turn her in for some minor infraction.
“Then who’s left?” My aunt thought back. “Allison Korthase. And Shannon Hirsch.”
Shannon’s sharp eyesight and honed shooting skills made it unlikely that she would have mistaken Roger for Denise, but what if I was wrong and Roger had been the target all along? Or maybe Shannon intended to kill both Slades, righting an old high-school wrong that had festered for years. I shivered at the thought.
“This afternoon,” I said, “I ran into Shannon, and she said her guns are at the gunsmith for maintenance. She said he was in Grayling, so I made a few calls and tracked him down. He’s had her guns for almost five weeks.”
For more than a month, Shannon’s guns had been out of her hands. Roger had died three weeks ago. Ergo, Shannon had not killed him. Okay, she could have borrowed a gun or purchased a new one, but I didn’t see it. Not for someone who’d just said the month without her guns had been the longest of her life. And that meant . . .
My aunt twirled a last bit of fettuccine onto her fork. “Have you talked to the police about this? You do realize that they’re trained investigators and are paid to do this kind of work.”
I picked at the remains of my dinner. One thing I hadn’t told Aunt Frances was that Ash Wolverson had asked me out on a date. The uncomfortable awkwardness between us would pass soon enough, but right now it was still, well, uncomfortable. And since Detective Inwood pushed the legwork of the investigation to Ash . . .
“I’ll call the detective on Monday,” I said. “Besides, I really don’t know anything, not for sure. All I have are guesses and theories.”
“But the killer doesn’t know that,” my aunt pointed out. “She or he is still out there. Denise could still be in danger.”
“That was two weeks ago,” I said. “Nothing has happened to her since then. I bet the killer got cold feet, realized that getting away with one murder was a minor miracle, and won’t try again.”
My aunt looked at the rocking chair. “What do you think?”
Eddie opened his eyes and made a silent “Mrr.”
Aunt Frances frowned. “Are you sure he doesn’t understand us?”
“Pretty sure,” I said, but my mind was still circling with the thought that had been haunting me for days.
Anyone can commit murder.
Chapter 18
Early the next morning, soon after I’d finished dressing and just as I was toweling off my hair, my cell rang. Since I was busy watching raindrops pelt against the window, I decided it was time to get some help from my roommate.
“Hey, Eddie, would you get that, please?”
My cat, who was lying in the exact middle of my bed, which was the same place he’d spent the entire night, no matter how many times I’d tried to gently shove him to one side, didn’t even lift his head.
“Some help you are,” I said, picking up the phone. “And after all I do for . . . uh-oh.” The incoming call was from Donna, my volunteer for the day.
“Minnie?” a voice croaked. “It’s Donna.” There was a pause, and I heard a distant, racking cough. “I’m so sorry,” she said when she came back, “but I woke up sick. I really don’t think I should come out on the bookmobile today.”
“Absolutely not,” I told her. “The last thing you need to do is go out in this weather. Read some of Jan Karon’s Mitford books, and I’ll see you when you’re better.” I ended the call and immediately started another one. “Kelsey? It’s Minnie.”
Two short sentences of explanation later, Kelsey said, “Let me think. My mom’s in Chicago for her annual Christmas shopping trip, and my husband’s working today. I’ll call around and see if I can find a sitter for the kids.”
Which she might or might not be able to find, and, even if she did, there was no way the sitter would be in place in half an hour, which was our appointed departure time.
“Thanks anyway, Kelsey,” I said. “I’m sure I can find someone else.”
But who? I scrolled through the numbers in my phone and called Holly.
“Oh, wow, Minnie. I’m sorry, but I promised the kids I’d take them to the indoor water park at Boyne today. They’ve been excited about this all week.”
I told her not to worry about it, and called Josh.
“You want me to do what?” He laughed. “Let me guess: I’m not going to get paid, either.”
“I’ll pay you myself,” I said, “if that’s what it takes.”
He must have heard the near desperation in my voice. “Hey, I was just joking. I’d help if I could, especially if Eddie’s coming along, but remember? My buddies and I are going to the Michigan State game this afternoon and the Lions game tomorrow.”
The voices and the road noise in the background suddenly made sense. In my half panic, I’d forgotten about the weekend he’d been talking about since August. “Sorry,” I said. “I forgot. Have a good time, okay?”
I stared at my phone. Now what? I’d exhausted all the library staff I felt able to call at this hour on a Saturday morning, Lina was out of town, and there was no way I was going to call Stephen and beg for his help. I’d go back to school, get a PhD in biochemistry, and clone myself before I did that.
I looked at my phone list again. “Hah,” I said. “Got it.” I stabbed at the DIAL button and was surprised when it was picked up half a ring later.
“Morning, sunshine,” Rafe said cheerfully.
I squinted in the direction of the marina. “You sound wide awake.”
“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because you’re never awake before ten on Saturdays during the school year.”
“Au contraire,” he said. “I am always awake by seven thirty on the mornings that my kitchen appliances are to be delivered.”
My last hope circled the drain and dropped down. “Oh. That’s nice.”
“Liar,” he said. “What’s the matter?”
I debated lying some more, but knew he’d call me on it. One of these days, I really had to work on increasing my obfuscation skills. “I just needed some help this morning.”
“Sorry about that. I would if I could.”
“Yeah, I know. Thanks anyway.”
I stared at the phone. Sighed. Sighed again, this time so heavily that Eddie went to the trouble of picking up his head to look at me. I dialed one more time.