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Jesus. The utter wack these people talked.

“Why have you not responded to police requests to speak with you?” Archie remained focused on Azizi. “Where have you been since Saturday night?”

Azizi flushed, opened his mouth, but Priscilla spoke first. “He was at Incense Cedar Preserve.”

“Not that it’s anyone’s business.” Azizi glared at her.

“I’m sure it’s the truth,” Priscilla said. “He looks terrific.”

Beau and Archie had done a fair bit of camping, but Archie did not recall any campground called Incense Cedar Reserve.

Perhaps seeing his bafflement, Priscilla said helpfully, “It’s a resort and spa. Very swanky.”

“It’s impossible to get in there this time of year,” Azizi said. “I’ve been on the wait list for months. So, when they had a cancellation, of course I grabbed it. I had no idea about John until I returned home last night.”

“You lied to your department head. You claimed you were flying to Nebraska because of a family emergency.”

Azizi bridled. “Well, they would hardly have taken kindly to hearing I was cancelling class in order to head to a spa retreat!”

“You threatened to sue John.”

“He deserved to be sued! The nerve of expelling me! Not that I carried through with it, if you’ll notice.”

“You didn’t have to. John is gone and you’re back in the TPS.”

Azizi gasped. Leo gulped. Priscilla said quickly, “Archie, kiddo, this wasn’t the first time John threw Jac out of the TPS and it wasn’t the first time Jac threatened to sue John. They fell out with each other now and then. But they always worked it out.”

This new information silenced Archie.

“For your information, John invited me to the Ghost Walk,” Azizi said. “I didn’t go because, well, to be honest, I was still a bit put out with him. I deeply regret that decision, and I always will.”

“You can tell John tonight,” Leo assured him. “John will understand. No one was more understanding than John.”

“True,” Priscilla agreed.

Leo smiled hopefully at Archie. “Now, that that’s settled. Let’s all toast to John. Archie, what will you have?”

“Excuse me,” Archie said curtly. “I’m going to let Chief Langham know he can cancel the BOLO.”

“That’s a very good idea,” Priscilla said. It was the tone of an adult encouraging a child to go play.

They were all calling supportive, calming words to him as Archie turned and stalked out of the living room.

He and Beau had it right all those years ago. The TPS really were a bunch of nuts.

Which didn’t change the fact that, while Azizi didn’t seem to have an alibi, he also no longer seemed to have any motive. His story, exasperatingly silly though it was, sounded legit.

It was too silly not to be legit.

Archie strode into the hall, nodded politely to the hovering maid who had opened the front door to him.

He’d been to Leo’s home a few times over the years, but it had been a while and the house had been through several renovations. Like McCabe House, Leo’s home was an older Victorian. But Leo’s tastes trended modern, so, beyond the bare bones, not much was left of the original structure. In its place was a contemporary showstopper with tons of windows, an open floorplan, and sophisticated but comfortable furnishings.

He walked a few feet down the terrazzo tiled hall where he would not be overheard. He pulled out his cell and phoned Beau.

Beau answered on the second ring. “You can’t be out of there already. It’s not even dark out.”

“Azizi is here. He claims he’s been at a health spa since Saturday night and only returned home yesterday evening.”