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Moore snorted. “Is that what we’re calling it? No, I didn’t. I put it in my report—which I sent to you like you asked—but that’s it.”

“No one at the station? Even Darla?” he clarified.

“Nope. I had to pack and get to the airport. Didn’t have time to talk.”

“Okay. That’s what I needed to know. Thanks for returning my call.”

“Sure thing. What’s this about?”

No way he was going into that with Moore. If the mayor was innocent, then he didn’t want to malign him to another officer—especially one who liked to gab. If he wasn’t, then he certainly didn’t want to take a chance on something being said that might tip him off.

“It may tie in with something I’m investigating,” he hedged.

“You think something actually happened there?” Moore sounded incredulous.

“I do. But I’m not sure what.” Time to end this conversation. “Thanks again for calling me back. I’ll let you get back to your vacation.”

“Glad to help.”

Eric ended the call and stared at the brick building he worked out of.

So Moore wasn’t responsible for spilling the beans. That left Eric and Allye, and neither of them had told anyone. Yes, Eric and Moore had included Allye’s statement about the green glow when they filed their reports, but he doubted anyone had read them yet. Sure, the chiefcouldhave, but—

The chief. He was the mayor’s uncle—although with the largeage gap between Chief McHenry and the mayor’s mother, the two men were pretty close in age. They had grown up more like cousins than uncle and nephew.

That could explain things. Or severely complicate them.

Mayor Jennings could have asked the chief for the details about Allye’s situation. As mayor, he technically was Chief McHenry’s boss, and he had a right to be apprised of what was going on in their investigations. Chief could have pulled all the reports, not just the one from the first night, and then mentioned that detail to him. No harm, no foul.

But if Jennings didn’t believe a crime had been committed as he claimed, why would he have asked for the information?

Perhaps he’d only been curious if Eric had uncovered anything new since his interview. Or, considering his relationship with Allye’s mom, he could have followed up out of concern. Either possibility was reasonable. But like Allye said, knowledge of the green glow couldn’t easily be divorced from knowledge of the break-in.

So why had Jennings acted as if the break-in was news to him?

Eric could only think of one plausible answer. The man knew more than he was telling. Which meant that he was probably up to his eyebrows in whatever was going on.

A heaviness settled on Eric’s chest. He’d wanted to believe Mayor Jennings was innocent. Everyone who knew the man respected him, even his political enemies. The man was practically a shoo-in for state senate, and he could do a lot of good there. But if he had criminal ties...

And what about Chief McHenry? Eric sure didn’t want to believe his boss was anything but the epitome of integrity, but he wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t consider the possibility. The chief and the mayor had been close growing up and were still good friends on top of their familial ties. Even if he didn’t know what Jennings was possibly involved in, would he allow Eric free rein to investigate?

He would need to tread even more carefully now.

Until he was sure that the chief hadn’t been compromised, he’d have to be extremely cautious about what he told him and what he included in his reports.

ALLYE SHIFTEDin the semi-comfortable seat at her follow-up appointment to discuss the MRI results. She’d spent the morning and early afternoon organizing her items for her festival booth—making sure everything that was finished had been safely boxed for transport and that she had the necessary pricing labels printed and sorted into the correct boxes for easy setup. She’d hoped focusing her energy on that needed task would alleviate her nerves as she anticipated this appointment. It had helped. A little.

But now that she was here, they’d returned full force. Her hands trembled, and she considered sitting on them as the pause between pleasantries and getting down to business stretched a little too long.God, I meant it when I said I trust you no matter what.

Finally, the doctor turned from her computer screen and back to Allye. “Well, there’s no sign of demyelination,” she announced.

The term sounded vaguely familiar from her aunt’s experience or maybe from her previous visit, but she couldn’t place its significance. “I’m sorry. I can’t remember what that means,” she admitted.

“Essentially it’s damage to the myelin layer protecting your nerve fibers. A definitive MS diagnosis generally requires evidence of that damage.”

“So the results mean . . . ?”

“While there’s still the slightest chance you could have MS, it’s very unlikely.”