Page 121 of The Body in the Backyard

The woman in question tapped her chin. “Maybe I got it mixed up with pie-eating contests.”

Riley felt the relaxation Hector had bestowed upon her vanish and be replaced with rigid tension.

Nick stuffed a package of mini tacos into the freezer and closed the door. “Yo, Jos. Where’s your husband?”

“In his office. Said he was too busy to play Feed Griffin a Bunch of Shit.”

“Gabe, you’re in charge,” Nick said, putting his hands on Riley’s shoulders and steering her out of the kitchen.

“Mouth,” Mrs. Penny said.

Griffin opened his mouth, and Josie fed him another piece of celery. “Hmm, tastes like Tabasco annnnnd…Nesquik!”

They found Brian frowning at four of his six monitors in the skinny office he shared with Josie. He didn’t bother looking away from what looked like pages of data, but he did remove his headphones. “What’s up, coz?”

“Update time,” Nick said, flopping down in Josie’s chair and pulling Riley into his lap.

“Did they get to the Tabasco and Nesquik yet? That was my suggestion.”

Nick’s fingers found their way under the hem of Riley’s shirt and stroked at the skin just above the waistband of her tights. “Not an update on that condiment-swilling idiot. What do you have on our encyclopedia-long list of suspects?”

“Oh, them,” Brian said, swiveling to face them. “Good news is I found a lot of dirt. Bad news is I found a lot of dirt on everyone.”

“For instance?” Nick growled.

Apparently his Hector-induced relaxation had worn off too.

Brian’s fingers flew over his keyboard, and a picture of Claudia Mendoza appeared on the monitor closest to them. “Let’s start here. Gentry got Mendoza fired a few years back. She recovered with a lateral move to Channel 49’s morning show and has been there ever since.”

Nick threw a fresh pad of sticky notes at his cousin. “We know this already,” he complained.

Brian dodged the office supplies and called up another screen. “Ah, but did youalsoknow that Claudia filed a wrongful termination lawsuit that was finally settled out of court last year? I haven’t found my way into any sealed court documents, but Ididfind a few vague Facebook posts on her personal account from around that time about never settling for less than you’re worth and how karma always wins in the end.”

“I knew she was lying about finding peace. No one finds peace where Griffin is involved,” Riley said.

“Did youfurtherknow that Claudia spent time with family last Christmas…in Colombia?” Brian pressed on.

Nick’s hands tensed on Riley. “Hmm,” he said.

“That’s where the shooters were extradited to, right?” Riley asked. She hadn’t bought the news anchor’s new kombucha-and-kumbaya vibe. However, she still didn’t see Claudia hiring a pair of dimwitted hit men to right a years-old wrong. She seemed more like the sneaky revenge type. Unless Griffin had done something to reignite the flame of vengeance, which was entirely plausible.

“Solid find, Bri,” Nick said, lazily stroking circles over Riley’s skin with his fingertips.

Brian pulled up another set of tabs on screen. “Moving on to everyone’s second-favorite douchebag, Ingram Theodoric the Third. The first being the victim himself, of course.”

Riley shivered, recalling their close call with the drunken, rifle-wielding man.

“He’s got motive what with Griffin sleeping with his girlfriend. He’s also got means. Not only is his compensation in the low seven figures, he also comes from family money thanks to his grandfather Ingram Theodoric the OG, who started a chain of roast beef shops, paid his workers below minimum wage, and spent his free time slaughtering zebras and gorillas all over the African continent.”

“Inherited assholery,” Nick remarked.

“Big time. Ingram the Second almost went to jail for assault and battery against his third wife, but the charges were dropped after the wife ‘moved to Oklahoma.’”

“Why the air quotes?” Riley asked.

“Because the only people who claim to have had contact with her since then are Ingrams Two and Three, but I digress,” Brian said. “The Third had his country club membership canceled recently after a dispute on the golf course got ugly. I didn’t get many details, but rumor has it he went after a caddie with a three wood after his fourth gin and tonic. I dug up a couple of old girlfriends of the Third,” Brian continued. “None of them were willing to talk about him, but one did mention an NDA. So he could be covering his tracks that way. Bottom line, he’s a bad dude.”

Riley agreed wholeheartedly.