Page 16 of The Body in the Backyard

“Eye mask? An eye mask?” He stabbed a thick finger into Nick’s shoulder. “My life is ruined, and you think an eye mask will help?”

Riley couldn’t get a lock on any of his thoughts. It was like standing in the middle of a chaotic windstorm trying to catch a leaf. All she was picking up on was a confusing swirl of rage, exhaustion, and a creepy wired energy.

“Where were you today between noon and one o’clock, sir?” Nick asked coolly.

The man’s face was turning beet red. “I’ll tell you where I was! I was breaking into my ex-wife’s house so I could steal my son’s ADHD medicine so I don’t sleep all fucking day, because Griffin Gentry is a monster. They calledmea monster, but I’m a koala bear next to that son of a bitch.”

“I think it’s justkoala,” Nick said.

Riley cleared her throat delicately in case Nick didn’t know he was very close to pushing the guy over the edge.

“What?” the man shrieked.

“Yeah, they’re not calledkoala bears. Justkoalas.”

The homeowner shoved his hands into his hair and gripped. “Do I look like I give a damn?”

Riley took a step back just to make sure she was out of the danger zone.

“Actually, you look like you went on a cocaine bender then stuck a fork in an electrical outlet,” Nick said.

“First of all, three bumps of coke isnota bender. Second, you can tell me what happened to that selfish prick next door—and it better be good. Or you can get the hell off my property before I call the cops.”

“I’m afraid I can’t discuss an ongoing investigation,” Nick said cheerfully. “But you have yourself a nice day, sir. Maybe try getting a little shut-eye?”

“Go fuck yourself!”

The man slammed the door so hard that instead of latching, it bounced back and smacked him in the forehead. “You can fuck yourself too,” he shouted at the door; then leaving it open, he stormed off inside.

Riley cocked her head. From the back, he looked a little like Griffin. They had the same rich-guy haircut and color, the same shoulder width. But he had a few inches in height on the news anchor.

“Did you notice that?” Nick said, leading them off the porch and back toward the road.

“That he looks like Griffin from the back?”

“No, that the front room was completely empty. No furniture, no pictures. There was a bunch of men’s shoes lined up at the foot of the stairs. Looks like he lives alone.”

“Gee, I can’t imagine why,” Riley quipped. “We didn’t even get his name. What do we do now?”

“Brian will track him down through property records and start a deep dive into Mr. Grumpy Pants.”

“How did you know he wouldn’t punch you for annoying him?”

He slung an arm around her shoulders. “It was a risk I was willing to take.”

“So you just provoked our potential bad guy into a murderous rage?”

Nick looked remarkably unperturbed. “If I did, this case will be closed before the end of the day.”

“Or Griffin will be dead,” she pointed out.

“I won’t let him get murdered until he pays up.”

“That’s comforting.”

5

5:05 p.m. Thursday, October 31