Page 22 of The Body in the Backyard

“What about when he was Drunk Kellen and you were digging around in his pants pocket and you found his not-wallet?”

“You’re the one who made me reach in there! Just because I kissed him, accidentally pinkie stroked his penis, and played sexy siren to lure him away from a party doesnotmean I’m in any way interested in the man. He’s annoying and straitlaced and always looks like he’s about to yell at me or handcuff me.”

“I know from previous drunken conversations that you’re into both of those things.”

“Shut up. I have to go. I have a date waiting. Wear the dress. Free the boobs!” Jasmine disconnected the call.

The dressing room curtain twitched, and Burt poked his head inside. He wore a sparkly tulle jester’s collar around his neck.

“I see we’ve been making friends,” Riley observed.

She found Alistair and Robeena locked in some kind of staring contest over a tackle box of thread.

“Uh, I’ll borrow this one if that’s okay,” Riley said, holding up the hanger.

“I knew it,” Alistair said with a celebratory self-five.

“Remember. This makes us even,” Robeena snarled.

“Until next time,” Alistair said darkly. He backed out of the room, glaring at Robeena.

“So what was that all about? What kind of favor did she owe you?” Riley asked once they were safely out of earshot.

“I once watered her plants for a week while she and her partner went to Cape May.”

“You watered her plants and now you have a feud?”

Alistair opened his arms with a flourish. “What can I say? Theater people are so dramatic.”

Riley, Burt, and Alistair found Nick outside in the parking lot, leaning against the brick wall like some sexy rebel waiting for a cause.

“Sorry for bailing.” He pushed away from the wall and got in Riley’s space to deliver a quick kiss. “She didn’t go near your voice box, did she?”

Burt pranced over to show off his Eliza-burt-thian collar.

“What did Brian want?” Riley asked as Nick gave the dog a good scruffing.

He took her garment bag, slung it over his shoulder, then slid his other arm around her waist.

“The asshole next door to Gentry is Lyle Larstein, disgraced executive of one of the biggest health insurance companies in the state. Seems Lyle enjoyed taking cocaine breaks at work and forcing over a dozen of his female employees to admire his not-very-impressive privates. He was sued for sexual harassment. He got canned but with a seven-figure severance. His wife filed for divorce and took the kids.”

“Wow. A real-life bad guy next door. This is almost starting to look like a real case, isn’t it?” Riley mused.

Nick snorted. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

6

6:18 p.m. Thursday, October 31

They entered the house through the side door into the mudroom.

Nick and Burt both sniffed the air.

“It smells like meat and cheese,” Nick noted.

“It sounds like a fight,” Riley added as they walked into a kitchen full of chaos.

“You’re late,” Mrs. Penny announced from the table, where their new roommates were crowded around a mostly empty platter of cheesesteaks. The rest of the room was in shambles. A leaning tower of dirty dishes occupied the sink while the countertops were buried under food and food-making items.