Page 55 of The Body in the Backyard

“Right, because what’s the fun in preventing murders when you can investigate them?”

They both came halfway out of their chairs. Riley waved her hands between them. “I really can’t tell how much of this is actual animosity and how much is old habit. But we’re in the middle of a crime scene, so let’s at least pretend to be professionals.”

“Who the hell is the DB?” Weber demanded.

Riley opened her mouth, but Nick beat her to it. “How the hell should we know? That’s your job.”

“Did you disturb the body or the scene in any way?”

“I stopped four feet away and didn’t touch anything. You’ll find my size thirteen prints next to the block of wood. The orthopedic size eights and cane prints in the mulch are Penny. Who the hell knows what Gentry and his girlfriend did before we got here? They were running around like headless fucking poultry when we arrived. Thorn got them under control and corralled them away from the scene. The puke is from the assistant who came outside before we got here. I don’t have a gun on me. I didn’t witness anything except the aftermath. Now get the fuck out of my face before I decide to throw caution to the wind and rearrange yours for you.”

“Fuck off, Nicky,” Weber shot back after Nick’s recitation of mostly the facts.

“You two about done? We’d like to roll the body,” the coroner called from the flower bed.

Weber glared at Nick. “Don’t leave town.”

“‘Don’t leave town,’” Nick mimicked.

“We’ll just get out of your way, Kellen,” Riley said, grabbing Nick by the arm. “Come on. Let’s go get Mrs. Penny a snack. You know how hungry she gets at crime scenes.”

“Have fun playing detective,” Nick called over his shoulder as Riley towed him toward the door.

“Okay. Why aren’t we telling Kellen we might know who the dead guy is?” she asked under her breath.

“We’re not gonna do his job for him. Besides, if we tell him we think we know him, he’ll want to know how we know him, which will involve a much longer interview, and we have a TV to hang and an old lady to feed.”

“You sure you aren’t just being unhelpful to see if Kellen comes to the same conclusion or gets it wrong?”

“That too, Thorn. That too,” he said, slinging his arm around her.

They found Griffin, Bella, and Mrs. Penny in the kitchen. Griffin and Bella were gargling what smelled like a concoction of hot vinegar and honey. Mrs. Penny was drinking bourbon straight from the bottle.

“Well? What happened? Who is it?” Mrs. Penny asked and wiped her mouth on her sleeve.

“Was it the bad guy?” Griffin demanded in a whisper.

“Why are you whispering?” Nick asked. “He’s dead.”

“The nice lady in the backyard told us we should save our voices,” Bella squeaked.

“That was me. I was the nice lady,” Riley said.

Bella cocked her head. “Hmm, you don’t look familiar.”

“I honestly don’t know why I bother,” Riley muttered.

“Look, Griffin. In my professional opinion, the threat has been mitigated,” Nick said.

“Mimigated?” Griffin repeated in a whisper.

“Threat go bye-bye. No more bad guy,” Nick said. “So I’ll take that check now.”

Griffin got that cagey look in his eyes. “Check? What check?”

“The one you owe me for hiring Santiago Investigations.”

“Ohhhh, that check. I just assumed that you would enjoy working for me so much you wouldn’t need to be paid.”