Page 39 of X-Ray in the Xanth (Lovely Lethal Gardens Rewind #3)

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M ack lifted his teacup and clinked it with hers. “That one ended up more than a little crazy.”

“It did,” Doreen agreed, “but, at the end of the day, it’s still all about human greed.”

“And, in this case, fear as well.”

“It’s all ultimately about greed,” she repeated. “I mean, I get it. They were facing an uncertain old age, but to cheat and kill like that? I don’t understand.”

“And murdering Eli’s sister.”

“That was the wife. I’m wondering how any of that will play out in court,” she said. “Though that’s really not an interest for me.”

He laughed. “Maybe not, but believe me that the captain’s crowing about it. He did however…”

“I know. I know.” She groaned. “He asked me about it too.”

“It is a cold case, and it’s definitely one we need help on,” he admitted. “I sure wish I knew how your brain worked.”

“I didn’t make that Meghan connection with Eli’s case. I really only got that part when I saw the pill bottle.”

“Really?” he asked. “Not until then?”

“Nope, not until then. I was tossing all kinds of options back and forth, but that was the clincher.”

“How was that a clincher?”

“Because there had to be a reason to kill Meghan, and the only reason I could see was if she knew something, and, if she knew something, what could that possibly be, and what was the reason behind it. Then it just fell into place from there. Money seemed to be an issue, even back to the very first time I met the older couple. That kept festering in my mind. We didn’t even confirm Eli’s full name properly until today.

So we had no way to know yet if he was still on the books for government assistance, which would have led to checks being paid somewhere else, somewhere other than Sky Manor. ”

She shrugged. “I don’t know if the government still pays for those services, but they supposedly shut down for a while, kicking people out of these homes.

I don’t have all the details on that. Still, if we had gone down this pathway a little further, we may have seen that Welford Woodstock was getting checks deposited into his account for Eli’s care, either via the government fund or via Eli’s own father.

Either way, that revelation would have led to more evidence when you followed that trail. ”

“Right.” Mack nodded. “We would have found out quite simply that he was getting a check for the care of a disabled person who was dead long ago,” he noted.

“Once the old couple knew the body would likely be identified as that of Eli, the Woodstocks began to panic over money, and things began to erode, causing them all to act a bit suspiciously, which is what drew me to them in the first place.”

“You sure have good instincts and the ability to get people to talk, even when they don’t want to.”

“I was really floundering this time, trying to make it all fit. All the while, nothing pulled together to make sense,” she shared.

“What do you mean, this time ?” Mack laughed. “It’s not even that you floundered. It’s just, when you do guess, you tend to be very on the mark.”

“I’ll say thank you for that,” she conceded, with a laugh, “but you and I both know that, lots of times, I don’t find out anything for sure until the very last minute, and then it’s just plain scary.”

“I won’t argue with that because, every time I turn around, I see Mugs and Goliath attacking people. Then I know the bad guys have gone after you, and, if they’ve gone after you, it’s usually for a darn-good reason.”

She glared at him, but he nodded. “You are threatening to incarcerate them for the rest of their life, and that scares people, so they’ll do anything they can to avoid it. And that generally means hurting you.”

“I know,” she said, “and I’m sorry for scaring you.”

“When I heard Mugs barking, I just ran.”

“And look at that,” she said, beaming at him. “Just look at how well trained you are.”

“How well trained I am?” he repeated, looking at her in horror.

“Mugs barked, and you came running,” she pointed out, with a chuckle. “I mean, it’s just perfect.”

“No, it’s not perfect at all. Mugs is the one that’s supposed to be trained. You’re supposed to give him a command, and then he comes running.”

She looked back at Mugs, a twinkle in her eyes. “I think he missed that part.”

“Ya think?” Mack groaned. “You guys will be the death of me, I swear.”

“Nope, we won’t,” she declared, with a big grin, “but we will keep your life interesting.”

He snatched her up into his arms and held her close. “That you will,” he confirmed, “but please look after yourself.”

“I promise.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t make promises you won’t keep.”

“I’ll try to promise.”

He stared at her and shook his head. “That’s not helping.”

She burst out laughing. “I’ll go back to work on the other missing person’s case, the senator’s daughter. But just think, we’ve now solved several of them.”

“We have, indeed.”

Just then her phone buzzed with a text message, and she glanced down at it. “Oh, that’s the mother of the young woman who was buried under the wrong name. She wants to take me out for coffee.”

When Mack frowned, Doreen shrugged. “She’d already heard about me from Elizabeth. So, when I reached out to give her my condolences, she wanted to connect.”

“That’s nice.” Mack nodded, then frowned, “Unless she’s looking for you to solve another murder.”

“I don’t think so.” Doreen giggled. “She just wants to take me out as a thank you .”

“That’s good,” Mack said, “and I don’t have a problem with that.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” she declared in an exaggerated tone.

He rolled his eyes. “You do know that, if I had my way, I would keep you under lock and key.”

“Ah, but, if the captain had his way,” she added, a big grin on her face, “he would have a spare key made so he could keep me working.”

At that, Mack burst out laughing. “You’re probably correct there.”

She smiled, then kissed him. “Thank you for always being there.”

He stared at her and sighed. “What if I’m not always there? Do you know how many nightmares you’ll give me?”

She blinked. “I hadn’t considered that.”

“I know. You never do. But, for me, it’s a constant worry.”

“I am working on being safer. The animals are working on being more proactive, and you’re working on your training.”

“My training,” he repeated, turning to glare at her.

She shrugged and, with a double-wattage grin, added, “What can I say? You’re doing great with it.”