S
aturday morning, I woke up with a feeling of dread. It took me a few moments to figure out why, which made me want to roll over and go back to sleep. Why do these things always happen to me? And why only since I moved back home? I never once found a body the whole five years I lived in Michigan.
I pulled myself out of bed and had just slipped into my fuzzy robe when the door opened and Liam walked in.
Dressed in a black tight tee-shirt that showed off his scrumptious physique, jogging pants and a red face, he’d obviously been up for a while.
“You jogged already?” My eyes widened.
He smiled. “Good morning, sleepy-head. Seven kilometers. You should have joined me.”
Ha! Like that would ever happen. “Your sense of humor plays better once I’ve had my tea.”
He chuckled as he leaned over and kissed me. “I’m taking a shower. Join you in a few minutes.”
Luna and Sandy welcomed me into the kitchen, where Gran was cooking. I bent down to their level and received a face full of wet kisses. I stood up, wiping off my face, when Gran handed me a cup of tea.
“You’re a godsend, Gran. Thank you.” I sat down on a stool at the breakfast nook. I glanced at her over my teacup. “How are you doing this morning?”
She filled her own cup of tea to the brim and came and sat down next to me. “I have to say, I’m very proud of you for the way you’ve handled finding those other bodies, Molly.” She took a sip.
“Well, thank you. I haven’t ever found it easy, but I have to say, this one is the most gruesome I’ve found.” I shivered when I thought about all that blood. I took a green grape from the bowl of fruit sitting on the counter and plopped it in my mouth.
“Well, I’m proud just the same. However, there is something… well, off.” She set her cup down on the saucer.
I looked closer at her. She looked a little pale, but other than that, she looked good. “Well, we found a dead body last night, Gran. That would put anyone off.” I looked at her and the smile that had been on my face straightened. She was staring off into the living room, but I somehow knew that’s not what she was looking at. She was seeing something, or somewhere, else. “Gran?”
I watched her for a few seconds, a sense of sadness coming off her in waves. I laid my hand on her arm. “Gran? Are you okay?”
My touch seemed to have shaken her out of wherever she was, for she smiled. “I’ll be fine, deary. I just need something to occupy my time to make my mind off it.” She patted my hand and walked back into the kitchen.
Liam came out of the bedroom a few minutes later, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, his dark tresses still wet. He kissed Gran on the cheek.
“How are you holding up this morning, Colleen?”
She poured him a cup of tea and set it on the counter next to me. He sat down and kissed me on the cheek as well before taking a sip of his tea.
Before Gran could say anything, I answered, “she says she’s fine, but I’m not so sure. If you remember, I didn’t do very well after finding my first body last year.” Gran brought the teapot over and refilled my cup, and I added the required two teaspoons of sugar that my body demanded.
Liam grinned and put his arm around me for a quick hug. “I thought you were perfectly calm.”
I grinned at the memory of meeting him for the second time. The first had been on the plane ride from Detroit to Shannon when he helped calm me during a very turbulent flight.
Gran leaned in from the kitchen side of the counter. “I thought you were too busy dealing with Fiona and everything else, that you were too busy to be in shock.”
I looked from one to the other and shrugged. “Maybe I was really good at hiding it. I don’t know. Regardless, it’s not a very fun experience, and one I hope I never have to do again.” I took a sip of my tea.
Liam rubbed his chin with his hand. “I have to admit, all that blood made me a little queasy. It’s different when you’re called to a scene where you know there’s a dead body. You can prepare yourself. It’s different just coming upon it. Poor Herb.”
“Gran, speaking of Herb, do you know anything about him?” Right then, the timer on the oven went off. She put on a mitt and pulled something out of the oven, and set it on top of the stove.
I looked at the bubbly cheese concoction and smiled. “Gran, that looks marvelous. What is it?”
“Just a breakfast casserole. I whipped up with some leftovers we had.” She took a knife out of the drawer and sliced it into squares. The sweet aroma of onions, green peppers, ham and eggs swam into the air and the aroma made my stomach growl.
“Gran, it smells wonderful.” I hopped off the stool and got plates out of the cupboard, while Liam pulled the cutlery out of the drawer.
“Shall we be a bit more formal this morning and eat at the table?” I asked as I walked toward the dining room.
“Why not?” Gran asked, as she brought over the casserole and set it on a large trivet. “I hope you like it.” She turned and went back into the kitchen, a minute later returning with a pot of tea and refilled our cups.
We were all quiet for a while until Gran said, “You told the inspector we’d arrive at the station at nine, correct?”
Liam glanced at his watch, answering in between bites. “Yes.” He looked at his watch. We have some time yet.”
I looked at my watch. It was half past seven. I was eyeing another piece of casserole when the doorbell rang. Both dogs, who had been laying quietly in their beds, barked.
It appeared to startle us all, as we stopped and just looked at one another. “Who can that be?”
Gran threw her napkin on the table. “I’ll get it. Who could be visiting at this hour of the morning?” She stood up so quickly, I thought the chair would tip right over. We watched as she stomped to the door to answer it.
I heard the door open, and I expected to hear her stern voice as she spoke to our early morning visitor. Imagine my surprise when she spoke almost lovingly.
“Oh, come in, come in. Lovely to see you. You’re here early. I hope nothing’s wrong.”
We couldn’t hear the other voice clearly until he came further in the room. Then I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.
“I hope you don’t mind. I wanted to speak to you all before the inspector gets here.”
“They’re in the dining room eating breakfast. Let me get you a plate. If you spent the night at my granddaughter’s last night, I’m sure you got nothing for breakfast other than toast.”
“Colleen, I mean, I um, I didn’t spend…,” said the awkward voice.
I heard Gran pat him on the cheek. “Callum, you’re so cute when you’re embarrassed. Go on in there. Would you like some tea too?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
A second later, the still red-faced Sergeant of the Dooley Police force walked in, his blue uniform pressed to perfection. I couldn’t help but chuckle. “A little embarrassed, Callum?”
He sat down across from us. “Let’s just say I wasn’t expecting that, shall we?” Callum and I had been friends since we were twelve, and he was like another brother to me. I was enjoying this.
Gran came in with a plate and cutlery, along with another cup, and set it down in front of him. “Help yourself, boy.” She pulled the casserole dish closer to him.
“Thank you very much.” He cleared his throat. “I ah, didn’t have time to eat breakfast this morning.” He scooped out a piece of casserole and added it to his plate, while Gran poured him a cup of tea.
Gran sat back down. “Now what’s this about the Inspector coming here? I thought we were meeting him at the station at nine.”
“That’s one thing I wanted to let you know about.” He took a bite of the food, and his eyes went wide as he swallowed. He pointed his fork at his plate. “You need to teach Fiona how to make this. This is great.”
Gran and I both laughed. “Callum, I’ve tried. I don’t know how many times to teach that granddaughter of mine to cook. She is the only person I’ve failed at teaching. She just doesn’t have the head for it.” She was shaking her head as she sipped her tea.
I smiled at him as I added, “Yeah, sorry, Callum. If you marry my sister, you’d better either plan on doing the cooking yourself, or win the Irish Lottery and hire a cook, because she’s hopeless in the kitchen.”
Once he’d finished eating, he took a sip of his tea. “I just wanted to let you know that DI Elliott isn’t planning on waiting for you at the station. We’ll be back about half-past eight. He called me at six this morning to make sure I’d be in by eight so we could catch you unaware.” He looked up and smiled. “His words, not mine. I don’t think he appreciated not being able to interview you last night.”
“Did he mention anything about the body, or any clues he found?” Liam asked Callum.
He shook his head. “They transported the body to Ballyquicken for an autopsy. We should know something later today.”
I jumped up out of my chair. “Then I guess I’d better hurry and get dressed.”
Callum stood up too. “I should probably run too. Please don’t tell him I was here.” He looked at Liam. “Sir, I’m very sorry they have taken you off the case, but I’ll try to keep you in the loop as much as I’m able to.”
I kissed Callum on the cheek. “Thanks, friend.”