"What are you doing?" I shrieked and tried to grab Josie's arm. "We need to get outside!"
Zach quickly raised himself from the floor and ran past us, knocking into me. I lost my balance and fell as he rushed by for the door, not even looking back to see if I was okay. Chivalry was indeed dead, and Zach must have figured he wasn't far behind.
Josie was standing next to the blackened spot, watching it burn its way into the carpet.
"Get away from it!" I screamed.
"Sal, it's okay," she assured me. "It's not an M-80. Looks like a regular firecracker that someone attached to a rock."
"How do you know? And who did this?" Too late, I ran to the front entrance and flung open the door. Shards of glass that had been clinging to the remnants of the windowpane fell on impact. I peered outside into the parking lot and street, but there was no activity. No guilty party running away from the scene or a getaway car zooming past us at 100 miles per hour.
"Damn," I cursed under my breath and rushed back to Josie's side. She was sitting on her knees, talking to a 9-1-1 operator.
"Yes, that's right," she said calmly. "At Phibbins Mortuary. No, we didn't see anyone. Yes, of course we're outside." She gave me a sly wink. "Okay, thank you very much." She clicked off. "Help is on the way. With our luck, it will be Brian."
The smoke had dissipated, but the air was acrid, and my eyes started to water. I squinted down at the object. "You're sure it wasn't an M-80 like the one at Mrs. Gavelli's?"
Josie snorted. "Not even close. Those can do a heck of a lot more damage. Didn't you ever set firecrackers off as a kid? Oh wait. I forgot who I was talking to for a minute."
I placed my hands on my hips. "And I suppose you did?"
"Oh sure. My brothers always had them." She got to her feet and looked around the room. "What happened to our buddy after he shoved you out of his way?"
"At the rate Zach moved, he might be all the way to Canada by now." I stepped outside onto the porch and scanned the surrounding area. His car was still in the lot. "Zach?" I called loudly.
A hand shot up from behind the well-kept evergreen shrubs. I crossed over to the tree and helped the elderly man up. After a few seconds, Zach had steadied himself with my support. He flicked a branch off his head and stared at me sheepishly.
"Are you all right?" I asked.
He nodded, his Adam's apple bobbing in time. "I'm sorry, miss. I guess I panicked."
"It's okay," I assured him. "We were all scared."
His clear blue eyes searched mine. "It must have been the same person who killed Eddie. They're trying to scare us all off."
"We don't know this for certain." But I silently agreed with him. First Mrs. Gavelli's house and now the funeral home. A jolt of fear shot through me as realization set in. I'd been the only person present at both places. This was no coincidence. Someone wanted to make sure I minded my own business.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Zach and I watched as a firetruck pulled into the parking lot followed by a police car. I cringed when Brian and Adam emerged from the vehicle. Good grief. Weren't there ever any other cops on duty in Colwestern?
Two firefighters nodded as they hurried past us. Brian was talking to someone on his phone. He looked up, and our eyes met. He didn't look happy to see me. This wasn't going to end well.
I decided to beat him to the punch. "We didn't do anything wrong. And there's no fire. Josie told the 9-1-1 operator on the phone, so they're wasting their time."
He lifted his eyebrows. "They have to check it out either way."
Without further comment, he held the door open then followed Zach and me inside. For a second, I was foolish enough to believe that would be the end of it, but after a quick word with the firefighters, Brian grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the viewing room.
"Let go!" I tried to wriggle free, but he was having none of it. He slammed the door shut and then whirled to face me. His green eyes had darkened, and I could visualize smoke pouring out of his ears.
"Tell me this," he seethed. "Why is it that disaster follows everywhere you go?"
Josie opened the door. "Okay to come in?"
"Yes," I said.
"No," Brian growled.
"It's not her fault," Josie said quickly. "We came here to look for my bracelet. I think I dropped it—"
He threw his hands up in the air. "Just stop. It's always something like that with you two. I was foolish enough to believe you'd stay out of this and mind your own business after what happened at Mrs. Gavelli's house last night. I should have known better. You two can't keep your noses out of any murder investigation in this town. While we're at it, don't you have a business to run?"
Josie glared at him. "Don't worry about the bakery. It's in good hands." She crossed her fingers behind her back.
Brian's nostrils flared. He reached down, removed his badge from his uniform shirt, and then held it out to me. "Here you go. It's obvious that you and your friend here think you can do a better job than the police at finding Eddie's murder, so please, feel free to take over."
The action shocked me. Sure, Brian had been ticked off at me for interfering in prior investigations, but he'd never behaved like this before. Everyone had their limit, but he needed to understand where I was coming from.
"How do you think I feel?" I shot back. "I didn't want to be involved in Eddie's murder. I was only going to ask a few questions to help my father. I promised Mike I'd stay away from investigating after Cookie was born, and guess what? There's no winning for me! I'm like the Pied Piper of dead bodies because they follow me everywhere. Now someone is targeting me, and I have no choice but to be involved."
"Sally." Brian gritted his teeth in exasperation.
"No!" I pointed a finger at him. "You're going to listen."
Josie was visibly impressed. "You tell him, girl."
I blew out a breath and tried to calm myself. "I'm not trying to do your job. Believe me, I happen to have plenty of faith in you and the police department. You've saved my life more than once, remember. But don't tell me to walk away because it's too late for that. So perhaps we can find a way to help each other and somehow get justice for Eddie. Is that okay with you?"
"Don't be so hard on her." Josie put an arm around my shoulders.
Brian sighed in resignation. "All right. Tell me exactly what happened when you arrived today."
I gave him the quick, condensed story. As I was finishing up, a tap sounded on the door, and Adam came in followed by Zach.
"I just questioned him." Adam nodded at the elderly man. "He said he ran as soon as the firecracker came through the window."
"I didn't know he could move that fast," Josie remarked.
Zach's face flushed. "Do you think that whoever threw the firecracker is the same person who killed Eddie?"
Brian gave him a strange look. "We can't be sure, but it's a possibility."
"I see." The elderly man seemed uncomfortable. Josie shot me a questioning look. Did Zach know more than he was letting on?
Brian watched us, his eyes narrowed. "First Mrs. Gavelli's house. Now the funeral home. What do you think this means, ladies?"
"That someone dislikes Mrs. Gavelli and funeral homes?" Josie teased. "But there's a lot of people who fall into that category."
The color rose in Brian's neck.
"She's only kidding," I said.
Brian folded his arms over his chest. "It's bad luck on Mrs. Gavelli's part that she lives next door to a certain Italian family. Would you agree?"
"Oh fine," I grumbled. "Yes, someone's angry that Dad and I have been asking around about Eddie's death."
"Very good," he mocked. "I'm glad to see that you're paying attention here."
I snapped my fingers. "Wait a second. Maybe whoever did this wasn't intentionally trying to do damage to the funeral parlor."
Brian shot me a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"
"Josie told me so herself. The M-80 at Mrs. Gavelli's could have burned her house down. But this was a standard firecracker. What if whoever tossed the firecracker through the window was just trying to scare us and not cause a lot of damage here?"
Brian mulled this over. "Good observation. You may have a valid point."
"What's going on?"
We turned around to see Charlene standing in the doorway. She was dressed in all black with a wide brimmed hat, full-length black leather coat, and matching boots. It was the perfect wardrobe for a funeral. Her eyes were puffy and red, as if she'd been crying.
"Miss Jones. Where did you come from?" Brian asked.
Charlene looked confused. "I came in through the back of the building like I always do. It's nearest to my work area." She glanced around at us. "What's going on? There's no wake today, but I do have a body to prepare. It's always nice to have an audience."
"Someone threw a firecracker through the front window," Brian explained. "Do you know anything about it?"
Charlene stabbed a finger into her chest. "Me? Why would I know anything about it? What are you implying, Officer?"
"I'm not implying anything," Brian said calmly. "I wondered if you might have seen anyone suspicious on your way in."
"Oh." Charlene blushed. "Sorry, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions." She looked around the room again. "Is Linda here?"
"Zach said she went to meet with Arthur." I turned to reaffirm this with Zach, but he'd slipped out of the room.
"He's outside talking on his cell phone," Josie said.
"Then it's true." Charlene's face hardened. "She really is going to sell the place to him. I can't say I'm surprised, but I won't work for that man. He's a sleaze. Nothing at all like his brother."
Brian edged closer to her. "Do you think Arthur could have been responsible for his brother's death?"
Charlene wrinkled her nose as if a putrid smell had invaded the room. "I didn't think so before, but now I'm not so sure. He just wouldn't let up on Eddie. And Linda's weak. She never liked the business and didn't give a damn about Eddie's feelings. Yesterday she—" Charlene hesitated and didn't finish the sentence.
Brian latched on to her reaction. "Is there anything else you'd care to tell me?"
"I heard Linda on the phone with someone last night. She thought I'd left but I had to come back for my sweater." Her eyes sparkled with mischief, as if she had a secret. "She was crying and everything. I heard her tell the person on the other end of the line that she didn't have it and begged them to understand."
"Have what? Money?" Josie mused out loud. "Maybe she owed someone dough? Or it could have been a bill collector."
"It all fits," I said. "She needs money badly, so she's selling the place to Arthur. I hope she at least gets a fair price."
Charlene bit into her lower lip. "Personally, I hope she gets zilch. Nada. A big zero. Eddie had a heart of gold, and she stomped all over it." She hoisted her purse over her shoulder. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a friend waiting."
After Charlene had left the room, Josie rubbed her arms as if for warmth. "That chick gives me goosebumps. Maybe it's just me, but the way that she calls a dead person her friend is creepy."
"Charlene was trying hard to make Linda look like a viable suspect," I remarked.
Brian leaned against the door. "What are you getting at, Sally?"
"I'm not sure," I confessed. "She hated Linda and adored Eddie. We know that Charlene was carrying a torch for him, so would she really do away with him?"
"Maybe they were carrying on," Josie proposed, "and he refused to leave Linda for her. She got angry and killed him."
"My father insists that Eddie wouldn't do such a thing. Wally also said that Eddie had resisted her advances. So why lie about it?"
Brian's shoulders sagged. "All right, I wasn't planning to tell you this, but we got Eddie's autopsy back yesterday."
"Were you able to find anything? I asked. "I was under the impression that the embalming might have messed with the results."
"It's always a possibility, but luckily, no, not in this case. We learned that Eddie died from cyanide poisoning. It was something he either ate or drank. Cyanide works more quickly than any other type of poison. Eddie would have been dead within minutes of ingesting it."
"The killer watched him die." An icicle formed between my shoulder blades. What type of lunatic were we dealing with? The world could be a dark and evil place, but I still held on to the belief that most people were good. It was upsetting how these psychos always found their way to Colwestern. Even worse was realizing that the person who had killed Eddie was someone he had worked with at one time or another. A person he had trusted.
"We're going to find the person who did this." Brian looked at me, as if guessing my thoughts. "Sally, I know that you won't leave this alone, so I'm asking you to please be careful. Someone would be only too happy to place you inside a coffin as well."