thirty-seven

Later, as I pulled into our driveway, a squad car rolled up behind me. Glancing in the rearview mirror, I saw that it contained Detective Brady and Officer Hax. Both looked very grim.

I got out of my car, just as Nigel opened the front door. Skippy bounded over to me and greeted me in his usual fashion. By the time I had finished wiping off my face, Detective Brady and Officer Hax had alighted from the car.

“I’ve been trying to reach you,” I said to Detective Brady by way of a greeting. “I have some information that may help with this case.”

Detective Brady slammed his car door shut with a decided thud. “Do you, now?” he asked with a faint smirk. “How lucky for me. I can hardly wait to hear it.”

I glanced at Officer Hax. While her face was arranged in a professionally blank mask, I detected annoyance beneath its surface. I shrugged and crossed my arms, leaning against my car door. Nigel walked across the graveled driveway to where I stood. Skippy promptly sat down in front of us.

“I taught him that today,” Nigel said as he greeted me with a light kiss on my check.

“I hate to break this to you, darling,” I said, “but Skippy has been sitting on his own for some time now.”

“Don’t be a smartass, I meant in a guarding position,” he said. Turning to Detective Brady, he asked, “How can we help you, Detective?”

Detective Brady mirrored my position, crossing his arms and leaning against his car door. “Oh, but by all means,” he said with a deliberate drawl, “why don’t you tell me your information first? I’m sure it’s far more important than what I have.”

Officer Hax winced at his rudeness. I took a deep breath and let out a sigh. I had dealt with men like Brady long enough that I was now immune to the behavior. In time, Officer Hax would become so too. But for now, she stared intently at her shoes. Without preamble, I told Detective Brady my theory about Melanie’s pregnancy and that her death was the result of an intentionally tampered with EpiPen. While I didn’t expect him to believe me, I certainly didn’t expect him to laugh.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Martini,” he said, “but I’ve got bigger things to worry about right now than a suspected pregnancy from almost twenty years ago and an allergy to shellfish.”

“Such as?” I asked.

The smirk returned. “Well, for starters, the body of Janice Franklin was found early this morning.”

“Homicide?” I asked.

Detective Brady gave a slight nod. “We can’t be sure yet, of course, until we finish running some more tests. But I’ve been doing this a long time, and my gut tells me she was murdered.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“The victim’s daughter, Christina Franklin, had been unable to reach her mother and grew concerned. She went to the victim’s house and using her key, let herself inside. There she discovered her mother. The victim had been shot twice in the back.”

“Wow,” said Nigel with wide-eyed admiration. “That’s some gut.”

After Officer Hax’s sudden coughing fit subsided, I asked if there were any suspects. I was rewarded with a smug smile. “As a matter of fact, there is one. And I’m happy to say that not only do we have them in custody, but I believe that they are also responsible for the attack on your employee.”

That did surprise me. “Who?”

“Jules Dixon,” came the reply.

That surprised me even more.