"Hey, Owen," she said. "Guess what?"
"What?" he asked, picking up instantly on her excitement.
"Kerry is going to help us. She’s going to do the background check on Coach Adamson. I don't know when, but she's a fast worker. She seemed intrigued by it."
"That's great," Owen said. "It was a genius move to ask her for that favor, May. I know that will get us a lot further in the case. I have a feeling about him."
"Me, too," May said.
Owen checked his watch.
"I guess we're done here," he said. "There's not much else we can do now while we're waiting, and it's been a very long day. We can’t start calling or interviewing anyone else at this hour, especially not since it seems we should be focusing on Adamson first."
"It has been a long day," May said. Given their predawn start, it was no wonder she was starting to feel as if she'd hit a wall in her thinking. And with a stomach full of pizza, her body was demanding some time out to rest.
"I was wondering."
May glanced at Owen in surprise, because he was sounding extremely nervous. Had he come up with a new theory in the case he was worried about sharing?
"I was wondering, May, if we should maybe drop by Dan's Bar quickly?"
Her deputy was fidgeting uneasily. Something was definitely up.
"You think there's something he might know? A reason for going there?"
May felt immediately uneasy about the thought of venturing into that surprisingly sophisticated local drinking hole that was a meeting spot for the town.
She'd long had a crush on the handsome, suave, well-groomed owner, Dan. And she was now doing her utmost to get over it. She'd realized - well, she strongly suspected - that the crush was unrequited and that her unspoken feelings for Dan were most likely never going to be returned.
Worse still, Dan had long had a crush on her sister, Kerry. Since Kerry had gotten engaged, May had felt as if Dan was exuding hurt and angst every time she went in there.
It was almost as if he perceived her, May, to have personally arranged the betrothal to spite him, when all she'd actually done was tell him about it.
But with everything being so complicated, Dan's Bar wasn't something she could face right now.
"I thought you might like to have a drink there,” Owen continued. “It would be good to - to chat about a few other things. Take our mind off the case. I'd like to get to - "
With her mind now latched onto the problematic complexity of Dan, Kerry, and life in general, May shook her head, barely hearing his words.
"I really need to get some rest,” she said, in tones that came out sharper than she’d intended.
"Some rest?" A multitude of emotions flickered over Owen's face. Some of them, May couldn't read. She tried her best to clarify.
"I mean, I need to go to bed. I need some sleep. I'm exhausted."
"Oh." Owen looked as if he was going to say something else, but he stopped.
"Don't worry," she tried to reassure him. "We're getting to the core of this case. I know it. It will all come together tomorrow, I'm sure of it."
Owen was staring at her as if he was deeply troubled. Was she missing something? May thought.
"Are you alright?" she asked Owen.
"I just," he began, but then he stopped.
May sensed he was even more disturbed now, but she didn’t have the energy to think too much about it. She was bone weary, and her brain was fried. After several long, awkward seconds of silence, Owen stood up and abruptly left the room.
As he shut the door behind him, May sighed. Was he mad at her? Had she said something wrong?