“I bet you’re calling because it’s utter chaos over there,” she says. “And before you ask how I know, it’s because it’s a disaster here. Looks like Mayor Finley has taken all the tech and building improvement funds for his personal use.”
“I’m going to go and arrest his ass today.”
“What about the murder investigation?”
Shit. “Tomorrow then.”
“You’re going to have it wrapped up by tomorrow? Do you know who did it?”
“No, but I’m arresting the Finleys tomorrow because I’m in a foul mood, and it’s the one thing that will make me happy.”
I find a rolling evidence board and paste up two photos I pulled off the internet for the victims. After Melody went to bed, I spent the night going through all of the social accounts I could find for the vet and his assistant. Both people were newbies. The vet had bought Kevin Wells’ old practice. Old vet Wells had only a son, and he went and got his architectural degree and never returned to Harrisville. When Wells turned sixty-five, he put his practice up for sale and left to join his son in Atlanta.
This all happened a year ago. Dean and his assistant, Taylor, moved into town together. Dean’s parents came, too. They were older and helped to buy the practice for their son. They wanted to be close to him.
Even though Taylor had moved to town with Dean, the two didn’t appear to be a couple. Dean was known in town to be single, and their social media accounts made it seem like they had dated other people. I put up a few more photos from Dean’s Instagram account. He’d dated a few women in town and had photos of himself drinking at Tom’s bar with various people.
I keep adding more details to the murder map, trying to whittle down who I should interview first, who I need to be suspicious of, who would be a waste of my time. By mid-morning, I’ve made my list and run out of coffee.
Outside my office, I find that one of the deputies has arrived. He stands and salutes me.
“None of that. We’re civilians.” Or I will be soon. I’m on a temporary leave of absence but have sent in my resignation via the form on the naval website. Everyone’s digital but Harrisville. I hand him a sheet of paper. “Go and interview these people about Taylor’s death. We want to know every detail about her. Where she shopped, who she was sleeping with, what drawer she kept her socks in. I’ll handle Dean’s list.”
On my way to the car, I run into Melody. “Where’s Vincent?” I ask, looking for my six-foot-two friend but see no one.
“How would I know?”
“He’s supposed to be keeping an eye on you. Come with me.” I grab her hand and pull her toward the patrol car.
“Where are we going?”
“I’m going to interview witnesses, and you’re going to sit in the car.”
“That sounds boring and terrible.” She tugs on my hand. “I’m going to meet Emma for lunch, and then we’re going over to volunteer at the church. They had a fire in the kitchen and need help cleaning.”
“Will Vincent be there?”
“I don't know. Does that matter?”
“Yeah, Melody, it does. Someone killed two people in Harrisville. I don’t know who it is, and until I do, you can’t be wandering the streets by yourself.”
“I don’t think I’m the target.” She gives me this bright, innocent smile, and I want to shake her.
“You don’t know that, Mel. If there’s even a one percent chance you could get hurt, I want to eliminate it. It would kill me if something happened to you. All those years I spent away—” I break off, trying to find a way to tell her that if she wasn’t safe, there was no point of me doing any of this. “I’m not taking this job to protect Harrisville. I’m taking this job to protect you. Besides my family, you’re the only person I care about, so get your fine ass into my car before I have to put it there myself.”
CHAPTER 8
MELODY
At first, I was annoyed that Frank was dragging me around with him, but after he came out of Dean’s parents’ home I was glad I was here. His parents had been alerted yesterday, but Frank was taking a deeper dive into Dean’s past to see who might have wanted to kill him.
“They really couldn’t think of anyone that would want to harm their son? Not even an ex?” I’m hoping that this is some crazy person that followed either Dean or Taylor down here and has now fled back to wherever they came from. The idea of someone close doing this makes my stomach turn.
“Said they can’t think of a soul that would do such a thing. That Dean was the perfect son.”