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“Uh, sure,” Stafford agrees, sounding anything but.
“Ignore all of these nutcases behind me,” I tell Nora and her lips twitch. She shudders, heaves a giant breath, then slumps forward against me, her face hitting my shoulder. I lift my arms, encircling her body with my own. “You’re okay,” I whisper into her hair as her breathing slows back to normal.
“Sorry,” I hear her whisper back, then, so softly I almost miss it, she adds, “But this just got really real.”
I don’t reply. The enormity of our situation has clearly hit her, but I can’t let her panic spread to me. I have to stay strong. And I will stay strong–for her.
So I rub her back in soothing motions and wait for one of the other three detectives present to restart their investigation.
It’s not one of them who speaks first, though, but Lucy. “Okay, well, clearly this has all been quite a shock to Nora. Maybe we should let Reynolds take her home. It is their wedding day, after all. It’s unfortunate that her boss turned up dead on her front lawn, but is that really their problem?”
I purse my lips against an unexpected laugh. Sometimes Lucy’s brand of logic astounds me. I appreciate the sentiment of support, though.
“Listen, I know the timing is unfortunate,” Anderson says, “but Reynolds knows as well as any of us, that we need to dig into this investigation sooner rather than later. When a dead body is found on someone’s front lawn, it sort of becomes their problem, whether or not they were involved.”
“Well, of course Nora wasn’t involved!” Emily cries. “She didn’t even know about it until Mel told her this morning. Isn’t that right, Mel?”
Mel doesn’t answer right away, but then finally she nods. “Uh, yeah. That’s true. She didn’t know.” Something in her tone upsets me. It sort of feels as if she doesn’t believe the words she’s saying. But I was there in the room when Mel told us about the dead body. Sure, Nora’s exclamation of surprise at the time came off as a little bit contrived, but other than that, I thought we gave a convincing performance of not having known about any of this before that moment.
“I never said she was involved,” Anderson replies calmly. “I’m saying that whether or not she was involved in the murder is inconsequential. Questions need to be asked of her simply because of the location of the body.”
“Right, of course,” I say quickly, wanting to appear like my usual by-the-book self. “And Nora will answer your questions, but perhaps we can relocate somewhere more private. Maybe get her something warm to drink. This is obviously going to be difficult for her, so I want her to be as comfortable as possible. And of course, I’ll be staying with her during the conversation.”
I can feel the weight of all of their stares on me as I step out of the carriage, then help Nora out behind me. Each person seems to have a different response to my words.
Lucy’s got heart eyes on, clearly impressed by my display of protectiveness for my new wife.
Stafford is smirking at me like he always knew I’d end up just as gone for someone as he is for Lucy.
Emily looks concerned, as if remembering her own stint with police questioning.
Montgomery’s brow is furrowed, but I can’t tell what’s on his mind.
Mel is darting glances between the two of us, shaking her head. She lifts a hand and starts chipping away at her nail polish. I know from Anderson that this either means she’s worried about something or thinking really hard.
And lastly, Anderson is frowning. He doesn’t like this. Not one bit.
But why? What is up with the suspicion from him and Mel?
“Yeah, okay,” Anderson finally grunts. “Let’s head somewhere more…comfortable. How about your place, Reynolds. Since I assume that’s where the two of you wanted to head regardless. Not that you called in sick today, so technically you should be on duty right about now.”
Shoot. I grimace. I completely forgot to send an email saying I’d be taking the day off. How could I have forgotten? I don’t forget items on my to do list. I just don’t.
Then again, usually I get more than an hour of sleep and don’t have the woman who drives me to distraction wandering around my home first thing in the morning.
Whatever. It really doesn’t matter all that much. Forgetting to send an email doesn’t incriminate anyone in any crimes.
And yet, I’m unsettled by it.
“Chief won’t let him work this case regardless,” Montgomery pipes up. “Not with his wife being semi-involved with it.”
His wife. My heart squeezes with warmth at the words. Geez. I’m like an overeager labrador, desperate to win over the disinterested human who just entered their vicinity.
“Exactly, so he should just take the rest of the day off,” Lucy chirps. “Enjoy the time with Nora.”
“Sure,” Anderson relents, “but after we ask our questions. I’m sure Reynolds wants to get this all cleared up, make sure his wife is not in danger.”
“You think she’s in danger?” Emily asks in concern.
