After Midnight by Merline Lovelace Read Free Book Online

that one of your constituents?”
    “Looks like. The fish have had at him, but there’s enough left to pretty well confirm that he’s the man who went missing after the storm that blew in a few weeks ago.”
    “’Bout time he turned up.”
    “Dragging a handkerchief out of his pocket, Hazlett ambled over to take a closer look at the corpse. The ME’s assistants obligingly unzipped the body bag and held flashlights stead while the detective took in the condition of the bloated torso.
    Well, well. Wonder how he got that dent in his skull?”
    “We’ve been wondering about that, too,” Steve put in. “And about his shoe.”
    Hazlett’s gaze slid down. One foot had provided a feast for the fish. The other was still shod in a black leather wing-tip.
    “Hmmm.”
    The detective waved a hand, granting permission for the ambulance crew to zip up the corpse and transport it to the ME’s office.
    “You took Mrs. McConnell’s initial report when her husband’s boat was found drifting in the bay, sheriff. Did she happen to mention what he was wearing?”
    “The last time she saw him he was dressed for work, but she indicated he kept a change of clothes aboard his boat. You’d think he’d keep some rubber-soled deck shoes, too.”
    “You’d think.”
    “I’ll ask her again when I do the next-of-kin notification. Unless you want the honors,” Steve asked, knowing the answer already.
    “Nope, they all yours. Until we confirm his identity and the specific cause of death, I’m only here to assist you.”
    “Yeah, right.”
     
     
    Next-of-kin notifications were never easy, even when the deceased’s sailboat had been found adrift almost a month ago.
    The Reverend McConnell’s wife had had time to prepare herself for the worst. Still, Steve had dispatch contact her husband’s assistant pastor and request that he meet the sheriff at the McConnell residence at nine the next morning. The media were sure to pick up the story, if they hadn’t already. He wanted to give the widow time to grieve in private before reporters showed up at her door.
    He wore full uniform. The gleaming Sam Browne belt, knife-creased forest green shirt with his badge and rank insignia, and tailored gray pants with the green stripe down the sides were a mark of respect as well as a reminder that he’d put the force of his office behind the investigation into the reverend’s death.
    Mabel McConnell was a small, twittery woman. Her eyes filled with tears the moment she opened her door and saw the sheriff and her husband’s assistant pastor on her front porch.
    “You’ve…? You’ve found him?”
    “We think so,” Steve said gently.
    “Her throat worked. “Is he dead?”
    “Yes.”
    Her hand came up to cover her mouth. Moaning, she took a step back. Steve caught one elbow, the young pastor the second. Sobbing, she allowed them to lead her into the living room.
    “I knew it,” she got out through her tears. “In my heart, I knew it. But I still hoped. All these weeks, I hoped and prayed…”
    Steve passed her a clean, folded handkerchief. Her shoulders shaking, she sank into a recliner upholstered in nubby, brown and blue plaid. The pastor pulled in a chair from the dining room and angled it close to hers while Steve took the matching recliner.
    The close placement of the plaid recliners was as telling as the homey clutter scattered around the living room. A sewing basket spilled a rainbow of embroidery threads. Books lay stacked on the maple coffee table. Framed pictures crowded the top of an upright piano. Steve caught a glimpse of a wedding shot. Clusters of school pictures. A very young, lantern-jawed Delbert McConnell in the slick-sleeved uniform of a Marine recruit.
    “That was before I met him,” his widow said with a hitch in her voice, catching the direction of Steve’s gaze. Her lips curved in a faint, trembling smile. “From what he’s told me, he was pretty wild back then. I’m so thankful I met him after he found