Home Before Midnight by Virginia Kantra Read Free Book Online Page A

The body should be released then. Give me the name of the funeral home, and we’ll see it gets there.”
     
    Well. That had gone better than she expected.
     
    “And I need to get into the house,” she added.
     
    He rubbed his jaw. “That’s going to take a little longer. I can’t let you all in until we’ve completely processed the scene.”
     
    “I understand you have a job to do,” Bailey said carefully. “But so do I.”
     
    “Unfortunately for your boss, my job comes first. I won’t compromise this investigation for his convenience.”
     
    Frustration bubbled inside her. She couldn’t fault him for being conscientious, but it was all so unnecessary . “What investigation? This was an accident. Even your chief says so.”
     
    His eyes narrowed. “You talked to the chief?”
     
    “Well . . . yes. That is, Paul did. This morning.”
     
    He didn’t say anything, but she felt the tension roll off him in waves like cold from a refrigerator.
     
    She shivered. It was stupid to feel nervous. Even more stupid to feel guilty. Paul had been perfectly within his rights to talk with Chief Clegg. And if that made problems for the chief ’s lead investigator . . . Well, too bad.
     
    She offered him a conciliatory smile anyway. “So, you see, there’s really no reason to delay. And it would make my job a lot easier if I could count on the house being available. Helen’s daughter will be here. She shouldn’t have to stay in a hotel. Not to mention everyone who attends the funeral will stop by the house afterward, and I have to feed them. People are already coming by with food, and there’s no one to accept it and no place to store it.”
     
    “I hear they do a nice brunch buffet at the Town Diner,” Burke said, straight-faced.
     
    He was joking. He had to be joking. She must have imagined that instant of stillness when he tensed and collected himself like an old dog who knows the limits of his chain.
     
    “Unless Charlene is serving pecan tassies and tomato aspic, I’m afraid the Saint Andrew’s Ladies Guild won’t consider brunch at the diner an acceptable send-off,” Bailey said. “But thank you for that thought.”
     
    This time she was almost sure he smiled.
     
    Relieved, she stood, bringing herself to the same level, careful not to bump his knee or brush his thigh. “You’ll be in touch? After the autopsy, I mean.”
     
    “Count on it,” Burke said.
     
    Her smile faltered. It was the assurance she came for.
     
    So why did it feel like a threat?
     

FOUR
     
    W ALTER Clegg propped his regulation size elevens on his desk.
     
    The chief’s shoes and collar brass were polished and his uniform neatly pressed. After seventeen years managing the resources of his understaffed and underfunded department, Walt believed in the importance of police presence . . . and the appearance of his police. On days when tourists swelled the town—Founders Day, the Fourth of July—even the detectives turned out in uniform.
     
    Steve understood the chief’s reasoning, but buttoning on that blue uniform made him feel like he’d been busted back to traffic cop.
     
    Which, in a sense, he had.
     
    “Steve, you ever wonder why our jail is so small?” the police chief asked.
     
    Steve raised both eyebrows. “Because county lockup is only five miles down the road?”
     
    Walt ignored him. He was good at ignoring things that didn’t suit his purpose. “It’s not that we don’t have crime in this town. We just don’t have as much of it as maybe you’re used to. You’ve got to understand how things work here.”
     
    Steve’s headache tightened its grip on his neck. “I know how things work here. I was born here.”
     
    “And your mother is a lovely woman,” Walt said smoothly. “We’ll never need to pay police informants as long as your mama is around. But you’ve been gone awhile. You need to remember folks count on us to preserve the peace, not stir up trouble.”
     
    Steve inhaled.