“They haven’t served dinner, but the vegetables look delicious.” Buffy, who had chosen chicken wings, looked at my plate. “Ellison?”

“The caprese is marvelous.”

Merit rolled her eyes. “I don’t eat dairy.”

The woman was beyond annoying. “Then have a carrot stick.”

“Where’s Tommy?” asked Buffy. “Is he joining us?”

“He’s not feeling well.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” And I meant it. Merit was easier to take when he was around.

“Hmph. Hopefully he'll feel better tomorrow.”

Perry and Thatch exchanged a look, and I wondered what they knew.

“Sorry we’re late!” Libba, who wore a backless halter dress in a barely-there gauzy material, took the seat next to Perry.

Charlie sat across from her and flashed a boyish grin. “We lost track of time.”

I did not want or need additional details about what they’d been doing. But if I didn’t come up with a topic fast, she’d tell us. I gathered my courage, and looked at Thatch. “Will you stay on as managing partner now that Graham is dead?”

“I didn’t have any plans to step down when he was alive. Why would his death change anything?”

“I thought the managing partner job was a temporary post. A year or two, then the next lawyer took a turn.”

“I’m exceptionally good at handling the firm’s business.”

“Graham didn’t think so. He thought he could do better.”

Thatch glared at me.

I glared back. I’d learned glaring at Mother’s knee. Under her tutelage, I’d become a world-class glarer. And I could glare all night long.

Misty and her staff interrupted our glare-off, freeing me to look down the table at Anarchy.

He was deep in conversation with Willa, and I hoped he was learning something useful. Maybe something damning. I wanted Thatch to be guilty.

The servers filled the table with platters of barbeque, crocks of baked beans, a tray piled high with butter-slathered corn on the cob, and bowls of tossed salad. For a few blissful moments, talk of death and contested partnerships was put aside in favor of filling our plates.

I bit into a rib and moaned to Perry, “The caterer your wife hired is a genius.”

Perry grinned. “Liz does everything well. I’d be lost without her.”

Thatch laughed. Not a nice laugh.

Perry frowned across the table. “What?”

“Graham would never have nabbed your biggest client if it weren’t for Liz.” Thatch shifted his gaze my way. “She insisted they stay in Kansas City for your wedding reception. Graham went to North Carolina alone and came home as lead counsel.”

That wasn’t quite the story Liz had told.

“Graham got what was coming to him,” said Buffy.

“Oh?” Thatch turned his attention to her. “How so?”

“He was a jerk.”

Thatch tilted his head, and I got the sense that he was a hyena about to attack. “And that means his murder is justified?”