“Works for me.”

As Nate told the coroner her theory about the foxglove while she sucked in fresh air, the man’s expression grew more and more skeptical.

“I don’t know.” Russ shook his head as Nate concluded. “Seems farfetched to me.”

“There are tests we can run to find out if foxglove could have precipitated the heart issues.” Grace rejoined the conversation as her stomach settled down.

“We have a limited budget.”

“We could test a sample from one of the victims to start.”

“If they’re victims.” Russ shoved his fingers into his back pockets.

“Questions have also arisen about the finances of the victims, Russ.” Nate kept his tone conversational, and Grace ceded the floor to him. “I’m going to review Lorraine’s as well. I don’t want to let someone get away with murder, if that’s what we’re dealing with. Do you?”

“No. Of course not. But I’m trying to be a responsible steward of taxpayer money.” He exhaled. “I guess we can spring for one test.” He turned to her. “I’ll call the lab and see what samples they want me to send from Mavis’s autopsy.”

“What about an autopsy on Lorraine?”

“I’m not seeing anything here to warrant that.”

“Why don’t we try this.” Nate rested his hand on his holster. “Let’s keep her in the morgue until we round up her attorney or a family member. That will buy us time to send a sample from Mavis to the lab. We can regroup after we get the results. Is that acceptable?” He included them both in his question.

As far as Grace was concerned, they should do an autopsy ASAP.

But she wasn’t the boss, and compromise was part of the job.

“I can live with that.”

“Works for me.” Russ motioned to the back of the house. “You okay if we transport?”

“Yes. I’ll join you in a minute.” Nate leaned a hip against the peeling paint on the porch railing.

“See you later, Grace.” Russ disappeared back inside, the screen door slamming behind him.

“For the record, I think we should do an autopsy.” Grace folded her arms. “Even if the test results don’t show toxic levels of digitalis, these deaths are suspicious. We should have samples on hand in case we get a break later and want to test them.”

“I agree. But let’s give Russ a day or two to adjust to the idea, now that we’ve planted the seed. Pardon the pun.”

“Cute.” A smile played at her mouth. “And for a man who claims he doesn’t like to schmooze, you handled Russ with aplomb.”

“I’d classify my approach more as understanding the players than schmoozing. A handy skill in any job.”

“I won’t argue with that. How did the talk go last night?”

“No one fell asleep.”

“I bet you were terrific.”

“I didn’t hear any complaints—but I prefer one-on-one communication.” He leaned closer and dropped his voice to a husky whisper. “Like the kind we’ll have Saturday night. I’m counting the days.”