The question was, what else—if anything—did all these people have in common?

Had any of them ingested sunflower seeds shortly before their death?

Had they known Nate’s robbery suspect?

Would an autopsy have provided clues that could have suggested there was more to their deaths than natural causes?

Important questions, but difficult, if not impossible, to answer in hindsight.

Meaning all the hours she’d spent reviewing the records from the past two years had provided very little new information other than a few additional names that fit her sketchy profile.

She finished off the lukewarm coffee that had helped keep her eyes from glazing over during the long afternoon. It had been a valiant effort, but as far as she could see it had also been a colossal waste of time. Whatever secrets Mavis and Fred had taken to their graves appeared destined to remain—

Her phone began to vibrate on the table, and she snatched it up, pulse surging.

How silly was that?

Of course it wasn’t Nate. Why would he call her? She was the one who’d told him she’d be in touch if her records search yielded anything worthwhile.

Nevertheless, her respiration continued to misbehave until she read the name on the screen.

Cate.

She fought back a wave of foolish disappointment and summoned up her perkiest voice. “Hey, bride-to-be.”

“What’s wrong?”

Grace furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?” Her greeting couldn’t have been any more chipper if she’d downed a gallon of happy juice.

“You sound like you did the day after the cheerleader calls went out in high school and you didn’t get one. Trying to act like you didn’t care but crying inside.”

Sheesh.

With her abilities to see straight through pretense, no wonder Cate was such a stellar detective.

Didn’t mean she had to admit anything to her sister, though.

“You’re nuts.” She adopted a breezy, dismissive tone. “I only cared about being a cheerleader because the guy I had the hots for was on the football team. In the end I was glad I didn’t have to go to all those practices.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She tapped a few keys on the laptop and began scrolling through autopsies older than two years. Not that she was going to continue to pursue this line of investigation, but it couldn’t hurt to eyeball the names while she talked to Cate. “I happen to be in an especially upbeat mood today.” Sort of. Thanks to the sugar rush she’d gotten from the ice cream cone she’d treated herself to at lunch.

“Why? Did you meet someone new—or has your sheriff picked up the pace?”

“There’s no pace to pick up. And no, I didn’t meet anyone new unless you count the autopsy I did this morning. An interesting gentleman, according to the coroner. He gave me the guy’s history while I was dissecting the liver and—”

“Stop. I did not call to get a blow-by-blow account of your day.”

“Why did you call?”

“To double-check on your date status for the wedding. I’m working on the final seating arrangements for the reception.”