Quinn groaned. “Oh God, the funeral service. I don’t even know where to begin. I guess I have to wait until they release the body, and then what?”

“Talk to the people at the funeral home.”

“What funeral home?”

Emily wasn’t about to take the bait. She was done helping Quinn. “It’s what they do. Help families.”

A long pause. “You’ll call me,” Quinn said, “won’t you?” When Emily didn’t respond, Quinn pressed. “You’ve got the garage door opener. You can even come by when I’m not here. I want to get rid of everything. Just take it away.”

“We’ll see,” Emily said. “Seriously, don’t make any major decisions right now. Okay?” Without waiting for an answer, she disconnected the call, then stood there for a moment, looking at her phone.

“Well?” Frank’s voice startled her. She’d forgotten he was in the room with her.

“You were right. She identified the body.”

“What did I tell you? Walter Newell is dead. Satisfied?”

“Tell me again, who was the man who was here last night and what were you talking about?”

“He’s . . .” Frank took a deep breath. “Emmy, I really can’t. Attorney-client privilege and all that. But this much I can tell you.” He looked up, as if the explanation were etched in the ceiling. “He’s not my client. He’s Ryan’s. He’s the son of a CEO we’ve worked with before. Deep pockets, or we’d never have touched his case. Drives around in that truck trying to look like Joe the Plumber. Bottom line? Guy’s a jerk. Suing his neighbor, or at least I think that’s what he’s up to this time. All I know is, he agreed to the settlement and now he’s balking at the nondisclosure and the contingency fee. As often as he sues people, you’d think he’d know the drill. Litigation costs.”

“What’s his name?”

“Come on. You know I can’t tell you that.”

Frank wasn’t usually this circumspect about their clients. “If he’s Ryan’s client, how come he wasn’t at Ryan’s house, threatening him?”

Frank poured some more coffee into his cup, took a sip, and grimaced. “He wasn’t threatening anyone.”

“He was. I heard him.”

Lila appeared in the doorway. “I heard him, too.”

“Good morning, Lila,” Frank said with a tight smile.

“We almost called the police,” Lila said. She crossed the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee.

“I’m sorry if he upset you, but there was no need to be concerned. Asshole clients are a dime a dozen.” Frank waved his cup in Lila’s direction. “If I reported them, I’d be out of business. The guy just needed to vent.” He rubbed his chin. “And I need to shave.” He put his coffee cup in the sink and left the room.