The next morning, at seven thirty precisely, there were four people seated around the sheriff’s office’s scratched and scarred laminate interview room table. Detective Hal Inwood, who was intently not looking at his wife of many years. Tabitha Inwood, who was staring daggers at her husband. Deputy Ash Wolverson, who was studiously avoiding looking at anyone. And Minnie Hamilton, who was doing her best to ignore the marital undercurrents in the hopes of some actual communication and potential collaboration.

“So,” I said cheerfully. “Nice to see the sun, isn’t it?”

In response, I received two Inwood glares and one quick flick of what looked like a warning from Ash.

Okay, so small talk was out. I took a deep breath. It didn’t matter what was going on between Tabitha and Hal. What mattered was catching a killer. “Here’s what my friend here and I have found out,” I said.

Hal muttered something that sounded a lot like, “I knew those two getting together would be trouble,” but I chose to ignore his ridiculous statement and went ahead.

“We’ve found five suspects.” I looked at Ash and then pointedly swiveled my gaze to stare at his notepad, which lay on the table, unopened. “Five,” I repeated, but the only movement he made was to switch his attention from the tabletop to the wall behind my head.

“Ash,” I said, starting to get irritated. “You do realize that I might have something of value to say, right?”

Hal stirred. “And when you do, we’ll take note of it.”

Next to me, I felt Tabitha stiffen. Before she could launch herself across the table at him, or even open her mouth to berate him verbally, I jumped ahead.

“We assumed you’d be looking at the spouses as potential suspects, so we’ve left Lindy and Emily’s husband alone.” I might have heard Hal’s eyes roll around in his head but kept talking.

“What we wanted you to know is that Bob, Brown’s brother, has been spending a lot of time with Lindy. A lot of time. And he’s never been married. Not even once.”

A ghost of a whisper came from across the table. “Lucky man.”

“Then,” I said quickly, “there’s Ariella Tice. And Cody Sisk. Ariella used to work for the city. You know, with Brown? She was fired right before he retired and she got all up in his face about it. Plus, she and Emily had a big argument when Emily came into city hall, an argument that helped get Ariella fired. And Cody Sisk? He owns Paddles & Pedals, the kayak and bike shop here in town. Both Emily and Brown bought expensive bikes from him on installment, and neither one was prompt with the payments. Cody practically turns green when either one of their names is mentioned.”

I waited, but neither man said a word. Fine. I’d continue without their encouragement.