“Point taken. Let’s instead say it’s possible that Brown wasn’t happy to see Drew because of his recent retirement.” She paused. “What we need to know is how those two men got along. Yes, it seems that Brown got along with everyone, but we need some specifics with Drew.”

“And we need to know why Drew was riding his bike in front of Brown’s house.”

Tabitha laughed. “You make it sound like he was a six-year-old, waiting for Jimmy to come out and play.”

I grinned at the visual. “Maybe it’s that simple. Maybe Lindy just didn’t know that Brown and Drew were riding together.” It seemed reasonable. “Maybe we can—hey!”

“Excuse me?”

“Not you. Eddie.” Because my cat had chosen that moment to sink his teeth deep into my hardly-ever-used checkbook and haul it across the table. “He has a thing for paper products. This time it’s my checkbook.”

I took it away from him, much to his disgust, and tucked it into a cabinet drawer. “Sorry about that. Next step is to plan next steps for all our suspects, right?”

“Five names,” Tabitha said. “Bob, Ariella, Warren, Cody, and now Drew.”

I sat back down and, since Eddie was still sprawled across my backpack, patted his head because watching his fuzzy head bob up and down always amused me. “My vote is on Warren. He just seems the type to lose his temper and lash out at whoever is nearest. Maybe . . .” I said, thinking out loud, “maybe he has something really bad going on in his life, and Brown and Emily’s take on the bike club election tipped him over the edge.”

“Possible,” Tabitha said. “Maybe even probable. But my vote is for Ariella. She has a nasty mean streak and I can see her justifying any action she takes.”

Suddenly I could see it, too. “Can I vote for two people?”

“No. And then there’s Drew and Cody and Bob. Just because we happen to like young Cody, want to believe the best of our city manager, and can’t think that a retired lieutenant colonel could be a double killer doesn’t mean anything.”

“Hang on.” The names, scenarios, and relationships were getting too complicated. “Did we ever find a connection between Brown and Emily?”

“Don’t remember. Let me check the spreadsheet.” Tabitha tapped away on her computer keyboard. “Not outside the bike club. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t one, especially since she grew up here.”

I did some mental math, frowning all the while because that’s what math did to my face. “She was about five years younger than Brown, I think. And she was an only child. No older brothers or sisters to be friends with the Bernier boys.”