“No.” Tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry. I know that’s really unhelpful.”

“It’s all right.” I could tell it grated on Nate to comfort her, but he’d fallen into the role of sturdy, reliable cop, and that meant more to him than any dislike of Kennedy. “Could you tell whether it was a man or woman?”

Her teeth sank into her lower lip. I stared, certain that she was going to puncture it at any moment. “A man, I think, but they were using something to mask their voice, so I can’t be certain.”

Nate made a note. “So you received a call from a private number. The caller told you they’d left you a gift. You then proceeded out here and found the box?” He gestured toward the package. “Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Nate pocketed the notepad. “A constable is on his way with Snuffles, who is a trained bomb and drug detection dog. Once he’s cleared the scene, we’ll open it and see what we’re dealing with.”

If possible, Kennedy paled further. “B-bomb?” she stammered. “Surely there’s no way….”

Grace wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “It’s probably just a precaution.”

“There’s no need for a dog,” Desdemona announced. “It’s not a bomb.”

Nate rolled his eyes. While he liked Grace’s aunt, I knew he didn’t have much patience for her theatrics. “Better safe than sorry.”

While we waited for the constable and Snuffles to show up, I joined Kennedy. “You okay?”

She made an unhappy sound. “I’m sorry I disturbed your family lunch. I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.”

At that, I snorted. “Some crazy person left you a mysterious gift, and you don’t think you should be worried?”

She shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened. It’s probably something unpleasant but not illegal. Dirty photos, a bottle of wine, a love letter—you know what I mean.”

I frowned at her cavalier attitude. “You get that kind of stuff?”

“Oh yeah, all the time. But my assistant has always intercepted it before now.”

Anger began to simmer low in my gut. What kind of world did we live in that assholes thought it was all right to harass people simply because they’d seen them on TV?

“I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with that.”

She glanced at me, her eyes widening. “Thank you.”

It almost seemed like she might add something more, but at that moment, a car pulled up, and Constable Shaun Trafalgar led an excited Snuffles down the path. Shaun was wearing shorts and a T-shirt with cartoon reindeer printed on the front, suggesting he’d also been summoned from a casual Christmas event.

“Thanks for coming,” Nate said, then turned to the rest of us. “Please keep your distance so Snuffles has space to work.”