That gets my attention. “What do you mean? At the scene, she was calm, almost numb.” I tilt my head, remembering “No . . . no, it was more than that, if that makes sense. She was just watching, and then, when she saw me looking at her, she went hysterical. Like wailing dramatics, all for show.”

“When she came to see me, she was almost annoyed by the whole process,” Blake says. “Like she had a car salesman waiting on the check or something. Definitely not the grieving widow. My exact thought was that her inner theme song was, heyyy, must be the mon-ayyy! and I believe that even more after she went full-throttle and started threatening lawsuits to get the money faster.”

My eyes nearly bug out of my head. “People do that?”

Blake shrugs, unconcerned. “Yeah. I won’t say it happens a lot, but it’s not my first time seeing it.”

We stare at each other for a long moment and I whisper what I think we’re both thinking, “Suspicious, at best.”

Blake raises one brow and adds dramatically, “Murder, at worst.”

I laugh, smacking gently at his arm. “I wouldn’t jump that far ahead. We don’t have anything to back that up.”

“The facts, ma’am,” he deadpans. “Just the facts.”

Pointing at the paper in his hand, I agree. “Exactly.”

“So, now what?”

The question makes me stop. I’d love to say this is where Jeff takes over, but I’ve never had a case that was actual suspicious foul play before. I’ve dealt with too many car accidents and two suicides that were clear even without my work. Other than that, I proclaim death and do autopsies so families can get some closure, but it’s always been a pretty straightforward case.

There was a hunting accident once where we needed to be sure it was an actual accident, but again, my part was relatively simple. I pointed out where the bullet entered, the bullet lodged, and left the rest to the detectives. A member of the team, but not the driving force. That’s always Jeff.

I suspect that if there were a clear murder, Sheriff Barnes wouldn’t even call me, he’d call the State Police. We’re just too country out here in Williamson County for that.

“You know anything about investigation?” I ask hopefully.

Blake shakes his head slowly but then grins. “Nope, but I bet two smart people like us know a lot about research.”

He’s right. I’ve written dozens of research papers, read hundreds, and I keep current on everything I can get my hands on in the forensic sciences. It’s not the same as what the sheriff does, but it’s a start.

“Let’s do it.”