“Nothing. He’s not a suspect.”

“What do you mean? He shot an unarmed woman.”

She glanced at Pearson. “Sergeant, you want to tell him what you told me?” Her tone was flat, but there was an edge to it, as if the wrong word could trigger a tripwire.

Cooper’s phone rang. He glanced at the number and jumped out of his chair. “It’s the ME.” Pearson nodded. He hurried out of the war room and into the hallway. “Ellis.”

“Detective, it’s Dr. Guthro. How are you this fine morning?”

Cooper swallowed a smile. “Wonderful. And you, doctor?”

“Just dandy. I have completed the autopsy on the decedent Salma Owen.”

“And…” Cooper sipped his coffee. After Riley’s debriefing, he doubted very much that she had died at the hands of the suspects.

“She suffered a myocardial infarct. It was very fast. Given the advanced stage of her lung cancer, she had little chance of survival.”

“Was there any sign of struggle? Choking? Battery?”

“No, detective. There were no self-defense wounds. Her petechiae were normal. She had a contusion on one hip as well as her shoulder, but these are entirely consistent with the decedent falling out of bed.” He paused. “There was a large tumor pushing into her right ventricle. The opioids in her system would have decreased her respiratory rate. She was actively dying.”

“Actively dying?”

“Yes, she was palliative. In the final phase of disease. Her body was shutting down.”

“I see. Thank you for calling.” Cooper glanced at his watch. “And for calling so promptly.”

“I started early today. I knew you were on a schedule.”

“Thank you, Dr. Guthro. You go above and beyond.”

“In more ways than one,” he said, his tone amused. “Good day, Detective.”

Cooper strode into the war room. Pearson stood at the crime scene diagram, pointing at a line marked on the property. “This is the probable path of the suspects’ entry to the house—” he broke off when he saw Cooper. “What were the autopsy results?”

“Natural causes,” Cooper said. “Mrs. Owen was very ill and had a heart attack.”

Riley nodded. “Consistent with our findings.”

Lamond bit into a bagel. “So Homicide is off the case, then.”

“That will make this morning’s interview of the two Mr. Owens very interesting,” Cooper said. “Riley, you said that there were other weapons in the house. Are they all accounted for?”

“From what we can tell.”

“When do you think you will be done processing the scene?”

Riley scanned her notes. “We should have the interior finished today.”

“Okay, we will arrange to bring the Owens to the house tomorrow to conduct an inventory to see if anything else was taken.”

“I will still be with the team working on the property. I’ll make sure there is a dedicated path for them to access the house.”

“Thanks. And it needs to include the wheelchair ramp. Mr. Owen is a paraplegic.”