The beauty of a good lie was that it was the truth, just paired down to the bare bones, but you kept the fleshy meat part to yourself.

“Have you seen the news lately?” Hanson said.

“I catch it when I can. Why?”

“Have you seen the reports about the Chameleon Killer,” Hanson asked, and Margaret looked like she was going to leap on him and throttle the man.

“You mean the one about the bodies left all carved up?” I forced myself to shiver and chugged the rest of the beer. “Like I said, the news can be depressing, and the world has gone mad.”

“So you don’t know anyone that lives in the area you’d suspect?”

“Of being a killer? Well, hell, I sure hope not. I mean, that would freak me out if I thought I was living beside a murderer. You’d have gotten a call from me a long time ago,” I said, tossed the bottle into the recycling bin under the cupboard, and leaned against the counter again. Both sets of eyes followed my movement as if hoping I’d simply toss it out in the garbage where they could take it for testing.

“That’s an interesting tattoo you have on your neck,” Margaret said, pointing with her pen.

I turned to show off the clown for them.

“Huge Joker fan. Listen, did you have anything else you wanted to talk about? I should really finish up this car before….” The gate buzzer sounded, and I shrugged. “Too late. She’s here.” Wandering over to the panel, I pressed the button to speak. “Is that you, Betty,” I asked cheerfully.

“You know it is. I’m never late.” The older female’s voice squawked through the speaker. I flipped the open switch and walked over to Lawson and Hanson.

“I’m sorry, but I better go, or she’s never going to speak to me again if her car isn’t finished, but feel free to come by anytime with more questions. I’m always happy to help.”

Margaret held out a business card. “Give us a call if you think of anything that may help.”

“Will do.”

“Oh, by the way, are you married?”

“That’s a pretty forward question. Are you asking me out?” I lifted the corner of my mouth in what I hoped came off as a flirty grin. Margaret’s face flushed, and considering I knew what her extracurriculars entailed, I wasn’t sure if it was embarrassment that made her cheeks red or something else. “No, I’m not so lucky, but there’s a girl I’m seeing, and she’s like a ray of sunshine. So keep your fingers crossed that things work out for me.”