A Dreadful Meow-ment (MEOW FOR MURDER Book 2), стр. 30

The truth is, most of those girls I grew up with married decent men with honest careers while I was stuck with Johnny Rizzo, laundering dirty money and doubling down on my carb addiction.

What I wouldn’t do for a good jelly donut right about now.

The interior of this hall of justice consists of white floors, bland walls, and stainless counters. It’s about as welcoming as a morgue, and I’m just as anxious to leave this place as I would be that one.

A smattering of deputies in tan uniforms mill around the vicinity, but it’s the bald one doing a double take in our direction that calls us over with an enthusiastic wave.

It’s Lloyd Jackson in all his beefy glory. His arms are so muscular it looks as if he inflated his biceps with a bicycle pump. With his sleeves rolled up, you can see the veins bulging under his creamy marble-like skin, and as soon as he sees me checking out his guns, he gives a cheesy wink my way.

Great. He’s going to think Shep’s fiancée has a wandering eye.

Little does he know Shep’s entire body is free to wander wherever it wants with whomever it pleases. And how I hate the idea of any part of him wandering away with Hilary.

Lloyd belts out a friendly laugh. “Well, if it isn’t Shepherd Pie and his better half. How’s it going, you two?” He winks my way. “You’re not here to turn yourself in, are ya?” A riotous laugh bellows from him as he gives me a friendly pat and his cologne smells sweet and fruity, nothing at all like the manly spiced scent that Shep holds.

“No,” I flatline. “If I were to commit a crime, it wouldn’t be anything as sophisticated as murder. I’m sure it’d be something a lot goofier, along the lines of embezzlement or money laundering.” It would involve the feds, the mob, and an idiot ex named Johnny Rizzo who filled my head with dreams of stealing our way to the lifestyles of the rich and infamous. He got the infamous part right—only I was too stupid to know what it meant at the time.

Lloyd shoots me with his fingers. “I won’t say a word to Opal.” He nods to Shep. “What’s going on?”

Shep glances to the left where a large blue sign reads Homicide Division.

“Nora asked me to swing by, so here I am.” His chest expands at the thought before he reverts his attention back to Lloyd. “So how’s the case?”

Lloyd blows out a breath. “It’s moving.” He sobers up as he leans in toward Shep. “Let’s just say, the deeper I dig, the more I’m not liking what I see.”

“Which suspect?” Shep doesn’t hesitate asking.

Lloyd twitches his head to the side. “You know who.”

I suck in a quick breath. “James?” I couldn’t help but interject.

Lloyd was at the café the other day and he all but implied James could have pulled the trigger. It makes sense. James is packing heat, seeing that he’s a deputy right at this very sheriff’s department. And Lloyd did mention the fact Craig invested in a maple farm that James bought off his brother.

Lloyd offers a somber nod my way.

“Wow”—I blink back at the thought—“I know you mentioned they were locking horns over the maple farm. But could something like that really bring out the killer in someone? Let alone an officer of the law?”

Shep gives a reluctant nod. “You’d be surprised, Bowie. Just about anybody can be pushed to the brink.”

“That’s right.” Lloyd looks my way. “But don’t you worry. You’re not a serious suspect on the list. I’m sure it’s still on your mind, and I don’t want you losing any sleep over it. It’s just a technicality, seeing that you found the body.” He grimaces. “And that you had blood on your gown.”

Shep rumbles out a dry laugh. “Don’t worry, Bowie. I’ll vouch for you.” He twists his lips toward his old friend. “What about any physical evidence on Craig? Any unusual fibers on his clothes? Stray hairs? Foreign tissue underneath his fingernails?”

Lloyd shakes his head. “No. And I’m working very closely with Nora to ensure not a thread of evidence goes unnoticed.”

“What about the lipstick?” I ask. “The gold tube that was a few feet from his body? I mean, the killer could have been a woman, and it could have fallen out of her purse as she made a getaway.”

Lloyd chuckles at the thought. “I don’t know about any lipstick. If it was there, it wasn’t collected as evidence. But my guess is a woman from the reunion dropped it.”

“Oh right.” I give a little shrug. “That’s what Nora said when I pointed it out.”

Strange how it never made its way into evidence. Why would the sheriff’s department choose to dismiss a tube of lipstick found near the body? Isn’t everything within a certain vicinity admissible evidence in a case like this? I’m no pro, but I bet if it were a jock strap nearby that would have made the front page of the paper. Sounds like chauvinistic investigating if you ask me.

Shep lifts his chin toward his old buddy. “Hilary mentioned the funeral is this Friday.”

“That it is.” Lloyd closes his eyes a moment. “It’ll be held over at the True Life Chapel in Maple Grove—one in the afternoon. The sheriff’s department is pitching in for a taco bar in the church hall.” He gives Shep’s stomach a playful smack. “Don’t miss it, buddy. I made sure it’s all-you-can-eat.” He looks my way. “Nobody loved tacos more than our buddy Craig.”

“Sounds like he had great taste.” I bite down on my lip a moment as something Hilary said during Stitch Witchery comes to mind. “Lloyd? You seem pretty confident that James and Craig were at odds. You don’t think they were fighting over a woman, do you?”

He takes a deep breath. “Could’ve been.” He glances over my shoulder as his eyes grow vacant. “Come to think of it, Craig