A High-End Finish(16)

“You must’ve been pretty angry to resort to threatening him with murder.”

“Haven’t you ever been that furious with someone?”

“No.”

I scoffed. “I don’t believe you.”

His eyes narrowed. “I’m a sworn officer of the law. We never lie.”

I couldn’t help it. I started to laugh.

“You don’t believe me?”

“No,” I said, still laughing.

He pursed his lips and watched me without saying anything. It was so unnerving, I wanted to shake him. But then I spotted what might’ve been a twinkle in his eye. So maybe he was kidding around with me? I hoped so, but, darn, the man had a devastating poker face.

“Where were we?” I asked.

“Were you angry?”

“Oh yes.” I paused, wondering how much I should say and decided to go with the honest truth. “I was very angry. I was furious. And scared. He was a big, vicious jerk. He expected me to fall into his arms because he bought me dinner? I can buy my own damn dinner, thanks.”

“I’m sure you can.”

“You bet I can. He tore my best blouse and I still have black-and-blue marks where he grabbed me. If you don’t believe me, just ask any of the dozens of witnesses who were on the pier when he attacked me. I feared for my life in that moment and I don’t have a single regret about kicking him in the . . . you know. Not that I actually kicked him there, but nobody believes me when I deny it and, besides, a bunch of people won the pool at the pub, so I don’t want to bum them out, but . . . Oh, never mind.”

I could see him biting his cheeks. To keep from laughing? I hoped so, even if he was laughing at me. I didn’t care. I couldn’t have the new police chief annoyed with me, especially since I’d been dumb enough to threaten someone who later was murdered.

He kept on taking notes, and when he finally looked up, his expression was placid. “Tell me about that pink pipe wrench left at the scene.”

I sighed. “It’s mine, obviously. Nobody else uses pink tools but me, and everyone in town knows it.”

“Why pink?”

Because I’m a girl, I wanted to say, but refrained from stating the obvious. “When I was little, my dad used to take my sister and me to work with him. I guess the construction guys thought it was cute, because they started bringing us little pink tool sets and things. Hard hats, goggles, tool belts—all pink. When I got older, Dad continued the tradition, so I’ve got pink everything. Power drills, sockets, hard hat, even a big rolling tool chest. You name it. I’ve got plenty of regular tools, too, but the pink ones are just as sturdy and the guys don’t tend to walk away with them.”

“No, I don’t suppose they would.”

“I told you I keep a set of my tools on-site.”

“You mentioned it.”

“So, I figure whoever was after Jerry just grabbed the heaviest thing he could find.”

“That’s one theory.” He smiled.

“Well, it’s a damn good one. Do you think I’d be stupid enough to use my own pink wrench as a weapon and then leave it at the scene?”

He sat back in his chair and folded his muscular arms across his impressive chest. “I think you’re far from stupid, Ms. Hammer. But I’ve got a job to do. A cold-blooded murder to solve. I’m trying to get a complete picture of what occurred in that basement so that a murderer doesn’t go free. I don’t like murder happening in my town.”

“It’s my town, too,” I grumbled. “I’ve never heard of a murder happening here before.”

“Until now.”

We stared at each other for several long seconds, until I blinked and looked away. I hated losing a staring contest, but I was getting a little freaked-out. Was he going to throw me in a cell? He wouldn’t, would he? Didn’t he know I was a completely trustworthy, lifelong resident of this town? I belonged to the Rotary Club. My company was accredited by the Better Business Bureau. I paid my bills on time and I didn’t go around killing people as a general rule. But he wouldn’t know that about me.

I reached for the small paper cup of water and took a quick sip to soothe my parched throat. “How long have you been living in Lighthouse Cove?”

He gazed at me without answering. Was I not supposed to ask him questions? I wasn’t under arrest, right? So we could have a pleasant conversation, couldn’t we? I gave him an encouraging smile.

Finally he gave in. “I moved here two months ago, right after Chief Raymond retired.”

“I’ve seen you around town. But obviously we’ve never met.”

“Guess you’ve managed to stay out of trouble until now.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. I leaned forward and clutched the edge of the table with both hands. “I’m not in trouble, Chief Jensen. Just because I was a good citizen and reported finding Jerry’s dead body doesn’t mean I killed him. I’m worried that while we’re sitting around twiddling our thumbs, the real killer’s running loose around town.”

“Twiddling our thumbs?” he said quietly.

“Metaphorically speaking.” Discomfited, I waved off the comment and sat back in the chair. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I do.” He closed his notebook. “Believe me, I’m not twiddling my thumbs, Ms. Hammer. I’ve got my entire workforce making calls or out in the field, checking into every aspect of this case. We will find the person who killed Mr. Saxton.”