A High-End Finish(17)

“Good. Because it’s not me.”

The door opened and I recognized Sally, a longtime member of the police force, standing there. “Hey, Shannon.”

I waved.

She turned to Chief Jensen. “Chief, can I see you out here for a minute?”

For the third time, Jensen left the room. Ten minutes passed and I was getting more nervous by the second. I stood and paced, feeling like a jailbird.

But after another minute of circling the room, I realized I was wasting my time. Rather than worry and complain, I needed to sit down and figure out for myself who in the world had killed Jerry Saxton.

The problem was, all the circumstantial evidence pointed directly at me. My biggest fear was that Chief Jensen would take the lazy way out and arrest me without delving any deeper.

Frankly, he looked like the furthest thing from lazy, but that didn’t matter. He obviously considered me a person of interest, so how was I supposed to convince him that I wasn’t? There was only one way. I knew I hadn’t killed Jerry, so it was up to me to figure out who had.

When I met with the girls last Friday, Marigold had suggested that there might be another woman out there who had suffered from Jerry’s cruelty. And Penny Wells, the loan agent at the bank, didn’t like him, either. Were there others? Maybe one of those women had wanted revenge. Or maybe one of them had a husband or a father who was angry enough to do the job for her.

It wouldn’t be too hard to find some answers. Between my girlfriends and me, we knew most of the people in town. We would just have to ask the right ones the right questions. Not that I was anxious to accuse anyone else of being a murderer, but at least I could deflect the chief’s focus from me. Now if only I could escape this interrogation room and get started.

Another five minutes passed and I was considering my chances of making a run for it, when the chief strolled back in, as casual as could be.

“Look, Chief Jensen, I—”

“You’re free to go, Ms. Hammer.”

I blinked in surprise. “What? Why?”

He showed the barest hint of a grin. “Did you want to stick around?”

“No, it’s just that—”

“We could tidy up one of the cells for you.”

“No, but thanks. I’m happy to leave, but I’m a little confused. What happened? Did you find the killer? Did someone confess?”

“Not yet,” he said. “Now, you ought to get going before I change my mind.”

“Jeez.” I scowled as I grabbed my purse off the back of the chair. “I’m going.”

Before I could make it out the door, he said, “And don’t leave town.”

I turned and glared at him. “Seriously? I was born here, I live here, and I work here. I have friends and family here, so I’m not going anywhere. And, by the way, I’m not guilty of whatever you think I did.”

He actually smiled at me. “That was sort of a joke. I don’t actually think you’ll take off.”

I tried to cool my jets. “So that was what—cop humor?”

“Something like that.” His smile broadened and it was a sight worth waiting for.

“Oo-kay then.” I gave a little wave. “I’ll see you around.”

“No doubt.”

I walked out and took a deep breath of freedom. When I saw Tommy kibitzing with another cop by the front counter, I grabbed his arm. “Walk me to my car.”

“Huh? What?”

I dragged him outside, and when we got to my car, I turned on him. “What’s going on? Why did he let me go? Did you find the killer?”

“Slow down, Shan,” Tommy said. “You know I can’t tell you anything.”

“I just spent more than two hours being grilled by that guy. Besides, you owe me, Tommy.”

He looked uncomfortable. “Yeah, sorry about that. When I heard what you did to that guy on the beach, I was damn proud of you. But I probably should’ve kept my mouth shut.”

I couldn’t disagree. But to be fair to Tommy, Thor had admitted he’d already heard the story from someone else. “Just tell me what’s going on. I have a right to know and I won’t get anything out of your irascible boss.”

“He’s cool, right? Did you know he surfs?”

My eyes widened in mock amazement. “That’s so awesome, Tommy.”

He laughed. “I know you don’t care. But I gotta tell you, it’s great to have a regular guy in charge after all those years with old stick-up-his-butt Raymond.”

“I’m glad you’re happy,” I said, and meant it. “But can you just tell me why he let me go?” I wanted to know whether to keep looking over my shoulder or not.

Tommy glanced around the parking lot, as if someone might be eavesdropping. Finally, he whispered, “The coroner just called with his preliminary report. He thinks the body’s been lying there in that basement since around nine o’clock last night. You’ve got an alibi for that time frame. Lizzie told us you were at her house from six until about midnight.”

“We had dinner and then watched a movie,” I said, remembering how the girls had teased me about my big Saturday-night plans with Lizzie and Hal and the kids.

But Lizzie was one of my best friends. Why would Jensen believe her? I asked Tommy that very thing.