Betrayed (Rosato & DiNunzio, #2)(16)

Aunt Barb gasped, horrified. “Wait. What? You’re going to do an autopsy on Iris?”

“Yes.” Detective Boone pursed his lips, and his jowls fell into sober lines. “I know it’s, uh, distasteful, but it’s standard procedure in a case like this.”

“Oh no.” Aunt Barb covered her face with her hands, and Judy put her hand on her aunt’s shoulder, looking at Detective Boone.

“Thanks for your time. I think I’ll take my aunt home now.”

“Sure, sorry about your loss.” Detective Boone gave a short wave, then turned away, and Judy walked around the VW, climbed into the driver’s seat, and looked over at her aunt.

“I’m sorry.”

“Thanks.” Aunt Barb gave her nose a final blow. “Let’s get out of here.”

“I agree.” Judy put on her shoulder harness, twisted the key in the ignition, released the brake, and hit the gas, turning the car around to put the coroner’s van behind them. “I go straight, right?”

“Yes, and I’ll tell you when to turn left.”

“But we went straight to get here, didn’t we?” Judy glanced over.

“I know, but we’re not going home yet.”





Chapter Eight

“Where are we going?” Judy asked, worried.

“Mike’s Exotics, where Iris worked. I want to see if she went in today. I want to find out what happened.”

“Do you really feel up to that, right now?”

“Yes, and I don’t want to let it wait.” Aunt Barb stowed her Kleenex in her pocket and straightened in the passenger seat. “She would still be on shift, so they should be there. I want to talk to her boss. His name is Julio, and I met him once when I dropped her off, because her car was in the shop.” Aunt Barb pointed to the left. “This is the turn, up ahead.”

“But you’re tired. Maybe we should go home.” Judy spotted the break in the cornfield on the left, but there was no street sign.

“No, I’m fine, and what’s the point of putting it off?”

“You could sleep and get your feet under you, emotionally. You just got blindsided in the worst possible way.”

“But I only have the weekend. The mastectomy is Monday.”

“We can go tomorrow.”

“Julio might not be on the job tomorrow and he’s the one I want to talk to. I won’t sleep if I don’t understand what happened to her.” Aunt Barb turned her face to the window, but there was nothing to see in the dark.

“What is it you think happened?” Judy turned left onto another long country road. Bugs flew from the gloom into their headlights, making tink tink sounds when they hit the glass.

“I don’t know. I only know that what I’m hearing doesn’t make sense. She didn’t have any heart issues.”

“What’s the LCD you keep mentioning?”

“It’s the health service in Kennett Square, that the undocumented use.”

“So it can’t be the best medical care, can it? She could have had heart issues and not known it.”

“But she was strong, and able, and hard-working. And what about the car window? And the nails? And that phone call, the way she acted afterwards?”

“Those are strange little details, but they don’t necessarily mean anything.” Judy regretted having brought any of it up. “It’s not as if there was any sign of foul play.”

“I know that. I’m not saying that.”

“Then what are you saying?” Judy asked, her tone gentle as they drove into the dark.

“I’m just saying that if I can ask a few more questions, so that I have answers when I put my head down on the pillow tonight, I think it makes sense to do so.”

“I agree, but I think Detective Boone will follow up. It’s police business, and he seemed pretty good.”

“I think he will, too, but I’m not about to sit on my hands. Besides, since when do you care if something is police business? That never stopped you or Mary.”

“Except that she’s getting married.” Judy thought back to the day, when she’d felt like Debbie Downer at the bridal shop. “Our days of excellent adventures might be over. She’s a partner now, too.”

“Don’t worry, you two are thick as thieves. By the way, how are you and Frank doing?”

“Great, fine.” Judy usually confided in her aunt, but didn’t want to burden her any further, with so much already on her plate.

“Thinking about getting married?”

“Maybe.”

“Take your time, there’s no rush. Sometimes when your friends get married, it puts pressure, but it shouldn’t.” Aunt Barb paused, musing. “Though I hated it when your mother got married before me. Everybody knows I’m nicer.”

Judy smiled as they passed a dark barn with a tall blue silo. “But she’s older than you. She would have hated it if you got married before her, wouldn’t she have?”

“Honey, let me tell you. Marriage was not on that girl’s mind. She liked the bad boys in high school. You wouldn’t know it to look at her now, but she’s where you get your wild side.”

Judy chuckled, then thought of her mother, waiting for them at home. “Aunt Barb, how long do you expect this will take? I’m trying to decide if we should let her know we’ll be late.”