Uncle Richard grinned right as the wind blew his hair to the side, giving him a manic expression. "Dropping off boxes of donations for your aunt. You?"

"I had a meeting with some friends," I said as my Uncle Richard walked toward my vehicle. To make sure he didn't associate me with the break-in I just performed at Mick's office. I pointed in the opposite direction.

He turned and narrowed his eyes. "Why are you facing this way?"

"Detour." The lie came quickly. "What are you doing?"

I flinched as he pulled his hand from the black backpack. If he pulled out a gun, I'd have to run him over with my car, and my mother would never let me forget it if I killed her brother. If she ever found out I was investigating him for cheating, she'd kill me. Either way, I didn't get out of this case alive.

I hoped my Aunt Claire was happy with herself if she got her favorite niece killed.

"Oh, I picked up this backpack for the school program. Never too early to start on our biggest fundraiser," he said as he adjusted the backpack on his back.

May seemed early. "Right."

No point in asking more questions since he'd proven he'd lie about his answers. Only one of us should lie at a time, and I'd already started the conversation with one. That meant I had dibs.

"Well, I need to get home to Broadrick. I'm working on this big case," I said, tapping the steering wheel.

"Yeah, your mom told me about the bunny." Uncle Richard smiled. It pulled at his cheeks and seemed so real. If I didn't know he was a lying jerkwad, I'd believe everything he said. Hell, I had believed him for years. Aunt Claire had fallen for his cunning ways, too. "You and Broadrick should come over for dinner this week."

"Oh..." I searched my brain for a good lie. Nothing came to me in time. "This week I'm swamped. I have to wash my hair. Broadrick has that war injury he's still healing from."

Uncle Richard's smile twisted into a frown. "Broadrick's injured?"

Oh shit.

Now he'd ask my mother, and then she'd yell at me for not telling her. But like Broadrick said, the wound wasn't that big. Plus, if she found out, she'd be at the house all the time or asking questions. The phone calls. I couldn't mentally handle her finding out.

I laughed, a little too hard. "No, he's fine. Stubbed his toe getting off the plane, but you know how those macho GI Joe types are. Big babies."

He chuckled. "I've always wondered, but you should bring him over. Claire increased the grocery budget, so no more meatless Mondays."

I swear his eyes watered in happiness as he said it.

"What's a... meatless Monday?" I shook my head and hand at the same time. "Never mind. I'm good."

I didn't know what a meatless Monday was, but if my aunt came up with it, I probably didn't want the details. Once she tried to go gluten-free for the health benefits, but then a month later my mother caught her eating a dinner bun down the bread aisle at the grocery store. I didn't want to catch her in the woods eating a moose or something.

He walked back to the sidewalk, and I drove off, both of us waving. My phone buzzed with a message from Katy.

KATY: Frasier sent me notice. He's leaving the diner.

VONNIE: Thanks!

Since I'd already left, the only surprise he'd find was Eric and his girlfriend. The image caused me to shudder. Either way, I didn't think he planned to return to the office. Ever again.

To multitask, I called the number on the card from Mick's desk as I drove to Pelican Bay.

It rang twice before a woman answered. "Hello, can I help you?"

"Hi, yes. I'm looking for Shiela."

"Speaking," she said, sounding rushed or annoyed. They were often similar.

Shit. I sped up as the speed limit increased, and I realized that I never planned out what I wanted to say. I'd used up all my lies with Richard, so I hoped the truth worked. Otherwise, I'd need a plan B.

"I found your name and number on my mentor's desk. Mick Darcy. Did you know him?"

She sucked in a breath. "Yes, I can't believe what happened to him. Do you know the police in Pelican Bay won't give any details to our paper or the police in Clearwater? They won't share anything. That town has always been so full of themselves."

"Yeah, they're stingy like that." I'd been hitting brick walls in that police department for years, and it hadn't changed even after I helped put the old chief in jail. You'd think Anderson would throw me some bones since I'd practically gotten him promoted to chief. "Was he investigating something for you?"

She laughed just once, but it sounded like it mostly came out of her nose. "No, nothing like that. Mick volunteered to teach our scout troop about fingerprints. They need it to earn the investigator's badge."

"Oh. Wow. That was nice of him." Who knew Mick had nice in him? Or that he liked kids? At least enough to help them earn a merit badge. Underneath those fedoras, Mick had an onion worth of layers.

"Yes, it was," she said, sounding sadly wistful again. "Now that he's passed, I asked his partner, but Frasier doesn't have time before he leaves. I'm not sure what we're going to do."

"The kids are looking forward to it?" I was never in scouts, but I'd have loved a badge where I got to investigate people. Maybe throw someone in fake jail. Take fingerprints and then handcuff people.

"Everyone wanted to take their fingerprints. They can't move to the next rank until we finish this badge."

I opened my mouth, and the words came out before I realized what I was saying. By then, it was too late to take it back. "I can teach them."

She paused, and I waited, half of me begging her to say yes and the other wishing for a no. "I appreciate the offer, but we need someone with experience to teach the class and sign off on their cards."

Rather than grip on to the rejection, I rolled down the window and let it flutter past me. "I've got loads of experience. I've been working under Mick since I graduated from college. Just opened my practice in Pelican Bay."

"You have? Mick didn't mention anyone else besides Frasier working with him. Where is your office?"

"In the new Kensington building right downtown. Have you been?" It wasn't a lie. I had an office there right at the moment.

"No," she said, stretching out the syllable. "But I've seen it from the road."

Obviously, I had to sweeten the pot. "I can also bring a current Navy SEAL with me."

"Do SEALs take fingerprints?" she asked.

I drove past the pelican, almost into town. "Yeah. All the time. He's a pro and loves to share his knowledge." Broadrick had more secrets than Fort Knox, but we didn't need to tell the kids those, anyway. Also, I'd have to find him a website to read up on fingerprints before he joined me on our newest adventure.

"Okay," she said, sounding bright. "Let me talk to my co-leader and we'll get back to you with some dates that will work. I'd like to finish it before school lets out for the year."

"Great," I said back to kicking myself. What in the hell was I thinking? I didn't have time to teach a class about fingerprints before school let out. I had murders to solve first.

"Can I reach you at this number?" she asked.

I slowed as I passed the high school. "Absolutely. Let me know a time and I'll be there."

If I survived breaking the news to Broadrick.

We hung up with another promise from Shiela that she'd be in contact soon, and I waved to Officer Bradley from his hidden post at the start of the official downtown section of Main Street. Thankfully, I'd already slowed to twenty-five before getting there. They loved to catch people who hadn't slammed on the breaks before their abrupt twenty-mile-an-hour decrease.

Half their budget came from catching speeders on the main drag of town.

I sped up as I turned into my street and whistled as I parked next to Broadrick's motorcycle. The truck was missing, which meant he probably wasn't inside either. Man, an entire afternoon to myself. What would I fill it with?

The last two days had given me new clues about Mick's death, and I wanted to process them to see which pieces didn't fit. I did my best thinking while shopping. It always worked great for me. Not so much for the bank account.

"NB, I'm home," I called as I opened the front door. The little brown and white Jack Russell supermanned off the couch and rushed at me. "What a good boy. You didn't escape today. Good job."

I gave him lots of head scratches. He'd made it an entire week without sneaking out of the house to hunt down Katy for treats and dress-up time. That deserved a treat.

"Okay, let's go," I said to NB, pulling his leash off the hook by the door.

He saw the action and his jumping increased. A bark of excitement sent Mr. Jasper fleeing in his cage to hide under his fake hut.

"Treats for you too, Jasper." He'd stayed in his cage for an entire day. "Treats for everyone."

I headed to the fridge to grab his bag of carrots and then suited up with the bunny carrier. Five minutes later, NB finished watering the bushes in front of the house, and I had us all strapped into the car.

**

The fluorescent lights in the pet store outside of Pelican Bay made Jasper's hair a dingy brown. "Don't worry, buddy. They don't do anyone any favors."

NB led us down the toy aisle, making sure he sniffed each one on the lowest rack. We had a system, so I let him do his shopping while I fed Mr. Jasper a carrot. He bounced along with each of my steps, the harness keeping him attached to my chest holding strong. The bunny nibbled away as NB finally selected a long, bright green dog with a squeaker in the middle of his body. The thing resembled a stretched-out weaner dog.

"Really? Another one of those?" I double-checked with him. He'd already destroyed two of them last month. NB snapped his teeth around the middle, sending out a burst of squeaks. "Okay, you've spoken."