“We got stranded at Cole’s place last night,” Lily said, moving to the coffeepot. She was dressed in fresh clothes—tan suede leggings and a creamy white loose blouse that she made look fashionable with a wide leather belt that matched her boots. She looked very put together for someone who got caught at Cole’s house because of the storm.
“So have you moved in yet?” Emmy Lu asked, obviously coming to the same conclusion. “You’ve obviously brought over more than a toothbrush.”
“We’ve got drawer space,” Lily said. “And some closet space. It’s more convenient, especially since his hours are erratic. Did you run into something with your neck? Maybe some teeth?”
Sheldon polished his glasses and then put them back on, eyeing Emmy Lu’s neck closely. “How do you run into teeth?” he asked.
“It’s a quandary,” Emmy Lu said, tugging up the collar of her shirt and narrowing her eyes at Lily. Lily just smiled and took a donut.
“How’s Doug?” Lily asked. “Cole told me about what happened last night.”
“What happened?” Emmy Lu asked. “I’m not shacked up with a cop so I’m behind on all the tea. How about you pour a hot cup?”
“What does tea have to do with shacking up with a cop?” Sheldon asked. “I’m not shacked up with a cop. Maybe I should be though. They do seem to be well informed.”
“Tea means gossip,” Lily told him. “It’s slang. And stay away from cops. They’re hard on relationships.”
Emmy Lu and I both zeroed in on Lily, and Sheldon said, “There’s irony in your warning. You’re in a relationship with a cop.” The confusion on his face was real.
Lily smiled sweetly and said, “That’s because I like a challenge, and I’ve got a hard head. A lady cop would tear you up and spit you out. We’ll go meet Annie today at the shipping store. Trust me on this.”
“Hello,” Emmy Lu said dramatically. “This is me standing here with no tea. Would someone please tell me what happened to Doug?”
“Drive-by shooting at Old Towne,” I told her.
She gasped and put her hand to her chest. “Ohmigosh.”
“He’s okay,” I assured her. “Doug and his date and a few other people were standing under the marquee after the movie and this car pulls up and opens fire. Then they sped off.”
Emmy Lu shook her head in disbelief. “This world is going to hell in a handbasket. Have they caught him?”
“Not that I know of,” I said. “Both victims died at the scene. I’ve got them in the cooler downstairs, so that’s what my morning looks like.”
“You’ve got an incoming from the hospital too,” Emmy Lu said. “Louise Chalmers. Eighty years old. Natural causes. Family asked for her to be transported in. I’ve got a call in to set up an appointment and see to the funeral details, but I don’t have an idea for when the body will arrive. Things are kind of backlogged with the weather.”
“Okay,” I said. “Sheldon can handle her when she comes in. I need to get started on the autopsies and get everything back to Jack.”
“I’ve got some reading to do in between work,” Lily said. “I’ve got a body farm weekend coming up, so I’ll fly out Thursday night and be back at work Tuesday morning.”
“You’re good for a little while,” I told her. “You can use my office if you want. I’ll let you know if we get busy. People tend to die on days like this when it’s most inconvenient.”
“At least it’s not a full moon,” Emmy Lu said.
“Did you know in the Middle Ages scientists thought full moons triggered seizures and other psychotic episodes?” Sheldon asked. He eyed the last donut and then snatched it quickly before he could change his mind. “That’s where the term lunatics came from. It means moon sick.”
“Fascinating,” Emmy Lu said. “Let’s hope the lunatics stay home today.”
Chapter Ten
I left the others with their coffee and donuts and headed down to the lab to get started on the autopsies. Before I rolled the first body from the cooler, I stopped to look up the number for the theater in Newcastle.
“Rick Early, please,” I said when a woman answered the phone.
I waited less than a minute before his voice came on the line. “This is Rick.”
“This is Dr. Graves with the coroner’s office,” I said. “We spoke yesterday.”
“Of course,” he said. “Have you found out anything new?”
“We’re still investigating,” I said. “Do you happen to know who Juliet dated right before Peter Trest?”
“Oh, sure,” he said. “That was Bruno Corelli.”
“For real?” I asked, making Rick chuckle. “There’s no Bruno on the list you gave me.”
“Antonio,” he said. “I think Bruno is his middle name. That’s what he goes by. And his and Juliet’s relationship didn’t last long. Bruno’s a hothead and he’s the jealous type. I think Juliet put up with it a couple of weeks before she dropped him. He kept pushing for her to leave her husband, and she always made it very clear she had no intention of doing that.”
“Did she leave Bruno for Trest?” I asked.
“I don’t think so,” Rick said. “If I recall, if was actually a while before anyone found out about Trest. He doesn’t make it a habit of dating local women. He’s kind of high profile. But someone saw her coming out of his studio in the middle of the night, so the cat was kind of out of the bag at that point.”
“I guess so,” I said. Someone was trying to call and I took the phone away from my ear long enough to see it was Jack. “Thanks for your help, Rick. I’ve got another call I’ve got to take.”
“Any time,” he said, and I answered Jack’s call before it went to voicemail.
“Are you wrist deep in autopsies?” he asked. “I was hoping to catch you before you started.”
“I’ve been at work an hour,” I said. “Why would you assume I hadn’t started yet?”
“Cause I ran into Tom Daly this morning and he mentioned that he gave Emmy Lu a couple of dozen donuts to bring to work.”
“That dirty snitch,” I said, mouth dropping open. “Did he mention that Emmy Lu stayed the night with him?”
Jack laughed. “No, he didn’t mention that. I just wanted to call and tell you we found the car.”
“From last night?” I asked, dropping into my desk chair. “What about the shooter?”
“We found the car out on Cromwell Street. It washed out and was blocking traffic. No sign of the driver, but we did find the gun inside the glove box.”
“Cromwell is in the middle of nowhere,” I said. “Where would he have gone in this kind of weather at that time of night?”
“We found some pretty deep tracks in the mud,” Jack said. “Must have been a truck or something with a pretty sizeable weight. The rain would’ve covered up regular tire tracks, but we could still see these. Won’t be able to get anything but photographs though until things dry out some.”