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“A couple of hours,” I said, stifling a yawn.
Jack looked at his phone. “Okay, I’ll pick you up at ten and we’ll head back over to the Hargroves’.”
I gave him a half-hearted thumbs-up and opened the pastry bag. By the time I finished the bear claw I was ready to crawl out of bed and into the shower, so I took my coffee with me and stood under the spray, grateful that I could stand there as long as I wanted and not run out of hot water. I figured with the kind of taxes we paid in Virginia the city could afford a few extra bucks on their water bill.
I was thoroughly satisfied and awake by the time I finished my shower, and I dried off quickly and pulled on the clothes I’d shoved in my bag—black leggings and a soft sweater in the same gray as my eyes. All I had was my rain boots, so I put them on, ran fingers through my hair, and put on ChapStick.
It was just after seven by the time I grabbed my things and made my way out of the sheriff’s office.
I blinked my eyes several times and looked up at the sky. There was a sliver of orange sun rising through the clouds. And it wasn’t raining.
“Good Lord,” I said. “It’s the sun.”
“Tell me about it,” Riley said, passing me on the stairs. He’d already been to Lady Jane’s. He was holding two boxes of donuts and a coffee. “I’m going to have to find my sunglasses. It’s been so long since I’ve worn them I can’t remember where I put them.”
I grunted and said, “Be safe out there.” And then I waved goodbye and made my way across the street to where I’d left the Suburban.
The Towne Square was quiet and empty. The cars from the night before were gone, and all of the bars were closed. Most of the other businesses didn’t open until ten. The sunrise was almost symbolic—we’d made it through the night and into a new day.
The Suburban was where I’d left it, and I wondered if the uniforms had ever caught the streaker from the night before.
Since the streets were bare it took less than two minutes for me to get back to the funeral home and get parked under the carport. It took another two minutes for me to get my bag and get the side door unlocked.
I hung my jacket and bag up, and was humming under my breath as I made my way into the kitchen. And I almost had a heart attack when Sheldon popped up from behind the other side of the island.
“Sheldon,” I said, grabbing my chest in surprise. “You scared the life out of me.”
“It’s very rare for people to actually die of fright,” he said, blinking at me owlishly behind his thick glasses. “Do you have a preexisting heart condition?”
“Not yet,” I said. “I didn’t see your car out front.”
“Mother dropped me off on her way to bingo,” he said. “I was going to take the other Suburban to the cemetery. The Lichner funeral is this morning at ten.”
“At least the rain has stopped and the sun is out,” I told him. “Looks like Mrs. Lichner is going to get the graveside service of her dreams after all.”
“I was looking for the extra boxes of cookies,” he said. “The Wallings had their viewing last night. I’ve never seen so many giant men. They all looked like lumberjacks and ate everything we had set out except for the napkins.”
“People love those cookies.” I took a water from the fridge, still floating on the cloud of Lady Jane’s coffee and donuts.
“Did you know Americans consume more than three billion cookies per year?” he asked.
“I did not,” I said. “But it’s nice to know we’re doing our best to contribute here at Graves Funeral Home.”
Sheldon blinked at me again and said, “I didn’t find the boxes.”
I sighed, wondering if I was destined to have awkward conversations with Sheldon for eternity. “Emmy Lu moved them to the storage room off her office.”
There was another awkward pause and then he said, “Okay,” before turning on his heel and leaving me alone in the kitchen.
I looked at the clock and then hurried downstairs. Rooney Danforth was waiting for me, and though his autopsy should be fairly typical, I’d learned from experience it was always good to leave room for a surprise or two.
I finished just before ten o’clock, determining that Rooney Danforth had indeed been overdosed with his erectile dysfunction medication. This had caused his heart to become enlarged, and added to the plaque buildup that had already been hardening his arteries, his heart just couldn’t take the added strain.
I sent all my findings to Martinez and wished him luck. A case like this might bring a murder charge, but a good attorney would be able to convince a jury it had been accidental.
I washed and tidied everything up, and then I went back upstairs to see if Jack had arrived. He was sitting at the island, working on his phone.
“You could have come down,” I said.
