Leigh shrugged. “I speak as I find, and I’m afraid I cannot afford him any more lenience than that these days. His mother gave him everything, and all he gave her was something else to clean up.”
Saga sighed, smoothed out the scarf fragment, and continued the slip-stitch pattern. Prosperity. Harmony. Mental clarity. “I guess Avery was right about the funeral, then.”
Leigh arched an eyebrow. “Right about what exactly?”
“We don’t have any solid suspects until we figure out the connection between the two victims—since they both knew Eira, the funeral is a good place to start looking for one.”
“We?”
“I told Avery I could bring her with me to the funeral.”
“Bring her as what?”
“Posing as my date, I guess.”
“And you’d be posing as someone who brings a date to a funeral?”
“We don’t want to draw suspicion,” said Saga.
Leigh’s mouth quirked to the side skeptically. “So you’re going to bring a stranger to a family function? If you’re looking to blend in, love, I don’t know if Elis is the Goff I’d choose to emulate.”
“It wouldn’t be like a date-date,” Saga said, exasperated. “She’d be pretending to be the partner I brought for emotional support.”
“You mean the thing you actually need right now?”
The honesty stung, and Saga had to take a moment to breathe to keep it from bringing a tightness to her throat. “What I need is to find out who did this.”
The front door opened. Reza was back.
“We’re in here, love,” called Leigh, just loud enough for her voice to carry to the entry hall. It was a practiced volume that made it clear she was all too aware of how easily one could wake a toddler.
Reza removed his coat and shoes before he trudged in, resting his elbows on the back of the love seat as she craned her head back to look up at him. “Hello, Mishti.”38 He bent down, and their foreheads kissed.
“Welcome home, my darling.” She reached up and stroked his hair. “Did they find anything?”
Reza took a deep breath and reluctantly stood upright again before he answered. “As we feared. Her heart was missing.”
“Oh gods,” breathed Leigh.
“Herbs?” Saga prompted.
“All relating to heart health,” confirmed Reza.
“So it’s true then, the deaths are linked?” asked Leigh.
“It unfortunately looks that way.”
“Saga mentioned a theory that Eira’s death might have something to do with your case as well.”
Reza’s gaze shifted from his wife to Saga, clearly uncomfortable that they’d been discussing his work at home—and without him present. “It’s a lead Hemlock is pursuing.” He then added, “Because she’s a seasoned investigator.”
“I’ve helped,” said Saga.
“I’ve heard.” By Reza’s tone, this report had not been taken well.
Leigh thankfully piped up with a change of subject. “Have you eaten?”
“Just some gods-awful protein bar from a vending machine.”
