“That’s us up here,” Connor said.
Selena picked up the handset.“I see it.”
His brake lights flashed once before he turned through an open wooden gate.Beyond it, a cottage sat back from the lane behind a neat front garden.White walls.Green shutters.A slate roof patched in two places.The sort of house people described as quaint until they noticed how far it stood from its nearest neighbor.
Selena parked behind Connor and stepped out.
Warmth had already begun rising from the gravel.The garden should have been charming.Roses climbed one side of the porch.Lavender grew along a stone path.A birdbath stood beneath a dogwood tree.
Then she saw the gnomes.
Dozens of them.
They stood among the flowers, peered from beneath shrubs, gathered in clusters around the birdbath, and lined the porch steps in crooked ranks.Some held lanterns.Some carried fishing rods.One wore a painted deputy’s badge and held a tiny nightstick.Their chipped faces smiled from every corner.
Connor noticed her looking.
“Renee put these here after Gary died,” he said.“She went a little strange.”
Selena looked at a gnome with a red hat and a cracked white beard.“Strange enough to kill?”
Connor gave her a tired glance.“I’m starting to think strange is normal around here.”
“That’s comforting.”
“I’m full of comfort today.”
Not enough sleep showed in his face.So did whatever remained unspoken from the night before.Selena let it sit for now.There would be time to fight later, assuming the case left them time for anything.
They walked up the stone path together.A ceramic frog grinned from the edge of the step.
Connor knocked.
The door opened almost at once.
Renee Beaumont stood there in a yellow cardigan over a pale blouse, her gray hair pinned neatly back from a small, round face.Her eyes brightened when she saw them, as if she had been expecting carolers rather than law enforcement.
“Sheriff Chase,” she said.“Agent Raven.Well, isn’t this a lovely surprise?”
Connor removed his hat.“Morning, Renee.”
“Come in, come in.You must be melting out there.”
Selena crossed the threshold behind Connor.The house smelled of lemon polish and sugar.Lace curtains framed the windows.Every surface held something decorative, mostly cats, angels, or porcelain children with solemn eyes.A real cat watched from the back of a chair, tail twitching once before it lost interest.
Renee led them into the living room.“Sit anywhere.I’ve just taken cookies out.”
“That’s not necessary,” Selena said.
“Nonsense.You’re guests.”
Connor lowered himself onto a floral armchair.Selena took the couch, placing herself where she could see both Renee and the front door.A framed photograph above the fireplace drew her eye before Renee returned from the kitchen.
A man in his late forties smiled from the picture.Broad face.Kindly eyes.Fishing vest.One hand held a rod across his shoulder.
Renee came back carrying a tray with three glasses of milk and a plate of cookies arranged in a careful circle.She set it on the low table, then noticed Selena looking at the photograph.
“That’s Gary?”Selena asked.
