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He was silent for a long, cold moment. Then he pulled her left hand out of her pocket, sandwiched her glove between his, and huffed out a frozen breath. “I know. This isn’t what I had in mind for our tenth anniversary.”
She mustered up a smile. “Me neither. But I guess it’s fitting. We faced off against a murderous enemy at the wedding. Why not do it again for our anniversary?”
“The traditional gift is aluminum, not murder.”
She scrunched up her nose. “Aluminum?”
“Alternatively, tin. Don’t worry, the modern gift is diamonds.” He gave her a crooked grin.
“Diamonds definitely sound better than aluminum or tin. Or a killer.”
He dropped a kiss on her hood and kept her hand in his. “Come on, we’re liable to freeze to the spot if we don’t keep moving.”
She squared her shoulders and kept her gaze on the house ahead. She pretended she could already feel the heat of the fire and the warmth of a mug of Hatty’s wassail thawing her out.
* * *
Naya yanked the door open as the ragtag band raced onto the porch and hurried inside. After everyone had peeled off their coats, scarves, and gloves, she lured the reunion party into the library with the promise of alcohol and snacks. She slid the pocket doors closed.
“Well?” she demanded.
Bodhi looked up from his spot on the doormat, where he was unlacing his boots. “Well, what?”
“Was Rex murdered?”
“In the words of a noted law enforcement expert, it sure looks that way.” Bodhi paused to allow Leo a chuckle, then continued, “Blunt force trauma to the pterion at the temporal side of the skull. Most likely, the force ruptured the middle meningeal artery, causing a hematoma.”
“Which then compressed his brain, resulting in death,” Leo chimed in.
“Show off,” Sasha teased.
“Parrot,” he corrected her.
“Find the murder weapon?” Hank asked from behind the reception desk.
Bodhi and Leo shook their heads. “Nope.”
Bodhi reached into his pocket and removed a sealed evidence bag. “I did find this, though.”
They drew closer and peered at the contents of the clear plastic bag. It was a black button with a snippet of black thread poking through one of the holes.
“Where was it?” Sasha asked.
“Under his body. It didn’t come from his clothes.”
“So, the murderer’s then,” Naya declared.
“Possibly,” he cautioned.
“Where’d you get the evidence bag?” Sasha wondered.
“He had a kit in his coat pocket—gloves and bags,” Leo said approvingly.
Bodhi shrugged. “Once a coroner, always a coroner, I guess.”
He handed the bag to Hank, who pocketed it.
“What about you two? Did you find anything?” Leo asked his boss and Naya.
