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“It’s seven-thirty. Aroostine and I just got back from a refreshing walk. The sun is shining. There’s a crust on the snow. It’s a crisp, beautiful day to celebrate your tenth anniversary.”
“Maisy, we love you. Go away,” Sasha moaned from the bed.
“I’m gonna ignore that, sugar. Roo and I ran into John and Hatty. They’re having a little breakfast, nothing fancy, just a sendoff for the other folks before their van comes in about an hour. So get yourselves up and get moving. We’ll go to the goodbye breakfast, and then we’ll have the whole day to celebrate!”
“They’re having breakfast? Is the crime scene done?” Leo asked.
“Not quite,” Maisy said. “Aroostine and I also took a little walk around the manor. They’re finishing up in the dining room, but the bodies are gone. Dr. Graham’s gone and Officer Duncan is off duty till this evening. So folks are still fluttering around, but they’re wrapping it up.”
“This early morning nature walk of yours,” Sasha said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as some of her brain synapses began to fire, “it didn’t coincide with you possibly running into someone from the forensics team so you could—oh, I don’t know—set up interviews for your podcast?”
“What a thing to say,” Maisy answered.
“Was that a no? It didn’t sound like a no to me. Connelly, what do you think?” Sasha said.
“I think Maisy is irrepressible.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I’m going to take that as a compliment. So, thank you.”
Then she turned on her heel and crossed the hall to pound on Chris and Daniel’s door.
Leo pulled the door shut and turned around with a grin. Then he launched himself onto the bed, making the mattress bounce.
“Happy anniversary, Ms. McCandless-Connelly.”
“Happy anniversary, Mr. Connelly.” She kissed the five o’clock stubble covering his square jaw.
“We could skip breakfast,” he suggested, trailing a finger along her collarbone.
“That’s tempting,” she purred. “But …”
“But it’s more tempting to see whether anything else happened last night after we went to bed, right?”
She gave him a sheepish smile. “Well, isn’t it?”
“At least we’re on the same page.” He laughed.
* * *
The walk from the cottage to the manor was a loud and boisterous affair. Maisy hadn’t oversold the beauty of the fresh snow and the exhilarating effect of the crisp air. Their group of ten trooped into the manor with laughter and high energy.
John smiled at them from behind the reception desk. “Good morning, all, and happy anniversary to you two.”
“Thanks,” Sasha answered. “We heard a rumor about breakfast.”
“The rumors are true,” he assured her in a serious voice. “But given the … situation in the dining room, we’ll be eating in the breakfast nook, family style. Go ahead in. Hatty’s already back there with the others. I’ll just be a few minutes.”
They proceeded down the hallway, crossed the kitchen, and filed through the butler’s pantry to the breakfast nook. Hatty and John had procured two round tables from somewhere in the house and had placed six chairs around each table. Between the built-in banquette table and the two round ones, there was seating for everyone. It was cozy but sufficient.
The seven remaining guests of Rex Stoddard’s ill-fated reunion party were glum and silent. Paul, Leeza, Tessa, and Joy sat at one of the round tables. Annette and Brian were seated side by side on one of the benches at the banquette with Chance across from them on the other bench. He held his head in his hands.
Leo crossed the space and shook Brian’s hand. “How’s everybody doing this morning?”
He gave a slight shrug. “About as you’d expect. They’re all ready to get out of here. Annette and I called her parents this morning. They’re on their way to meet us here, and we’ll go into town together to deal with the body. We’ve been trying to reach Grady’s folks, too, but we think they may be out of the country.”
“Has the phone line been repaired, then?” Leo asked.
“No, but the cell towers are back online,” Annette explained.
