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Kaden studied the deputy’s pale face. “Do you know who found the body?”
“The morning janitor, Rio Boren.”
“Boren?” It took Kaden a second to connect the name with a face. “Any relation to Manny Boren, the temporary guard Burke hired?”
“Cousin.”
Kaden frowned. Was it relevant that the two were cousins? Maybe. Maybe not. In a small town, everyone was related.
“Why did the janitor go into the freezer?” he asked.
“He’s part of a crew that goes in before the workers arrive to sanitize the equipment. Rio said he noticed one of the freezer doors wasn’t fully closed and he went to check it out.”
Kaden slowly nodded. That seemed like a reasonable explanation. “And he found Burke?”
“Yep.” Anthony polished off his cookie and reached for another. Kaden didn’t blame him. Those cookies were magical.
“If the door was open, he obviously wasn’t trapped inside.” Lia moved back to the table to place two mugs of coffee in front of them. “So what happened?”
Anthony’s jaw tightened. “According to the mayor, he slipped and busted his head.”
Lia continued to bustle around the kitchen, grabbing mugs and napkins. “You don’t agree?”
“I did at first,” Anthony confessed. “When we found Burke in the freezer, there was a layer of frost on the steel floor and a nasty gash on the side of his head, like he’d hit it on something hard. And his phone was all smashed. He could have slipped and dropped his phone before smacking his head on the floor. It made sense.”
“What made you question that explanation?” Lia asked.
“It was obvious he’d been in there for several hours. I decided to ask around to see if anyone would know why he would go in there at night.”
Kaden regarded the deputy with a hint of surprise. It would be easy to underestimate Anthony. He acted like a good ol’ boy who sat at his desk and passed the time playing on his phone. He obviously had some investigative skills.
“A good question,” Kaden murmured. “Did you get any answers?”
“I talked to Marla Walsh.” The deputy glanced toward Kaden. “She’s the receptionist for Burke.”
“We met.”
“That’s right.” Anthony chuckled. “She told me she almost peed her pants when you walked into the plant. She’s still excited about seeing you in real life.”
Kaden firmly turned Anthony’s attention back to the death of Burke. “Did she have any explanation for why her boss would be in the freezer?”
“She didn’t have a clue.” Anthony reached for the sugar to pour a heaping teaspoon into his mug. “She claimed he kept a close eye on the floor to make sure his employees were doing their jobs, but he didn’t wander around the place unless there was something specific he needed to deal with.”
Lia took a chair at the table, studying Anthony with a troubled expression. “She couldn’t tell you anything that might help?”
“Actually, she did.” Anthony sipped his coffee. “She said Burke came to her yesterday afternoon to tell her that he would be working late and that he would lock up.”
Lia shrugged. “Was that unusual?”
“Extremely.” Anthony emphasized the word. Presumably because the receptionist had emphasized it. “Burke also told Manny he could take off early.”
Kaden jerked in surprise. Burke had just hired the man. Why would he be giving him time off?
“Did he say why?”
“Just that he had work to do and he didn’t want to be interrupted.”
Kaden made a sound of disbelief. “If he didn’t want to be interrupted, it would make more sense to insist his receptionist and guard stay so they could keep anyone from bothering him.”
