“Any idea how long you’ll be?” Pete’s voice sounded as tired as she felt.
Zoe looked around the room. The computer. The wall of file cabinets. Franklin’s collection of forensic science books lurked behind a closed door, but no way was she leaving them behind. The urn and guest book sales displays? Loretta—or whoever the true owner turned out to be—was welcome to keep those. “I have no idea. Paulette’s gonna help, but I expect it’ll take most of the evening. Don’t wait up.”
“Do you want me to come and help?”
Yes, she thought. “No. You need your rest. I appreciate the offer though.”
When Paulette called down to her, asking for help carrying boxes, Zoe told Pete she loved him and hung up.
A half hour later, Paulette’s Honda had a full trunk and backseat, and she and Zoe started on Franklin’s downstairs office. They found more empty boxes in a storage room. Zoe put Paulette to work emptying the file cabinets, while she took on the task of making sure all the computer files had been backed up. She did not want to be responsible for lost records.
Zoe blocked out her memories of Franklin, focusing on the immediate work at hand. Or at least she tried. A folder named James Engle drew her back in time to the case involving a body found in the barn that now belonged to her. The mental image of the old farmer hanging from the rafters choked her. Not so much because of the man as because of the flood of memories that followed.
She scrubbed her face with both hands. Stop it. If she had any hopes of being out of here by morning, she couldn’t allow herself to get lost down that wormhole.
Paulette’s quiet sobs pulled Zoe the rest of the way back. Franklin’s former secretary sat on a chair she’d placed in front of the file cabinets. She was still removing folders and stacking them in a box but wept as she worked.
“Hey,” Zoe said, keeping her voice soft. “You don’t have to stay and pack this stuff.”
Paulette stopped what she was doing long enough to dig a tissue from her cardigan pocket. “I said I’d help, and I will.”
“No. I’m the one who said you’d help. I was just buying you time with Loretta de Vil so you could load up your own stuff.”
Paulette snorted through her tears. “She does bear a striking resemblance, doesn’t she?”
Zoe forced a grin. “It’s scary.”
“She’s scary.” Paulette chortled into the tissue, but the laughter quickly hiccupped into another sob. “What in heaven’s name did Franklin ever see in that woman?”
“I wondered the same thing.” Zoe looked at Paulette, who appeared to be contemplating her knees. “Seriously. You don’t have to stay.”
Paulette lifted her face. “Yes, I do. I may not have a job any longer, but I can help you clear out Franklin’s office. He’d have wanted me to. Besides, I don’t want to leave you here alone when that creature comes back.”
“I’m not afraid of her.” Much.
“I’m staying.”
Zoe gave her a smile. “Thanks.”
Paulette exhaled a weepy breath. “I hate the idea of Franklin’s funeral being planned by his chief competitor and that creature.”
“Don’t worry. If I have anything to say about it, it won’t.”
“But what can you do?”
“Not release the body.”
“You’ll have to.”
“Eventually.” Zoe hoped to have a plan by then. “For now, the coroner’s office is still investigating his death, so the body stays in the morgue.”
Paulette eyed her, probably knowing Zoe was stretching the boundaries of her position, but nodded, satisfied for now.
They settled into their tasks. The soft whish of Paulette thumbing through papers and the ticka-ticka of Zoe fingering the computer keyboard filled the otherwise silent room. Silent except for the murmuring inside Zoe’s head. By the time she’d verified that all the files were securely backed up, she’d formed a plan.
But before she could voice it, the crash of the front door being flung open and the clomp of heavy footsteps overhead shattered the quiet. Loretta was back.
Thankfully, she remained upstairs.
Zoe looked over at Paulette. “You mentioned not having a job anymore. Do you have any plans?”
“No. Until she fired me, I hadn’t thought about it. I still can’t believe Franklin’s really dead.”
Zoe powered off the computer and waited for the light on the tower to stop blinking. “How would you like to work for me?”
Paulette crammed another folder into the box—the last one it would hold—and faced Zoe. “What? Are you serious?”
“I don’t know how long it’d be. I’m still not sure what the procedure is for replacing an elected coroner—”
“You’ll have the job at least until a special election is held.”
Election? After the last one, campaigning for office was the last thing Zoe wanted. “Like I said, I don’t know how long I’ll have this job, but if you want the position as my secretary, you’ve got it.”
Paulette gazed into a corner of the room. Zoe wasn’t at all certain what she was seeing beyond those walls.
“I understand if you don’t want it. But I need you. I’m new to all this. You’ve been Franklin’s right hand for as long as I can remember. Not just in the funeral home business. I’m sure I’ll screw it up if I don’t have you around to keep me in line.”
A sad smile tickled the corner of Paulette’s lips. “You’re right about that. Franklin’s been coroner for ages and he still couldn’t get along without me.” She glanced at Zoe and winked. “Okay. I’ll take the job.”
Zoe sighed in relief. “Great.”
“But I want a raise.”
She wasn’t sure if Paulette was joking or not. “Can we discuss that later?”
“I suppose.”
The light had finally gone out on the computer. Zoe started punching the power buttons on each
