Charlotte scowled. “Sure. But she understands I’m not a lawyer, right?”
“She thinks you can put the record straight. And to be honest with you, I wouldn’t mind that either. Less work for me.” He laughed and stood. “Thanks for the coffee.”
“No problem.”
“That’s pretty much it. I appreciate the favor.” Carter shook her hand and headed for the door.
“How did you know where I live?” she called before his hand touched the knob.
He turned. “I was down this way and thought I’d stop in and catch Frank up on everything. When I mentioned Mina moaning about you, he told me you were right across the street.” He walked out on the landing and turned, smiling as she followed him to the doorway. He flipped on his hat in a fancy, end-over-end way and winked again.
The man needs a wink intervention.
“Bit of a shock to find you here. You look good for your age.”
There it is. Charlotte pictured her imaginary instructor smacking him on his nose with her rolled newspaper and smiled. “Thanks.”
Carter headed to his cruiser, which sat parked at the curb in front of Charlotte’s house. She followed him outside and stood in her driveway. She was about to head back inside when she noticed four women heading down the sidewalk towards her. She recognized them as members of the Morning Death Squad, whose sworn duty was to make sure everyone woke up each morning. If someone’s blinds remained closed too long, they’d knock on your door to make sure you hadn’t died during the night.
Everyone needs a hobby.
“Morning, ladies.”
The women’s gazes bounced from Charlotte to the cruiser and back again as Carter pulled away, their expressions masks of disapproval.
“He came to tell me about someone who wants to hire me.”
“Mm hm,” said the brunette.
Charlotte scowled. “He wasn’t here long.”
“But long enough maybe,” muttered another.
Charlotte rolled her eyes and snatched her paper out of the driveway. “Goodbye, ladies.”
She marched back into her house as the ladies strolled on their way.
Nosey ghouls.
Charlotte got dressed and headed for Carter’s station. The sheriff wasn’t there but his deputy set her up in a room with Mina Powell. The woman looked as though she hadn’t slept in a week. The red rims of her eyes practically glowed.
“I’m so glad you came,” said Mina.
“Sheriff Carter told me you wanted to see me.”
“I do. I want to hire you to find out who killed Kimber.”
Charlotte perked. A job!
Be cool. First things first.
“Do you have a lawyer?” she asked.
“Yes. I’ve got the family lawyers already working on that end of things.”
“Good. I’m a hundred dollars an hour plus expenses. Is that okay?” Charlotte suffered a twinge of guilt. She charged less when she thought potential clients couldn’t afford her services, but the Miller house seemed capable of covering what she thought her hourly rate should be.
Should I feel guilty asking what I think I’m worth for once?
Mina didn’t blink.
A wave of giddiness swallowed Charlotte’s guilt. She felt so legit.
“Okay. Tell me what’s going on. Take it from the top, when you found Mr. Miller.”
Mina took a deep breath. “The night Kimber died, I found him on the ground and then heard a commotion in the puppies’ room. Lyndsey was in there. She looked like she was hiding.”
“Did you ask her what she was doing in there?”
“Yes, because she’s not allowed upstairs. No one is except me. Kimber wanted it that way.”
“Why?”
“He was very private.” Mina paused and then added, “And he didn’t like kids very much.”
“Did you ask her why she was up there?”
Mina looked away as if thinking. “At the time she told me she’d gone to see the puppies. Today, on the phone she said Kimber had asked her to come see him.”
“Why?”
“She wouldn’t say.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. She said it might make things worse for her.”
“Hm. Okay. Go on.”
Mina wiped her nose and took another deep breath. “I told Lyndsey to go. We started talking about how people might think she’d killed him and about her DNA being on the puppies—”
“Her DNA on the puppies?”
Mina closed her eyes. “It seems silly now. We were panicking. We just thought everything would be easier if it was clear he’d fallen while alone. She wasn’t supposed to be up there, and I didn’t think the police would miss the puppies. So I just told her to take them.”
“You told her to take them?”
Mina nodded, looking more miserable from one moment to the next. “It was stupid. It didn’t hit me then that the dogs disappearing would make everything look even more like a crime than it already did. I didn’t think about the girls letting it slip about them to the police. We could have just said he fell getting out of bed and left her out of it. They wouldn’t have started to test the dogs fur for DNA.”
“Probably not.”
“We watch too many of those shows. The crime shows. The girls love them.” Mina sighed. “Well, they used too. They’re too old now. All they think about now are boys and their phones.”
“So Lyndsey took the puppies and left?”
“Yes. That’s when I heard Kimber groan.”
“He was alive?”
“Yes. I ran to the front window and tried to call out to Lyndsey that he was alive, but she was probably already gone. I ran downstairs to find my phone so I could call nine-one-one. That’s where I ran into the girls. I told them not to worry. Gemma went back to her room and I got to talking to Payne, found my phone, and then headed back upstairs. By the time I got back up there, Kimber was dead, but—” Mina’s hand
