Peter nodded. “Well… if you think of anything else.”
She raised a brow, and we left her to smoke alone. As we walked back toward the white tent and the gathered guests and cops, Peter cleared his throat. “That was… interesting.”
I scoffed. “The girl was clearly furious that Chaz chose Letty.” I raised my brows. “Somebody’s got motive.”
He nodded. “But she’s not the only one—Chaz’s parents and Letty’s old sweetheart, Joe, all seemed to disapprove of the wedding too.”
I bit my lip. “Fair point. And both Chaz and his campaign manager, Cybil, seemed to be hiding something.”
Peter sighed. “And we don’t know why Chaz and his mother were fighting before the wedding or how a plate full of strawberries ended up in the bridal suite and why Letty would have eaten one, or why she didn’t have her anti-allergy potion on her.”
I pressed my lips together. “Quite the mystery.”
He gave me a tight smile. “I’ve got some work to finish up around here, but how about we meet up again tomorrow night? I should have the coroner’s report back by then. We’ll know for sure what killed Letty.”
I nodded. “Sounds good.” I gave Daisy a little salute, and she just growled back. Don’t mock me.
I smirked, and after a quick glance around, whined back. Oh, Daisy. You’ll know when I’m mocking you.
She glared at me.
I gave Peter a last wave and headed back toward the front of the house.
“Jolene?”
I paused and turned around.
Peter shot me a weary grin. “Thanks again for working this case with me.” He glanced down at Daisy, brow pinched. “I can use all the help I can get.”
I nodded, though my stomach twisted with battling emotions. He wanted me around… but was it only for professional reasons?
WILL AND HEIDI
I tipped the wide bowl to my mouth and slurped up noodles and broth, using my chopsticks to scoop more into my mouth. When I lowered the bowl and looked up, both Will and Heidi stared at me, motionless, from behind their face masks.
Heidi’s dark eyes widened, while Will just glared at me.
“What?” I wiped my mouth on the back of my sleeve.
Will blinked, shook his head, then bent over his patient again. After I’d left the crime scene/wedding, I’d picked up food for the three of us, but found Will and Heidi in the vet clinic’s back room performing emergency surgery on a cat familiar who’d swallowed a sock. My enormous bear shifter friend had to bend low over the metal table.
“Scalpel.” He held out his huge, gloved hand, and Heidi jumped, then rummaged around on a tray and handed it to him.
I grinned. Once a surgeon, always a surgeon.
Will made an incision, a small spray of blood dirtying his white lab coat, then handed the bloody instrument back to Heidi and exchanged it for his wand. He waved it over the splayed cat, green light flashing from the end, then looked up to shoot me the stink eye.
“How, Jolene? How can you eat right now?” His voice was muffled behind the mask.
I scoffed. “Uh—it’s late, I’m hungry.” I lifted my chopsticks. “I brought some for you guys, so don’t get snippy with me.” I dove back into my ramen and plucked out the hardboiled egg.
“Ugh.” Heidi scrunched up her face. “You don’t want to eat out in the lobby?”
“Psh.” I chewed on the egg. “And wait with the cat’s stressed-out witch?” I rolled my eyes. “Talk about an appetite killer.”
Will and Heidi exchanged looks before he bent back over the cat, shaking his head.
“Hey, you guys remember Letty Jones?”
Heidi’s eyes slid to the side for a moment before she nodded. “Yeah. What’s she up to?”
Will rolled his. “Am I supposed to know who this is?”
I waved my chopsticks. “I forgot you didn’t grow up in the Darkmoon, Will.” I addressed Heidi. “Well, she’s not up to much anymore, because she’s dead.”
“What?” Heidi blinked at me.
I slurped up some broth and nodded. “Peter called me up to this posh estate on a top tier. Turns out she was marrying some rich dude, Chaz Harrington, and—”
“Wait.” Will looked up from his work on the cat and leaned into one hip. “As in Teddy Harrington’s son? The one who’s running for councilor?”
I nodded.
Will scoffed. “I grew up in a family like the Harringtons.” He raised his bushy brows. “Marrying a girl from the Darkmoon would’ve been quite the scandal among the elite.”
I smirked at him. “So how does coming out as a gay bear shifter compare—more or less scandalous?”
He shot me a flat look. “Laugh it up—those people will eat you alive.” He jabbed forceps at me. “I bet you Chaz had some ulterior motive.”
Heidi nodded her agreement, her long black hair tucked under a surgical cap.
I swallowed a bite of pork. “Like what? Letty didn’t have money, connections, status…” I shrugged. “His campaign manager said something about voters going for a Cinderella story. Could that really have been why he married her?”
Will shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past those people. They’d do just about anything to get ahead.”
I rolled my eyes. “They’re already ahead. Why are they clawing to get even more on top?”
He shook his head. “They know what they have, and they’re terrified of losing it.”
I watched Will for a moment. I’d been teasing him earlier, but he knew what it was like to lose it all. When his temper had gotten the best of him at a party, he’d publicly shifted into his bear form. He’d lost his job, his home, his connections. Even his family had disowned him.
I bit my lip. I’d lost it all, too, but I’d grown up in the Darkmoon. As heartbreaking as it had been to claw my way out, only to sink back into it—at least it was home for me. I forgot sometimes that this neighborhood and lifestyle were completely foreign to Will.
My friend murmured something to Heidi. She grabbed a vial of glowing purple potion off the back counter and carefully poured a few drops onto the
