“Let’s go, Ned Nickerson,” I say, and he gives me the world’s biggest grin.
__
“What the fuck?”
We’ve just reached the police station, and it feels like we’ve walked in on the scene of a crime.
No, not feels like. This is definitely a crime scene.
There’s yellow tape stretching around the block, and a bunch of police officers milling around on the outside of the building.
“What the fuck?” echoes Josh. “What happened here? Hey! Where are you going?”
I don’t stand with the rest of the Astley crowd, gawking while hanging back on the large sidewalk. Fisting my hands in determination, I stalk straight over to one of the policemen.
“I need to speak to Officer Jones,” I say. “My name is Piper Day.”
The police officer looks down at me, and I see my face reflected in the sunglasses he really has no business wearing on a winter day on the East Coast. I realize I’ve still got red marks left by the tape on my skin, and my hair is absolutely haywire. My glasses are awry, too, and I hastily adjust them.
“I know who you are,” he snaps. “No one goes in. This is a crime scene.”
I feel Josh’s presence besides me as I insist, “But my parents were murdered, and—”
“Don’t care. No one goes in.”
I hiss in anger, about to lash out a string of curse words that would definitely earn a lot more than a mild admonishmentfrom Quill if he were here, when Josh’s polite voice cuts in.
“Excuse me, sir. What do you mean, you don’t care? This young woman’s parents have died, and Officer Jones is heading the case. We really need to speak to him.”
Sunglasses turns slowly to face him. “Well, you can’t very well speak to him, since he’s dead.”
I stare at him in absolute shock. Jones is… dead? What the hell?
“What happened?” I ask in a strangled tone.
Before he can answer, I see a woman and a little girl leave the building, accompanied by another officer. The tears on her face tell me she’s Jones’ wife. But as she draws closer, I see her looking furtively around. She seems more… scared than sad.
“Take the tape down,” the officer who just walked out tells his colleague.
“The tape… down?” questions the other guy in surprise.
“Yeah. Not a crime scene anymore. Suicide.”
I inch toward them, trying to pick up on what they’re saying. The officer giving orders intercepts my curious glance with a glare. But the other guy doesn’t notice me.
“Whaddya mean, a suicide? There was a fucking bullet in the front of his skull. Clean, straight entry wound. I’ve never heard of a guy shooting himself in the middle of the forehead. How does your hand even do that?”
Sunglasses contorts his hand to show his commanding officer how impossible it would be to shoot a gun in that position. But the latter’s glare merely deepens.
“Don’t stand there like a fucking idiot. Come inside. I’ll tell you.”
My curiosity deepens as the older guy tugs on Sunglasses’ arm to pull him into the station. But he won’t get away from me so easily. I haven’t mastered the art of being annoying and angry for nothing.
I duck under the crime scene tape and follow them in, feeling Josh right behind me.
“Hey!” cries out the commanding officer. “Get away from here, Piper. You can’t—”
“Thought this wasn’t a crime scene anymore,” I say boldly.
