The hearse wasn’t that great for giving rides to the living. It had two bucket seats in the front. The back was a large flat expanse with a rail system. I’d taken the coffin out, but there were some Home Depot bags I’d never brought inside and a few throw pillows I’d meant to return scattered around. Dr. R started in with the laughter again. After she caught her breath, she braced herself against the car and blurted out, “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone that you killed Jeff. That’s between you and me and…” She looked at Heaven. “It’s between you and me and Heaven and…” She looked over my shoulder into the shadows.
Heaven mouthed, “Who’s Jeff?”
I held up my hand and was about to tell her not to worry about it when I saw Tyrone standing in the shadows with a stormy expression.
“Whatis she talking about?” He took a few steps in our direction and stopped like his feet were too heavy to lift.
Now she’d gone and done it. Tyrone and his Jeff issues.
“Maybe we should talk later,” I said. “I want to get Dr. R home.”
I shut the back door on her. She’d shared enough for today.
Laser focused on me, Tyrone said, “Did she sayyoukilled Jeff?”
Vlad had just unlocked his SUV. He glanced between his ride home and the unfolding human drama with impatience.
Dr. Rosetti undid the curtains in the back window of the hearse and looked out peekaboo style. Loud enough to be heard, she yelled, “Tyrone thinks he killed Jeff too. You two should straighten that out.”
The mercury was rising for Tyrone, emotionally speaking. “Tiffany? You know it was my fault. You were there.”
Dr. R nodded through the glass. “There we go. Uncover that truth.” She made some kind of witchy hand motions and lost her balance.
“Tell me what you think happened, Tyrone,” I said firmly. “I don’t think we saw the same thing.” Another group walked toward a nearby car, laughing and chatting. I waved and smiled like we were doing the same. Nothing to see here.
Tyrone took a deep breath. “Do you know why I went out there that morning?”
“Tell me again,” I said.
“When I bought the farm, I promised Jeff’s parents that I would keep him on, but I couldn’t. All he did was derail things and lose money.” Tyrone looked to the middle distance and gathered strength to tell his truth. “I was going to fire Jeff that morning.”
Made sense.
“Like usual, he hadn’t shown up when I needed him. He’d gone ice fishing instead.”
I nodded to show I was following.
“I stormed out there, mad as hell, walked onto the ice, and fired him, which pissed Jeff off. He got up and told me the company was his rightful inheritance and I had no business being there at all, let alone firing him.”
This all tracked.
“He walked right up to me and punched me in the face. I wasn’t going to take that, so I slugged him. We weren’t fighting for more than a fewminutes before he went through the ice and…” He looked down at his shoes, shaking his head. “I couldn’t save him.”
And there it was.
Dr. R called, “Good job, Tyrone. You needed to let that out.”
I stepped in front of Dr. R to block her as best as I could and reached for Tyrone’s hand. “Tyrone, did you hear yourself? That wasn’t your fault. It was an accident.”
Tyrone’s eyes became shiny with unshed tears and his shoulders sagged. He’d clearly been holding on to this guilt for a very long time. “But it wouldn’t have happened if—” His voice cracked.
“Jeff was an ass. You were entitled to fire him. He swung at you first. That was nothing but a horrible accident.”
Vlad rubbed Tyrone’s back. “Not your fault man. I’ve done much worse.”
I gave Vlad a warning look before he launched into one of his war stories. When Tyrone started crying, Vlad looked a little uncomfortable with the display of emotion.
“I would have killed him on purpose,” Vlad said. “I don’t understand why you’re sad about this.”
