“Start with what you know,” Sue suggested. “Who had a reason to hurt Sheila? Who might want to frame you?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been gone since shortly after Jen and Garrett died. I don’t know who Sheila was close to, who she had conflicts with, anything.”
“Then we find out,” Sue said. “Talk to people who knew her. People who knew you back then.”
Tyler thought about his old friends. Phil, Brooke’s brother, who’d believed in his innocence during the fire investigation. And others from high school might remember both him and Sheila.
And Edi. She’d been there when they found the body. She’d questioned him at the shop. But before all of that, she’d sought him out after the fire to say she believed him.
Maybe she still did.
“Yeah, maybe,” Tyler said.
“Sheila’s funeral is tomorrow,” Sue said. “I thought I’d go.” She looked at Robert, raising an eyebrow.
“I’ll join you,” he quickly offered.
Sue smiled. “I thought you might.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Tyler asked, shaking his head.
“Why not? We knew her from the bank.” Sue broke a cookie in half and offered the second piece to her husband.
“Yep. It’s the right thing to do.” Robert met Tyler’s eyes. “You’ll stay here and hold down the fort. Wouldn’t do for you to go to the funeral. Not with that deputy lurking around.”
“You’ve noticed?”
“Hard not to. Remember, you’ve got us,” Robert assured him.
“And maybe others,” Sue added. “People who know you, who can vouch for your character. We’ve had more than one customer mention you were being framed.”
Tyler nodded slowly, the outline of a plan forming. He’d reach out to old friends, talk to people who’d known Sheila, and try to piece together who might have wanted her dead and why they’d want him to take the fall.
“One other thing,” Tyler said, working up the courage to ask a question that had been on his mind for days. “Did you have an attorney sent to the jail?”
Sue shook her head while Robert said, “I wish I had. But by the time I heard about what was happening, you already had representation.”
Tyler scrunched his face. “Who told you I had a lawyer?”
“Social media.” Sue shrugged. “That’s pretty much where we learn everything in this little town. That Irma Chit Chat page has all the prattle.”
“Most of it’s fake,” Robert added, “but once in a while, they hit the nail on the head.”
“Did you happen to read who sent the attorney to the jail?”
“Nope. Sorry. Did you ask him?”
“He didn’t know, and I called their office and was told it was confidential and their services were pro bono.”
“That seems...odd,” Sue said. “A blessing for sure, but still odd.”
“Yeah, I thought so too.”
“Well, maybe we can solve that mystery along with everything else,” Robert said. “Now, I suppose we ought to get back at it. Andre should be here in about fifteenminutes. Sue and I will be taking off when he arrives. You’ll close down the shop.”
“Yep,” Tyler agreed. “Our usual Monday schedule.”
Tyler was looking forward to the day ending. He wanted to see Brooke.Neededto see her, to explain to her what had happened with the arrest. Not that he understood it all himself, but he’d put it off long enough, and she deserved an explanation for what had happened at her coffee shop.
