Connor felt his blood run cold.“So someone swept the floor clean before Tom Reeder found the body.”
“Definitely possible,” Matt answered.
“Did you check for tire marks or footprints in the mud outside?”
Matt shrugged.“Afraid the ground’s too dry.It doesn’t hold much of a print at the moment.I can do a second pass, but I doubt anything will show up.”
Connor looked toward the kitchen doorway, perfectly angled from where Warren was lying.
The killer could have come from there, maybe.Waited out of sight while Warren opened the envelope.Stood close enough to fire once and finish it.
After the Nolan Pruitt murders, one body had a different meaning in Harlan.People had learned how quickly one murder could become two, then three.The county had not recovered from that shock.
Warren Holt was one homicide.Maybe that was all.
Or maybe that was the lie people told themselves before the next body came.
Connor stared at the blank sheet of paper again.What did it mean?
Warren's cold, dead face stared sideways.Connor had to find his killer.And to do that, to give himself the best chance, he had to admit that he was no homicide detective.Worse, he did not know if he could trust himself looking into the murder of someone he liked.
“I wonder if we’re going to need outside help for this.”
Matt looked up from the floor.“For one homicide, Sheriff?”
“Yeah.A second set of eyes wouldn’t hurt.I’m no expert in murder.We should bring one in to take a look.”
A grin moved across Matt’s face, slow and aggravating.“Like an FBI agent?”
Arnold’s expression changed at once.“I see where you’re going with this, Price.I totally agree.”
Connor looked between them.“It’s not like that.”
Matt straightened.“Didn’t say it was.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Arnold scratched the side of his neck and tried to hide a smile.“Nobody’s saying anything.It would just be good to get her here to help, wouldn’t it?She helped a lot last time.We’re not thinking anything bad about the idea, Sheriff.”
“You’re both thinking plenty.”
Matt raised the camera again.“That’s allowed.Thinking hasn’t been banned in Harlan County yet.”
Connor exhaled through his nose.“After the Nolan Pruitt murders, the community’s still shaken.We get outside help early, we tie this up quickly before people start worrying bodies are going to pile up again.”
Matt’s grin lingered.“Fair enough, if that’s your motivation.”
“It is.Besides, it needn’t be her… It could be anyone from the FBI.”
“Sure.”
“Matt.”
The grin faded to something closer to professionalism, though not all the way.“I’ll send everything over to Dr.Blethan.Photos, scene notes, preliminary measurements.Ballistics once the weapon’s processed.”
“Good.”
Connor took one final look at Warren.At his friend.A flash of Warren laughing, one hand holding a bourbon, the other a hand of cards came to him.He’d never see that grin again.No one would.
