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Which is why I was happy when Odelia finally was ready to leave for work, and invited me and Dooley to join her, as was her habit.

“Thank God,” I said, getting up from my position on the lawn, from where I’d had to endure this lovey-dovey scene for the past hour.

“I think Harriet did swallow too much paint, Max,” said Dooley, also getting up.

“And why is that?”

“She’s much nicer than usual. That paint must have affected her brain.”

“I think she’s simply relieved to still be alive,” I said. Though it was certainly a nice change of pace that she’d given up painting.

And as we patiently waited for Odelia to call us in so we could hop into her car, we both watched the slow march of a thousand-strong army of black beetles across our lawn in the direction of the fields that are located behind the house.

Odelia, upon learning that we’d made a deal with the beetles, had whimpered a little at the sight of the writhing mass, eager to be taken to their new place of worship. Lucky for us black beetles aren’t very picky, and when Odelia had suggested they could take to lodging in the old shed located in that particular field, they had been over the moon. Black beetles apparently enjoy moldy and rotting old wooden structures, and so for them this was paradise.

And we’d just hopped into Chase’s car, for today the two of them would join forces and conduct their investigation together, when a call came in on Chase’s mobile.

“Yes, Abe?” he said with a frown, for when a coroner calls, it’s very rarely with the kind of news that pleases. He listened for a moment, then said, “We’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” and hung up.

“What’s wrong?” asked Odelia, who was buckling herself in.

“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me over the phone. Said he had something important to show me.”

“Oh, dear.”

It didn’t even take us fifteen minutes to get where we needed to be, and when we walked into the coroner’s office, which was familiar terrain for Dooley and myself, since we’d been there before, it soon became clear that the coroner’s news was very important indeed.

In his small office, Abe had intertwined his fingers on top of a pile of file folders, and fixed Chase with an intent look.“You remember that guy who fell out of a window two nights ago?”

“Sure. Dylon Pipe. What about him?”

“Looks like his death wasn’t an accident after all, but murder.”

“Murder!” said Odelia.

“Yeah. I didn’t notice it when I first examined him, but now that I finally got round to the full autopsy, I discovered that he actually had two head wounds. One is a minor one, consistent with a fall from that window, but the other one is on the other side of his head, and can’t possibly have been sustained at the same time, unless he fell once, then bounced and landed on his other side, which is physically impossible.” He frowned darkly. “No, it’s pretty obvious what must have happened. The kid fell down, hit his head, but wasn’t dead. Then someone else came along, and bashed his head in, making sure that this time he was dead.”

“Bashed his head in—like Jay Green, you mean,” said Chase.

“Yeah, the head wounds are very similar, so I can tell you they were almost certainly made with the same type of object.”

“A stone, like the ones found on the street.”

Abe nodded, then turned his computer to show us the screen, and proceeded to regale us with a series of pictures of the head wounds of both victims, and pointing out the similarities.

I had to look away, and so did Dooley. Cats are notoriously queasy, or at least we are, and all this blood and gore is the last thing I need in the early morning.

“So two murders,” said Chase, finally leaning back.

“That is certainly what the evidence shows,” said Abe, well satisfied with his audience’s response. Clearly he was a man who thoroughly enjoyed his work.

“Same killer?” asked Chase.

“Now you know I can’t answer that, Chase,” said Abe with an indulgent smile. “All I can tell you is that the MO is similar.”

“So what does that mean, Max?” asked Dooley.

“That means that first Dylon was killed, and the next night, his friend and co-conspirator Jay. Possibly by the same person, and the same murder weapon.”

“Coincidence?” asked Chase. “I think not.”

And that was my conclusion also. Two friends conspiring to scam the insurance, both ending up dead, killed on consecutive nights. And the necklace the whole thing revolved around? Still missing. So could the murderer of both men also be the person who stole that necklace and still had it in their possession? It was an interesting question, to be sure. And one we had to find an answer to.

CHAPTER 29

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In the car, Odelia and Chase discussed the case, and how they needed to proceed, taking this new evidence into account.

“This whole case seems to hinge on that necklace being stolen,” was Odelia’s opinion. “So whoever took that necklace is probably also the killer.”

“Must be the person Dylon was using as an accomplice.”