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“Did he attack you? Is that what happened? Did you arrive there and did he try any funny business?”

“Look, I already told you that when I arrived he was unconscious on the floor. I never even got a chance to talk to the guy. I was the one who found his body. If it hadn’t been for me he’d probably be dead right now, since those Hampton Heisters sure as heck weren’t going to call the emergency services after breaking into the man’s house.”

“I can think of one other motive why you would attack Carl Strauss,” her uncle inexorably went on, as if he hadn’t even heard her outburst. “You took on Erica Barn’s case yesterday, and I know for a fact that you’re a very sensitive young woman, and how sometimes you simply feel too much and too intensely. So I can imagine how Erica’s plight caused you to see her husband as a threat to her continued happiness.”

“No, I did not!”

He held up his hand.“And when you visited him last night you vowed to give it one more try: to convince him that he needed to grant his wife a divorce. Carl got belligerent and called Erica a few choice names, and so you took up her defense, for that’s exactly the kind of person that you are. Things got heated, arguments flew back and forth, and at some point Carl attacked you—physically attacked you—and so you grabbed the first thing you found and whacked him across the head.”

“I did not.”

“Or maybe he came at you with the club and you managed to wrestle it from his hands and hit him before he could hit you. Look, I don’t know how it all went down,” the police chief said as he rolled up his shirtsleeves, “which is exactly why you need to tell me right now what happened, and then we can deal with it.” He placed his hands flat on the table and gave her a look of concern. “You’re my favorite niece—you know that.”

“I’m your only niece,” she muttered.

“So I know you’re a good person through and through, and whatever happened, it wasn’t your fault. And I’m willing to go to bat for you here, you understand? But first you need to tell me what happened. Did he attack you? Is that how it started?”

“No! I told you, when I arrived he was already unconscious on the floor.”

Uncle Alec’s face took on a cold expression. “No need to lie to me. I’m on your side.”

“I know you are. Which is why you need to believe me when I tell you that I had nothing to do with this. I got there, found Carl on the floor, caught the Hampton Heisters and chased them and grabbed one of them—Emma Hudson. That’s what happened.”

“So you’re sticking to that story, are you?”

“It’s not a story. It’s the truth.”

“Mh,” the police chief said dubiously.

“It’s the truth! I swear on the heads of—”

“Careful now,” said her uncle, holding up a warning finger.

“I swear on heads of my cats that I told you the God’s honest truth.”

“You swear on the heads of Max and Dooley?”

“I swear on the heads of Max and Dooley.”

Her uncle gave her one of his penetrating looks, then finally his features relaxed into a smile.“Okay. Just wanted to make sure you weren’t lying.”

“Uncle Alec, you scared me!”

“A police chief needs to be scary sometimes.”

She realized she was sweating.“I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Well, now you know. So what do you think happened last night? Did Emma Hudson or one of her colleagues try to kill Carl, or do you think Erica is involved somehow?”

“Erica? Why would you think that?”

“Because she wanted a divorce and Carl wasn’t willing to give her one, so maybe she figured the only way out of that marriage was to get rid of Carl once and for all.”

“Did you talk to her? Does she have an alibi for last night?”

He tapped the table.“I did talk to her, and she doesn’t have an alibi. Well, at least not one to speak of. She was home alone last night, with no one to corroborate that. So I’m adding her to my list of suspects if you don’t mind.”

“As long as you take me off your list of suspects.”

He gave her a reassuring smile.“My instincts tell me you’re in the clear. But I had to make sure. Those fingerprints on that club don’t lie, and no judge is going to look kindly on a police chief who doesn’t investigate a suspect simply because she happens to be family.”

“I still don’t understand how my prints came to be on that club.”

“You went golfing with Carl yesterday?”

“Yeah, I did. But I didn’t use his clubs. I used my own clubs—well, the ones I rented from the club.”

“Mh,” said her uncle musingly as he rubbed his chin. “The only explanation I can think of is that you somehow handled that club while you were out golfing with Carl yesterday. But if you tell me that you never touched his clubs…”

“I didn’t. I swear. I don’t think he’d let anyone near his personal clubs, either.”

“Then I’m afraid, honey, I can’t take you off my list of suspects. Officially, at least.”

20

“Look, Charlene,” said Vesta as she gave the little white ball a good whack, making it zoom across the fairway and hit a nearby tree. “I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse, okay?”