Page 74 of Hell Hath No Fury

Emma stepped forward. “We were told Tina Neidermeyer was going to be taking over the company, and that it would be business as usual.”

“Tina said that? Well, it’s news to me. I take my orders from Winslow, and he’s as skeptical as the rest of us as to what happens next.”

Matthias caught the look Emma gave him and nodded. “Good to know. Thanks for your time.”

The man waved a dismissive hand and returned to his sister-in-law’s house.

“Come on,” Matthias said softly, and, instead of moving toward the Jeep, he strode along the paved strip of road toward the burial site.

Emma followed in silence.

Wooden stakes with ribbons of police tape still fluttering from them surrounded the lot. He stopped outside the perimeter and stared at the ditch where Fran had uncovered Jones’s remains. He’d been so focused on Eric and Neidermeyer and broken glass, he realized he’d overlooked the obvious.

“You’re thinking about something,” Emma said after a few minutes. “What?”

He didn’t answer immediately but continued to mull over what he was seeing in front of him. “For one thing,” he finally said, “why bring a dead body to a construction site only to bury it in a grave so shallow that it was bound to be discovered sooner rather than later?”

Emma caught her lip between her teeth, thinking. “Maybe the killer couldn’t operate the heavy machinery. But that doesn’t narrow down the field much, and it sure doesn’t clear Eric.”

“It does tend to rule out the equipment operators. And probably Winslow.”

When he didn’t go on, Emma faced him, arms crossed. “What else?”

“We’ve been assuming the killer was someone involved in Jones’s business. What if instead the killer had nothing to do with this development, or with North Star in general? What if the killer intentionally buried him in a shallow gravehere, hoping it would be discovered, and knowing we would jump to the conclusion that the homicide was related to his work?”

“For example?”

“I don’t know. We haven’t been asking those questions. I think it’s time we did.”

ChapterTwenty-Two

Emma’s phone buzzed as they returned to their hotel room to regroup. She dropped the key card on the countertop and checked the caller ID. Her doctor’s office. She assumed they wanted to confirm she’d be there on Thursday.

Instead, the receptionist told her, “We need to reschedule your appointment. The doctor was called out of town on a family emergency.”

Emma immediately felt torn.

“Can you make it on Monday at one o’clock?”

Monday meant she wouldn’t be cleared to go back to work for another week. On the other hand, it gave her more time to focus on Eric and Nell. “That would be fine.”

After disconnecting, Emma shared the conversation with Matthias, who was stretched out on the hotel bed, his fingers interlaced behind his head. “I need to call Laurie,” she added. Emma had played a variation of the conversation in her head a dozen times already. Telling Laurie that she wasn’t returning until next week, if then. Laurie firing her. Emma with no job. No income. Going back to doing freelance work. Selling framed photos at local businesses. Her campsite was only paid for through the end of the season, which was less than two months away. Her relationship with Matthias was too new for her to be comfortable asking to move in with him. And she didn’t want him to feel obligated into extending an invitation solely to keep her from being homeless.

“Do you want me to talk to her?” Matthias said.

“No.” Emma shook off her imagined joblessness. Laurie wasn’t an ogre. She couldn’t hold Emma’s medical situation against her. She picked up the phone and tapped Laurie Kassim’s number.

“Emma,” she answered, “what’s going on? Where are you?”

“I’m still in Washington.”

“Really? How’s your sister?”

“She ran away. Again. Now she and my friend Eric are suspects in a homicide.”

After a pause, Laurie asked, “Whose homicide?”

“The land developer who wanted to buy my farm.”