Page 87 of Hell Hath No Fury

“If you weren’t straight, I’d ask you to marry me,” Eric said with an exhausted smile.

A half hour later, they sat in silence at the kitchen island eating a meal concocted from the odds and ends Matthias found in the pantry since he’d pretty well cleaned out the refrigerator the last time. After clearing his plate, Eric set down his fork and looked at Matthias. “I appreciate the meal. I do. But I was really hoping you would go with Emma. I’m worried about her going after Nell on her own.”

Matthias met his gaze. “She won’t be alone.”

Eric appeared puzzled.

“I made a phone call.”

Eric opened his mouth, then closed it. “Good.”

Matthias was glad he didn’t press.

“What happens next?” Eric asked.

“Hopefully Emma finds Nell, brings her back, and convinces her to go back to rehab,” Matthias said.

“True. All of it. Except that’s not what I meant. How do we go about finding what really happened to Sonny?”

“Wedon’t. That’s up to me.”

“I can’t understand why I’m being framed.”

Matthias pushed his empty plate away. “You’re an easy target.”

“The argument at the Pub on Main,” Eric said. “That was stupid of me. Letting Sonny push my buttons like that. Especially in front of all those people in the restaurant.”

“And you use your birthday as your security code.” Matthias narrowed his eyes at him. “Come on, man. You’re smarter than that.”

Eric lowered his head. “I know. Not my brightest moment.”

Matthias needed to eliminate one of the possible means of access to the garage. “Think. Of the people who were at the restaurant that night, who would know your birthday?”

He lifted his face, staring thoughtfully in the direction of his stove. “No one.”

“Someone must have. You went to school with Jones. He probably knew.”

Eric’s eyes slid to Matthias, his expression sardonic. “Seriously? Think back to the kids you went to school with. How many of their birthdays do you know?”

Eric had a point. “Emma knows it,” Matthias said.

“Because I gave her the code. She’s my best friend. Besides, I’m pretty sure Emma isn’t trying to frame me for murder.”

“What about your social media accounts? Do you have your birthdate set as public?”

“No. I do know better than that.”

Matthias mentally crossed off the option that their suspect had let himself in by keying in the passcode. Lukan’s old-school suggestion might be the logical answer to the garage break-in, but that was only half of the attempt to frame Eric.

“How did the murder weapon end up in your car?” Matthias said, more to himself than to Eric.

“I wish I knew.”

Matthias hadn’t really expected an answer and continued to muse. “It’s obvious the killer broke in and planted it.”

“But how?” Eric sounded on the verge of frustrated tears. “There weren’t any scratches on my car. Besides, it has all sorts of anti-theft safeguards. One of those slim jim gizmos won’t do the trick.”

“If they knew what they were doing, they wouldn’t need to damage the paint, and they’d know their way around the anti-theft devices.” Matthias pondered the list of suspects and wondered if any of them had a rap sheet that involved auto theft. He picked his phone up from the island and tapped a number. “Hey, Cassie,” he said when she answered. “I need another favor.”