necessarily,” I said, hating to contradict my grandfather, especially when it only hurt us. “Greg and I had lunch out front from around five to five thirty. If you’re looking for a time of death, I’m guessing that’s going to line up pretty closely, unless the cold temperature throws off the coroner when he performs the autopsy.”
“What do you know about autopsies?” the sheriff asked me.
“I read a lot, and it’s eclectic,” I said. “It’s amazing the kind of odd tidbits I pick up. Tell me I’m wrong.”
As he stroked his chin, he said, “No, I can’t do that. It’s most likely that your time line is closer than anything science is going to be able to come up with, given the circumstances.”
“Then we were of help to you,” Mom said.
“Sure, that’s good information to have,” he said. “I’ll rephrase my question, given what you just told me. Where were each of you between five and five thirty this afternoon?”
“I already told you. Greg and I were out here eating,” I said, “and there are half a dozen folks who can testify to that. We’re in the clear.”
I was feeling pretty proud of myself when he said, “Not so fast. Victoria, as much as I hate to admit it, I can see another scenario playing out here.”
“Go on. I’m listening,” I said.
“What if Howard came in between four and five? He confronted you, you killed him, and your husband helped you stash him in the freezer. You pretended nothing happened until you conveniently discovered the body later.”
“Have you completely lost your mind?” Moose asked as he started angrily toward the sheriff.
My dad was too quick for him, though. “Hang on a second, Dad. You’re not going to be able to do us any good if you’re sitting in a jail cell being charged with assaulting an officer of the law.”
Moose turned away, and the sheriff said, “Thanks for that.”
My father turned on him then, and said, “Don’t thank me for anything just yet. I’d like to punch your lights out myself for implying that my daughter was involved in this in any way. You are way out of line, Sheriff, and this group interview is over.”
“It’s over when I say it is,” Sheriff Croft said firmly.
“If you want to hold us, you’ll have to arrest us,” Martha said as she stood. “Family, let’s go. We’re leaving.”
The sheriff was clearly flabbergasted by my grandmother’s stand, but he made no move to stop us as we walked out together.
“This is most disturbing,” Martha said. “It appears that our family is going to be at the center of the police’s investigation of this murder.”
“The problem is that we know that none of us did it, but it’s going to be hard to prove,” Greg said, and Moose put an arm around my husband’s shoulder for a moment in support.
“But we have to convince them that we’re innocent,” my dad said. “Does anyone have any idea how we might do that?”
“It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?” I asked.
“Enlighten me,” Dad said.
“If nobody else is trying to solve this case without focusing on our family, then we’re just going to have to do it ourselves.”
There were a few murmurs of assent, and then Martha nodded. “Agreed. We’ll reconvene at our house and decide on an order of business. Victoria, you’re the crime fiction lover among us. Will you be the head of our unofficial investigation?”
“I’d be happy to,” I said, “but solving crimes written by novelists isn’t the same as solving them in real life.”
“You’ve got an analytical mind,” Moose said. “I agree with my wife. You’re the boss, at least as far as this murder investigation goes.” He looked around at the others, and asked, “Are there any objections from anyone about this?”
I was proud when my entire family agreed, but I also felt the burden of this decision. It appeared that it was going to be up to me to lead this crazy
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