Corpses & Conmen (Rosewood Place Mysteries Book 2) by Ruby Blaylock

moment she’d forgotten that she had a house full of confused people waiting for her to make some sort of statement about their safety. “Could I ask you a few questions?”
    Emmett eyed Rob warily. “Off the record?” Emmett had known Rob for a long time, and he trusted the news reporter’s ethics. However, the circumstances around the drowned man in Annie’s pond weren’t sitting right with the seasoned police officer, and he didn’t want to get reporters involved until he knew more about the whole situation.
    “Well, no, actually.” Rob stepped onto the deck. “Look, I know that the last thing you want is the press to come swooping in here and causing a scene. I believe you when you said that the death was likely an accident, but I don’t think the guy was alone. I don’t want Annie being overrun with insensitive newshounds,” he said, nodding in her direction. “What if you give me an exclusive interview about the man’s tragic death and then keep me posted if things develop. I’ll be staying here all week anyway, regardless of how your investigation turns out.”
    It sounded to Annie like Rob had rehearsed his speech before approaching Emmett. She was relieved that at least one guest wanted to stay, although the fact that said guest was a news reporter left her feeling a little antsy.
    “Look,” he added, his confident tone slipping into more of a plea. “This could be the perfect opportunity for me to cover something more hard-hitting than the local bake sales and business openings, no offense intended. This is real news, and I want to show my bosses that I can be a real news reporter.” He seemed to Annie a bit like a puppy that was begging for a bone, all earnest eyes and careful anticipation of her reply.
    “Rob, I’m happy that you want to stay, but I’m not sure if you should even be covering this--event.” She frowned. “Though, I suppose that the newspaper or news station will just send someone else anyway.”
    Emmett nodded. “Annie, if you’re going to talk to a reporter, you might as well talk to Rob here. But I wouldn’t talk to anyone else. You don’t need any more negative publicity surrounding this place.” He glanced up towards the house. “Don’t make any statements, official or otherwise, until I get the coroner’s report. And don’t talk to the other guests about the whole thing,” he said, directing the last command at both Annie and Rob. “I don’t know those other folks. I don’t know what their motives are or if they’re telling me the truth.”
    Rob nodded immediately. “You have my word, Emmett. I won’t say a thing until you give me the go-ahead, and I’ll try to make sure that what I report doesn’t have any negative impact on Annie’s business.”
    “If it had been anybody else but you, Rob…” he trailed off. “And I meant what I said about being cautious. Don’t speak to anyone that isn’t directly involved in this investigation, Annie. Even an accidental drowning can ruin a business. I really don’t want to see this place fail before it’s even had a chance to get off the ground.”
    Annie let out a long sigh. Neither did she, but as long as she kept finding dead bodies on her property, Annie wasn’t too sure that her business could possibly stay alive.

7
Business, As Usual
    After Emmett and his crew had finally cleared up and left, Annie marched herself back up to the house feeling defeated but not quite broken.
    “Maybe people will still want to stay,” Rob suggested, trying to lift her spirits. “I mean, it’s like Emmett said, accidents happen all the time. It’s no reason for the other guests to cut short a whole vacation, right?”
    Annie appreciated Rob’s efforts to make her feel better, but she really couldn’t blame her guests if they wanted to leave. She supposed that she should be glad that no one had actually known the dead man. If the others had actually met him and spoken with him they would likely be much more