Ginny Gold - Early Bird Café 03 - Dead and Berried by Ginny Gold Page B

letting all three dogs lick his face while he patted them each in turn. If there were ever polar opposites when it came to brothers, these two seemed to be just that. Kori couldn’t imagine Dan liking any dog after the way he’d acted on the trail on Friday afternoon.
    “Hi Stanley,” Nora said. Kori could hear the smile in her voice and she wondered if there were more lingering feelings on Nora’s side than Stanley’s.
    Stanley got up and Kori saw the sadness on his face. Of course she would see sadness there. He’d just lost his brother yesterday. But it quickly disappeared and he looked relieved to see Nora. “Nora. It’s been a long time.”
    Kori could see Nora hesitate in how she greeted him—was hugging appropriate in this instance? She finally followed his lead and they embraced, for longer than Kori had expected. Then Nora introduced Kori while she pulled at the hem of her shirt to straighten it out. “This is my friend Kori. I hope it’s okay that she’s here. Her dog is Ibis,” Nora pointed her out, “and the dogs always sleep better if they get plenty of time running around together.”
    Stanley gave Kori a warm smile. Was that initial look of sadness just an act? Was he really happy that Dan was dead? She supposed that was what they were here to find out.
    Stanley offered his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
    Kori shook it and said, “Likewise. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
    At that, Stanley did look at the ground, but was it to hide his lack of remorse? “It certainly came as a sudden blow. My parents are still trying to fly in. They were overseas on vacation—their fortieth wedding anniversary. They should be getting in tomorrow morning.”
    The fact that he didn’t talk about his own shock did not go overlooked by Kori. She glanced at Nora but saw that she was just giving him a sympathetic look. Kori wasn’t sure she was even internalizing what he was saying.
    “If you need anything, let me know. I can’t even imagine how hard all of this must be for you,” Nora finally said. She was definitely still mooning over Stanley.
    Stanley paused before getting to the reason for his visit. “Well, actually, I’m here now because—”
    “Right, of course!” Nora exclaimed. “Did you want to go there alone? The police tape has been taken down and everything is gone. But I can show you where I … found Dan.”
    “Alone would be appreciated.”
    Of course it would, Kori thought cynically to herself.
    Nora silently led the way to the spot behind the barn where Dan’s body had been found with the poisoned strawberries. Kori hung back and watched the two of them interact, trying to decide if Stanley could be guilty. Though she still didn’t know why he’d want to kill his brother.
    She watched Nora point out where the body was found and then tell him something that seemed to truly capture his attention. He glanced back at Kori and she looked away. She didn’t want to intrude on his possibly real mourning, or their possibly real relationship, or give away that she was secretly trying to figure out if Stanley was guilty.
    But before she had a chance to turn away completely, Nora and Stanley were walking back in her direction. “We’re going to look at the few photos I took on my cell phone of the crime scene,” Nora told her quietly. Kori didn’t think Stanley had heard. And she was happy about that because she had to hide her surprise. She didn’t know there were photos. Why had Nora hid those from her?
    Granted, they’d both been incredibly busy since the murder, but even yesterday during lunch at Nora’s house she hadn’t said anything about it.
    Again, Kori followed the two of them who walked in silence. But their body language gave the impression that being around each other was a relief. Their shoulders were relaxed, and Stanley stayed close to Nora. Like she might protect him if Kori decided to dig deeper into his alibi and relationship with Dan.
    In the house, Nora found her