Scrappily Ever After by Mollie Cox Bryan Page B

her tongue so many times, she counted herself lucky that it didn’t have a huge gash.
    The sheriff faced Annie and Randy, who’d already answered a barrage of questions.
    â€œGet some rest, son,” said Sheriff Bixby. He looked at him with warmth and sympathy. Here was a man who knew that happening upon the frozen body of a coworker in a freezer was a jolt to the system.
    Ted Bixby, a man with deep family roots in this part of Virginia, seemed to have been sheriff forever. Annie knew that her associate Detective Adam Bryant, of Cumberland Creek’s police force, did not care for the man. She remembered a conversation she and Bryant had about Bixby during one of the other cases she had covered as a freelance reporter. But this crime had taken place outside of Bryant’s jurisdiction, so he hadn’t been called in. Annie thanked the universe for it. On this, her last story, she didn’t want to deal with his attitude.
    â€œComing through,” yelled someone from inside the freezer. The body of the small, dark-haired woman came through the doorway on a gurney. There was one thin line of red around her neck, where her throat had been neatly slit, and a big gash glistened over the artery where she had probably bled out. A craft knife was still lodged there. Pink and white polka-dotted tape covered her mouth, left in place for the autopsy. So neatly done. Where is all the blood? Annie knew it was all in the freezer, waiting to be cleaned only after all the photos had been taken and evidence sealed.
    Annie had taken a good look at the scene earlier, but the light shone brighter here outside of the metallic and dimly lit walk-in freezer. Now she could see the young woman in detail.
    â€œHow old did you say she was?” Annie asked Pamela.
    â€œHer papers say she’s twenty-three,” Pamela replied with a tone that suggested Pamela didn’t believe it either. The young Filipino woman looked as if she was sixteen, at most. Why would Pamela hire her if she was suspicious about her age? Annie felt the ping of intuition pulling at her. Something about this was off. Way off. She needed to talk with Randy, after he calmed down, then Pamela, and the rest of the restaurant staff. This might be an even bigger story than a murder at the local, much beloved Pamela’s Pie Palace.
    An older, dark-haired woman sobbed and a young, wet-eyed man slipped his arms around her. Friends? They looked foreign, too. Annie made a mental note to speak with them.
    One of the technicians held a baggie with some colored paper and a photo inside it.
    â€œWhat’s that?” Annie asked.
    The young woman smiled politely. “Evidence.” She held it up higher.
    â€œReally?” Randy said. “A scrapbook page?” He flung his hands up in the air. “I’m going back to the B and B. I need a drink and bed.” Never mind that it was only 5 AM .
    Since moving back to Cumberland Creek, Randy had taken a room at the new bed-and-breakfast in town, until he found a house to purchase.
    A loud commotion erupted from around the corner.
    â€œRandy!” Paige and Earl, Randy’s parents, rushed in. “Oh, thank God you’re okay. Your daddy heard about an incident on the scanner. We were so worried.”
    â€œWhat happened?” Earl said.
    Randy opened his mouth, but no words came out. His face grew even paler.
    â€œListen, Paige, why don’t you take Randy home? I don’t think he should be driving,” Annie said.
    â€œThat’s right,” the sheriff chimed in. “At least someone around here has a good head on their shoulders.” He gave Annie an approving glance.
    â€œSheriff,” Earl said and nodded, the appropriately manly greeting in this region. Not “hello.” Not “hi there.” Just a name and a nod. “My boy in trouble?”
    â€œâ€Oh no, no,” Bixby said. “I’ll let him do the explaining on the way