Shopping is Murder (McKinley Mysteries Book 6) by Carolyn Arnold Page A

Sean’s paleness matched her own.

    He didn ’t freeze in place for long. He pulled out his cell and dialed. “Jimmy, we need your help, right now.”

 

     
    Among The Dead
     
    JIMMY WASN ’T CERTAIN HOW HE was going to go about taking care of this. While it wasn’t unusual for the family to foot the bill for an autopsy on a loved one, ordering a toxicology panel was another thing. He wasn’t even curious to see the monetary toll involved, even though he knew the McKinleys had no worries in that regard.
    The medical examiner, Albert Needham, was a gruff, older man who was steps away from retirement. The business of working with the dead never impacted him on a personal level—at least not to any degree that gave public testimony.
    His hair was fully silver with tufts at the side, resembling a ruffled bird. His beak-like nose added to that illusion.
    Jimmy peeked through the window in the morgue door and nothing was going on at the moment. He knew better than to interrupt the man.
    Still, he wasn’t taking chances and that’s why Jimmy came armed with a brown bag in his right hand. It contained a sandwich—swiss on rye with alfalfa sprouts. It was Needham ’s favorite. Jimmy almost believed the world might stop spinning if bribery ever ceased to work.
    He found Needham in the back corner, hunched toward his monitor. The thick glasses perched on his nose obviously were not enough to make the screen readable.
    “Sergeant.” Needham greeted him without breaking from his work. He possessed an uncanny ability to sense presence and identity. Jimmy refused to attribute that gift to his profession.
    “I thought you might be hungry.”
    Needham snatched the bag. “Swiss on rye?”
    “Yep.”
    “With mustard and alfalfa sprouts?”
    “You got it.”
    Needham unrumpled the bag and sniffed inside before reaching in for the sandwich wrapped in wax paper. “What do you need, Jimmy?”
    “I’m here about Jerrod Hill.”
    “Hasn’t the case already been ruled?”
    “It has.” This was the part of the job Jimmy disliked—when conclusions were rushed for a better closure rate. Even in the position of sergeant, he was powerless to stop the powers that be, the powers that required progression to the next case as quickly as possible.
    “Well then. Not sure what I can do for you.” Needham took a bite that saw a large corner of the sandwich disappear. He chewed and swallowed as his eyes traveled from Jimmy’s feet up to his face. “That all you came for?”
    The examiner’s reaction was enough to convince Jimmy that things were just as the McKinleys had suspected. A full autopsy hadn ’t even been conducted when the ruling was made, just a preliminary.
    Jimmy latched his hands behind his back and stayed standing, despite the appeal of the empty chair beside the medical examiner. “About him, a benefactor has stepped forth and will be paying for the procedure, full autopsy and toxicology screening.”
    Needham took another large bite of the sandwich and spoke with a mouthful. “Including tox?”
    “Yes.”
    An audible swallow had a large lump going down. “They must really be convinced the man was murdered.”
    “I’d also like to know what was taken from his body.”
    “I assume you know exactly what you’re after, Sergeant? Please, I have a busy day. The dead wait for no man.” He smirked at his attempt at humor and took another mouthful of sandwich.
    “I want to know if he had any receipts on him, in his pocket, in his wallet.”
    “He did.”
    “I need to see them.”
    Needham turned back to the computer. He brought up a file that showed images of the different articles pulled from Jerrod Hill. “I will send this information to you now. As for the other, I will let you know.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Don’t mention it.” Needham brushed him away with a wave of his hand and kept his attention on the screen.

    Jimmy noticed that he didn’t even say thank you for the sandwich, not that he really