Page 55 of Long Road Home

Chapter Sixteen

Kenna’s phone started to ring in her pocket. At the same time, the front door opened, and Kobrinsky hobbled in. She ignored the incoming call. “What happened?”

He looked tired, and definitely needed to go home to rest. “He’s dead.”

Okay, so Kobrinsky wasn’t the biggest fan of Pastor Bruce. “I was looking for information I didn’t already know.”

Then she could get out of here. With him back, she was free to go. How the sheriff chose to relieve his people and get shifts covered wasn’t her business, even if she wanted to tell this deputy to rest.

Kobrinsky glanced at Paulette. He didn’t want to talk in front of her?

“She’s good.”

“I know.” He shot them a look. “That’s not it.”

“Worried Paulette will run against you in the next election?” Kenna felt the older woman gently smack the outside of her arm. She just lifted her chin to the deputy. “How about we just worry about solving this case, not politics?”

Probably a pointless intention, but she chose to believethat politics didn’t enter into local law enforcement. At least some of the time.

“He’s dead,” Kobrinsky repeated. “What case is there to solve?”

She motioned for him to keep going.

“Pastor Bruce keeled over at the diner. His heart stopped. No injury, no assailant.”

Paulette said, “Does he have any allergies?”

“She’s got you solving crimes now?” Kobrinsky looked at Kenna. “Between you and the true crime so-called experts, my job is becoming more and more impossible. Everyone has an opinion. But this wasn’t murder.”

“You don’t know that.” Kenna shrugged. “He could have been poisoned.”

“No one was in the kitchen who doesn’t work there.”

Kenna said, “Is the coroner doing an autopsy?”

He sighed. “The pathologist will run all the tests. The coroner will certify cause of death.”

“I know how it works.” At least if there was some kind of life-ending substance in his body that ended Bruce’s life, the doctor would find it. “Question is, how it works in this county. Like if the medical examiner finds one thing, will the coroner on occasion be inclined to make apoliticalruling and sign off the death whatever way she chooses. Or however she’s asked to by the person pressuring her.” She remembered Kobrinsky had mentioned asking out the coroner but didn’t bring that up now. Might not go down well.

“You mean like natural causes?” Kobrinsky made a face. “It wasn’t murder. This isn’t some kind of conspiracy. And I’d ask you not to go around town stirring up ideas of a conspiracy. Thank you.”

Paulette said, “Right. After all, it was just a tragic accident.”

Kenna glanced over, and the two of them shared a look. They’d been talking about incidents like that, ones Kenna needed Maizie to look into in case they were far more sinister than accidents. It might sound like a conspiracy. As in, how the previous coroner did when he claimed other “accidents” were in fact something quite different. Then he’d been killed in an “accident.”

She’d barely scratched the surface and still had a lot more questions. She needed to know what he’d seen in the reports and the evidence that indicated as such. She would get the same treatment—unless Forrest put it all in her book.

Could be a great bestseller, turning perceived opinion on its head and proving what people believed wasn’t true at all.

Kenna’s name wouldn’t need to be anywhere in it.

“What’s going on?” Kobrinsky glanced between them.

Kenna pushed off the counter. “Nothing. I should go since you’re back.”

Paulette said, “The sheriff is on his way over from the courthouse.”

Then it wasdefinitelytime for her to leave. “Thanks, Paulette. It was fun.”

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