Page 5 of Ghostly Bother
Michael shook his head. "I'm calling Rachel now. I'm sure she'll come over. My brother will probably show up as well. I'll be okay until they get here." He pulled out his wallet and handed Franks a card. "That's my work and cell numbers. I won't be going into work for a while obviously, but in case you need to get hold of me, you can." He paused and swallowed hard before looking at Franks. "How did she die?"
Franks shifted from one foot to the other. "It appears she was strangled, but we won't know anything for sure until the medical examiner finishes."
"My God." Michael sat down on the arm of the couch.
Angus took a step closer, worried for a moment that Michael might faint as he went pale and took a hard breath.
"She didn't deserve that." Michael looked up, tears in his eyes.
"No, no one deserves that," Franks agreed.
Angus had seen a lot of grieving family members in his career, and he believed what he was seeing. Michael was upset by his wife's death. Even if he'd filed for divorce, there was a history there. Years of being together, raising kids, and facing the daily events of life bonded a couple together. Despite the husband being the first person they usually expected in cases like this, Angus didn't get the feeling that Michael was guilty of murder. He'd keep an open mind now, but as they'd discussed before, the list of suspects in this case was probably a long one. "Are you sure we can't call anyone for you?"
Michael wiped the tears from under his eyes as he shook his head. "No, no. I'll be okay. It's just a shock. I'm calling Eden's sister now, and then my brother. I won't be alone for long."
"Then we'll let you go. We're sorry for your loss," Franks told him. "I'm sure we'll be in touch later with more questions."
"Anytime." Michael stood and took another hard breath. "I'll see you out."
"Lock up behind us and call if the media attention gets out of control," Franks told him.
"Thanks. I will probably move the kids to my sisters-in-law's home for a few days. I'll call and let you know where we end up." Michael walked to the entry and opened the door. He stared out into the night and shook his head before looking back at Franks and Angus. "Find who did this to her. She had issues, but this—this is just too much." Tears again filled his eyes.
Angus knew better than to make any promises, but he would do all he could to solve the mayor's murder. "We'll be in touch."
"Thanks." Michael stood in the doorway, watching them until they got to their car before shutting it.
"Well?" Franks asked once they were inside the car.
"He's not our suspect," Angus stated.
"Agreed, but we'll have to verify his alibi. We've been wrong a time or two. He could be a good actor." Franks started the car.
"Maybe." Angus stared out the window as they pulled away from the home. "We need to get warrants for her office and for her home. We need to know what she was working on."
"Whoever killed her probably already made sure there wasn't anything linking them to her, but call Captain Marshall and we'll see if we can lock down the mayor's office until we can get a team in there to look at things. We have no way of knowing if this was a personal attack or something tied to whatever the mayor was working on. I highly doubt the city is going to welcome us in with open arms when we start asking questions and are wanting to go through the mayor's files." Franks stopped for a red light.
"They won't have a choice. This will draw statewide attention, if not national. If the city council fights us, it's just going to make them look dirtier than people already think they are." Angus glanced over at Franks. "Maybe we'll get lucky and whatever investigation they've already done will give us a lead or two."
"Since when do we get lucky?" Franks laughed.
"I can hope." Angus rubbed his eyes. He was tired and wanted to be home in bed, but that wasn't going to happen. He'd be lucky to get home tonight, let alone to sleep. "What's the plan?"
"We'll head into the station and see what's going on. Maybe we'll get lucky and they found evidence at the scene that will lead us to her killer."
"Right." Angus sighed. "At least there's coffee at the station. I'm going to need it."
"You and me both." Franks focused on the road as the light changed.
As they made their way to the station, Angus wondered what the mayor did to upset someone, and how serious it had to have been for someone to risk the public attention this murder wasgoing to get. Whoever did it had nothing to lose and had already proven they'd kill. The last thing they needed was for the public to worry that this person would kill again.
CHAPTER THREE
Lance smiled at Gretta as she pushed the button to release the half door that separated the office from the public area of the morgue office. "Morning."
"A busy one too." Gretta glared at the phone on her desk as it started to ring.
"About the mayor?" Lance asked as he paused beside her desk.
