Page 74 of The Anniversary Party

“So why are you here?” Hank finally asked Leo. “I assume you didn’t tag along for the refreshing evening walk.”

He chuckled. “I have a theory about the murder weapon. So, while we’re waiting for the others to get here, why don’t we take a walk over to the fireplace.”

They strode across the entryway and stood at the hearth, staring into the unlit fireplace.

Leo pointed to the doorway to the living room. “Joy stood there while Bethany was at the front door talking to John and Hatty. She said Chance was standing right here where we are, staring at the rack of fireplace tools.”

“Was the door to the dining room open or closed?” Bodhi asked.

Leo knew where he was going. “Closed. Neither Joy nor Chance would have seen Rex’s body if he’d already collapsed at that point.”

Bodhi nodded his agreement, and Leo asked Bodhi for a pair of sterile gloves.

Bodhi obliged, reaching into his rucksack and pulling out a package. “I’m getting kind of light on these. Let’s try not to need another pair tonight.”

“Amen to that,” Hank said.

Leo stretched the gloves over his hands and crouched beside the wrought-iron tool stand. “Look,” He pointed to the channel that held the poker. “Is that a smear of blood?”

Bodhi leaned in. “Looks like it. It’s faint, but once a crime scene team hits it with luminol, I’ll bet it lights up like a Christmas tree. How’d you know?”

“Joy said Chance was transfixed. That’s the word she used. So, I wondered, what might be so fascinating about fireplace implements?” Leo eased the poker off the stand and allowed it to dangle from his gloved finger.

“Good work. You found our murder weapon.” Hank clapped him on the back.

Leo allowed himself a moment to bask in his boss’s praise. “Thanks. Our killer is stone-cold, though. They bashed Rex in the head with the poker and returned it to the stand. Then they grabbed the candlestick and took it upstairs to frame Grady.”

“Or they picked Grady and Joy’s room for convenience. It’s the first room at the top of the stairs,” Bodhi pointed out.

“I like Grady as the target, though,” Hank said, “The killer may not have known when they’d have the chance to get rid of Grady. Casting suspicion on him as the murderer was an easy way to neutralize him and discredit anything he might claim Rex had told him. Whatever Grady may or may not have known, people rarely take the word of a murder suspect.”

Loud footsteps on the porch interrupted their group cogitation session. The noise was followed quickly by pounding on the door.

CHAPTER29

Sasha and Maisy collected themselves and swept into the kitchen, composed and calm and giving no hint that they’d been skulking around in secret passageways. Naya raised her head when they came in and gave them a weary look.

“I put on a pot of coffee,” she informed them from her seat in the breakfast nook.

“At ten o’clock at night?” Maisy asked with mild disapproval.

“I love you,” Sasha responded, speaking right over Maisy.

Naya snorted and pointed toward the cabinets lining the wall of the butler’s pantry. “You can show your love by getting down some mugs. I’m bone-tired.”

While Sasha grabbed the two biggest mugs she could find, Maisy joined Naya at the table and sank into the banquette bench next to her.

“You sure you don’t want any, Maisy?” Sasha called over her shoulder as she poured the steaming coffee into the mugs.

“I’m positive. I’ll have enough trouble falling asleep tonight after all this excitement. The last thing I need is to blast my system with caffeine.”

“Not me,” Sasha announced, sliding Naya’s mug across the table and taking the seat across from her friends. “I’m running on fumes. A jolt of java is exactly what I need.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Naya agreed, raising her mug.

The scanner sitting at Naya’s elbow crackled. They stared at it, waiting. Sasha took a cautious sip of her coffee, testing the temperature for drinkability.

“Hank gave this to me before he left so we could monitor Officer Duncan’s progress.” Naya nodded at the police scanner.

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