“Who is it?”

He stood and blocked her view of the body. “The woman who just left your office.”

“Is she all right?” She tried to look around him.

He shifted, putting a hand on her arm. “No. There’s nothing anyone can do. She’s dead.”

Morgan’s face froze in horror for a few seconds. Then she shook her head. “I don’t know why that’s a surprise. We heard the gunshot.”

She’d been a prosecutor for years, and they had worked several murder cases together after she’d opened her own criminal defense firm. She had seen dead bodies before. She didn’t need to be sheltered, but doing so was a reflex for him.

He dropped his hand, and she walked around him. He watched her steel herself as she examined the body and vehicle. Sadness creased her face. Morgan never lost her empathy. Her refusal to be hardened to violence and its impact on the innocent made her job tougher, but it also gave her the passion to fight for her clients.

Her mouth flattened. “Suicide?”

“Probably.”

She shot him a glance.

“This is not your fault,” he said.

“I know.” But responsibility was all over her face. The heart didn’t always believe what the brain told it.

“I mean it.”

“She killed herself within minutes of leaving my office.” Morgan hugged her waist. “She said I was her last hope, and I refused to take the case.”

“This is not your fault,” Lance repeated in a stronger voice.

A siren sounded in the distance, and he put his phone in his pocket.

Sharp lowered his phone too. All three of them stepped a few feet farther from the vehicle. A Scarlet Falls PD patrol vehicle parked a few yards from the minivan.

Officer Carl Ripton climbed out. Lance and Sharp had worked with Ripton on the SFPD. Carl verified the victim was dead, then approached Sharp, Lance, and Morgan. “What happened?”

“We heard a shot.” Sharp gave Carl a quick summary of the discovery of the body.

Carl returned to his patrol vehicle to make calls. A few minutes later, he returned with a small notepad and pen. He separated Morgan, Lance, and Sharp, took a statement from each of them, and asked them to wait on the sidewalk.

“The ME is on his way.” Carl retrieved a camera from his vehicle and began taking pictures and notes.

A half hour passed before the medical examiner and Morgan’s sister, Detective Stella Dane, arrived. Stella and the ME examined the body and conferred with Carl. The ME’s team unloaded a gurney from the back of the van. It was already outfitted with an open black body bag. Neighborhood looky-loos were gathering on the sidewalk. People craned their necks, trying to see the body.

Stella glanced at the gawkers, then turned to Morgan, Sharp, and Lance. “Can we go inside to talk?”

“Certainly.” Sharp led the way through the front door. “I’ll also pull the surveillance camera feeds for you.” He turned into his office.

“Perfect.” Stella followed Morgan and Lance back to the kitchen.

Stella sat down at the table next to her sister and produced a small notebook from her pocket. “Tell me about your client.”

“Mrs. Olander wasn’t my client,” Morgan corrected. She detailed her meeting with Mrs. Olander. Lance corroborated Mrs. Olander’s arrival and departure times.

“So no one saw her after she walked out the door,” Stella clarified.

“That’s correct.” Morgan nodded.

Sharp returned with his laptop and set it on the table. “It’s all here.”

He tapped on the keyboard to wake the computer. The screen came to life, and Sharp clicked “Play.”

On the screen, Mrs. Olander walked out of the office, crossed the street, and got into her minivan. Once she closed the vehicle door, her figure became a blur behind the glass. She seemed to sit still for a while. Lance imagined her staring through the windshield, full of hopelessness. Then her shadow moved.

The silent splatter on the inside of the window made them all flinch. Lance’s stomach turned over. No one spoke for a few heartbeats.

Sharp cleared his throat, then pointed to the screen. “Both cameras in front of the house actually cover the minivan, but the other one is at a bad angle. All you can see is the reflection of the sun. I’ll give you both videos, though.”

“Did you watch any more of the video?” Stella asked. “Does anyone approach or leave the van?”

Sharp clicked on “Fast-Forward.” “As you can see, there’s no one on the video until we find her. In the download I included the entire time period until Carl arrives.”

“OK.” Stella sighed and nodded. “That makes my job much easier.”

It didn’t get much clearer than having the suicide caught on video.

“I’ll make tea.” Sharp filled the kettle and then lit the burner under it. He dropped a mesh tea ball into his ceramic pot. When the kettle whistled, he filled the pot and brought it to the table, along with four mugs.

Morgan didn’t argue, even though Lance knew she’d rather have coffee. But then, maybe she was as queasy as he was. Besides, they all knew when Sharp went into mother-hen mode, there was no stopping him. Sharp was not satisfied with living his own neo-hippie lifestyle. He wanted to pawn it off on everyone around him.

Sharp poured.

“Thank you.” Stella added a teaspoon of sugar to her cup.

Sharp’s phone rang, and he excused himself, leaving the room to answer the call. His voice faded.

Stella wrote a few notes, then pocketed her notepad. “Considering the video and other evidence, Mrs. Olander’s death appears to be a suicide. I don’t see any sign of foul play.”

“The woman was clearly despondent about her son’s conviction,” Morgan added, her voice riddled with guilt. Lance covered her hand with his, and she gave him a small smile of appreciation.

“I’ll let you know when the ME finishes the autopsy and issues an official cause of death.” Stella’s cell buzzed, and she glanced down at it. “I have to go. So much crime. So little time.”

“Where’s Brody?” Lance asked.

Stella was one of two detectives in Scarlet Falls.

“He’s on vacation,” she said. “He and Hannah are drinking rum on a beach in Aruba.”

“Good for them.” Lance rose to walk Stella to the front door. He could see Sharp in his office, talking on his phone. An unusual stiffness to his posture caught Lance’s attention.

Sharp turned, his eyes grim.

Something’s wrong.

Chapter Five

“Take a deep breath.” Sharp tried to calm Mrs. Cruz, but the fear in her voice gripped his gut like a fist.

“Olivia gave me your number in case of an emergency,” Mrs. Cruz said. “I hope it is all right to call. I don’t know who else to contact.”

Emergency?

The pit of Sharp’s belly chilled. “What’s wrong?”

“Olivia was supposed to be here hours ago to take me to the doctor, but she never came.” Mrs. Cruz spoke faster, urgency speeding up her words. “I thought maybe she had car trouble. My husband drove me to my appointment. But I’m back home now, and Olivia isn’t answering her cell phone or her house phone.” Mrs. Cruz wheezed. “She would never forget me.”