I sighed. "I'm guessing she won't want to take the job now."
"The job?"
"I'll tell you later, Rooster. There's Uncle Mike and Aunt Ruby."
Just as my aunt and uncle arrived, Susan and Jack stepped out of the tent, leaving Andy to guard the scene. I told them about what I'd asked Lizzie to do.
Susan nodded. "She filled me in."
Uncle Mike glanced inside the tent, and then he put his arm around Aunt Ruby's waist. "It's really bad, honey. Nobody expects the mayor to be a sheriff or a coroner. You don't have to look at this."
She took a shaky breath and then squared her shoulders. "I know. But it is my job to protect this town and the people in it. I failed this time."
With that, she walked over and took a quick look inside the tent. She slowly turned back to us, and I only realized she was hanging on by a thread because I knew her so very well.
Her face and voice were calm when she addressed the crowd. "All right, folks. I'll tell you the truth, because you deserve to know. Cletus McKee is dead."
A lot of gasps and murmured speculation ensued.
"Somebody shot him."
More, louder, reactions, and a few people started running.
"I'd like to ask you all to proceed home in an orderly fashion. We have no evidence or sign that this was anything other than an isolated incident, but we're taking no chances. Let's implement a voluntary curfew tonight." She made a show of glancing at her watch. "Now. But I'd ask you to please stick around if you think you may have witnessed something—anything—that could help our sheriff's department to find out who did this."
With that, most people streamed out of there with varying degrees of haste.
I put a hand on Aunt Ruby's arm. "I'm not sure where you got the strength to be so calm in a terrible crisis, but you are very good at this."
Her lips quirked at the edges. "Raising you was great practice."
"Glad to help," I said dryly.
Lizzie returned just then, panting a little. "I followed the scent all the way to the edge of town, but then it vanished. I'm pretty sure the suspect hopped into her car and drove off."
"Not the best news," Susan said.
"But what we expected," Jack said.
The doctor, who'd regained her equilibrium, raised her hand. "Ah, do you need me to stay? I can stick around until the real coroner arrives."
"That would be helpful, Dr. Snow," Aunt Ruby said, extending her hand. "I'm sorry I had to rush out of your interview like that. An emergency arose."
Dr. Snow shook her hand but raised an eyebrow. "I'm thinking there are a lot of emergencies in Dead End. Not quite the sleepy little town I thought it was, is it?"
"I hope that doesn’t make you change your mind about the job, but we should discuss that later." Aunt Ruby looked at me. "Tess, you and Jack don't need to stay."
"Where's Shelley?"
"We sent her to spend the night with Eleanor," Uncle Mike said.
"Actually, Mayor Callahan, you and Mike don't need to stay either. We're going to wait for the coroner and talk to the witnesses," Susan said.
"And maybe somebody should find Bubba and Lola McKee," I said slowly. I told them about what Jack and I had interrupted earlier.
"I'd say round up all the McKees involved in the fight at Tess's store," Jack said. "There's definitely a motive there. Maybe fists weren't enough, so somebody went home and got a gun."
"I hate to say it, but you should talk to Skeeter Hatfield, too," I said. "After that scene at the diner …"
