“Well, she’s got the imagination for it,” snapped Alec James. He gave a snort, then muttered, “Should have bought that place in San Dimas.”
“Yes, you should have,” Louise agreed.
They all heard the knock on the door.
“That will be the police,” Louise said to Alec James.
“Good. We can give them the bone,” said Gilda.
“Then they can search the foothills for the rest of the body,” said Alec James. “I’m sure they’ve got nothing better to do than look for missing deer bones.”
“I’ll get it,” said Gilda and hurried to the front door.
A moment later she was followed into the kitchen by two burly men in uniform, who introduced themselves as Officer Mead and Officer Trumble. Officer Mead looked to be in hisfifties, and strands of white were burying themselves in his full head of dark hair. He was built like a tank. His partner was young, probably in his thirties, and one glance was enough to tell Louise that he worked out at the gym on a regular basis. They’d have no problem taking down Alec James.
She still wished she’d bought a Taser. She’d seen a cute pink one on Amazon.
“I understand you found a bone,” said Officer Mead.
“My dog found it,” said Louise. “We’re sure it’s human.” And as soon as he confirmed it, she was going to accompany him right on over to that hole next door.
Officer Mead examined it, then exchanged a look with his partner. Was it a troubled look? Louise braced herself for the horrible confrontation about to ensue and moved closer to Martin.
“I can understand your concern, ma’am,” said Officer Mead. “But not to worry. This bone isn’t human.”
“Not human!” Louise echoed.
“Are you sure?” Gilda demanded. “Don’t you need to bring in a detective?”
Officer Mead smiled politely at her. “No. I’ve done a lot of hunting. So has my partner here. We know a deer bone when we see one.”
“Deer bone,” Louise repeated. How was that possible?
“They can be mistaken for human,” said young Officer Trumble.
“It’s not... He’s not?” Louise suddenly didn’t feel so well. Her whole face was on fire.
“Thank you for coming, officers. I thought that was what it was,” Martin said.
“It’s always wise to call us,” said Officer Mead. “That’s what we’re here for.”
The officers left and Louise lowered her shaky self onto akitchen chair. Gilda sat down hard on one next to her. Alec James remained standing, frowning and shaking his head.
“But then how did it get there?” Louise wondered. The minute the words were out of her mouth she knew, and the flame burned hotter.
Her neighbor made a face. “I’ll give you two guesses.”
“It couldn’t have been Darling,” she insisted. “He wasn’t gone for that long.”
“Well, it wasn’t me,” snapped Alec James.
“We might have jumped to conclusions,” Louise began.
Both his eyebrows shot up. “Might have?”
“But we were concerned,” she said. “You certainly can’t blame us, with all the shouting always going on at your house.”
It appeared that he could. He let out an exasperated breath and strode out of the kitchen.
