Tomb With a View

“Of course it doesn’t.” Quinn crossed his arms over his chest. His shirt had so much starch in it, I swear I heard it crackle. Or maybe that was just his prickly personality making itself known. “Pepper should know better. Just like she should know to keep her nose out of police business.”

“You two obviously know each other.” It was the understatement of the year, but I guess I couldn’t blame Scott. He was the kind of guy who liked all his ducks in a row. He glanced from Quinn to me and back again to Quinn. “You’ve worked with Pepper before?”

Quinn’s smirk said it all, so he really didn’t need to add, “I guess you could call it that.”

Three cheers for Scott. Even if he read into the subtext of that one, he pretended like he didn’t. Then again, maybe he was just a literal guy. “Then obviously, you know how helpful she can be. She certainly was invaluable back in Chicago when we made the case against that doctor who was defrauding the health insurers and killing his patients.”

“Is that what you were doing in Chicago?” Needless to say, Quinn was looking at me when he asked this. “All you bothered to tell me was that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Because I knew this is exactly how you’d react.” I leveled him with a look. Or at least I tried. Quinn is hardly the leveling kind. “I have every right to ask questions—”

“About Marjorie Klinker’s murder? That’s what you’ve been up to, right? Investigating? Have you told Agent Baskins here that sometimes dead people help you out?”

“Of course they do.” Scott all but came right out and said, No duh! “The way victims live their lives, who they knew, who they talked to, who they associated with . . . you know that’s all important to an investigation, Detective Harrison. Pepper knows that, too. I’m sure that’s why she finds out as much about the dead person as she can.”

The smile Quinn shot my way was brittle. “Not exactly what I meant.”

I hopped to my feet and slapped the desk, just for good measure. It wasn’t nearly as satisfying as smacking that self-righteous smirk off Quinn’s face, but for now, it would have to do. “What difference does any of that make?” I asked no one in particular. “All that matters now is what you’re going to do”—I looked at Scott—“about the credit cards. And what you’re going to do”—I glanced at Quinn—“about the murder.”

“Well, the first thing I’m going to do is—”

They did it again, answered in unison, and this time, they used the same words. I swear, I heard a growl, I just wasn’t sure which one of them it came from.

I was only too happy to play favorites. I looked at Scott, giving him the go-ahead to answer first.

“I’ve got my stuff in the car and I’m going to get it and change. I’m going to play tourist, and so are some of the other guys from the local office. You are going to be our official tour guide, Pepper, and you’re going to let us know if anyone comes in who looks familiar. Like that Jack guy.”

“Jack?” Quinn had missed that part of the conversation. Now, his eyebrows rose and his eyes narrowed. “Who’s Jack?”

“Just some history teacher she went to dinner with.” Scott threw off the comment so casually, I had no doubt it was designed to drive Quinn crazy. “We’ll start hanging around today, and we’re going to stay around until somebody comes to pick up those credit cards.” A smile lit his expression. “I’m afraid it’s going to be pretty hard to get rid of me, Pepper.”

“Well, that’s not such a bad thing, is it?” Oh yes, I said this in the perkiest of perky voices. The better to send Quinn up a wall. I knew it worked, too, when a muscle at the side of his jaw twitched. “And what are you going to do while the feds are doing all the real work, Detective Harrison?” I asked him.

There was that twitch again. But never let it be said that Quinn isn’t cool under fire. “The first thing I’m going to do,” he said, “is talk to you about your investigation.” He twisted the last word so that it was as much of a mockery as he thought my detecting skills were. “Maybe you and your dead people can tell me—”

“Oh, I doubt that.” I laughed. “It’s just like you always say, I waste my time when I investigate. There’s no way I’ve learned anything that could be the least bit useful to you. Now . . .” I went to the door, opened it, and put my hand on Scott’s sleeve to escort him out. “I’ll show you where you can get changed,” I said.

“And this building, it closes at four, right?” He grinned. “Which means you’re free for dinner tonight?”

We were already on our way out of the office, but I’m pretty sure Quinn heard me say, “I’d like that very much.” I didn’t bother to turn around to see what he thought of my response.