Free Scared Stiff by Annelise Ryan

she’s doing better these days.
    Today she greets me with a smile, takes my order for a bowl of peach ice cream—I figure fruit is a good choice for breakfast—and brings it back a few minutes later. As I watch her walking back to the table something about her seems different, though I can’t figure out what it is. I finally decide it’s her face, which seems to have a new glow to it. Had she had another graft revision surgery, or was she simply using new make-up?
    “What’s new?” she asks, sliding into the chair across from me as I swallow my first spoonful. “What’s this I hear about you and David?”
    As if the whole town didn’t know already. “It’s true,” I tell her. “We split up. I’m filing for divorce.”
    “I also heard you changed jobs. Someone said you’re working for the coroner now.”
    I suspect Jackie is merely being nosy, trying to earn a little leverage in the gossip commodity. But it’s okay because her veiled inquiry offers me the perfect opening.
    “That’s also true,” I say after swallowing another bite. “In fact, that’s one of the reasons I’m here. I’m looking into Shannon Tolliver’s murder.”
    She shakes her head, looking stricken. “It’s a terrible, terrible thing that happened to Shannon. Do they have any idea who did it?”
    “Nothing solid yet. Do you have any ideas?”
    Jackie rears back and looks at me, clearly startled by the question. “Me? Why would you ask me?”
    I shrug. “You worked with Shannon so I figured you might have some insight into her life and the people in it.”
    Jackie glances around at the other tables and then looks down at her hands in her lap, her fingers fidgeting. “I suppose they’ll suspect Erik,” she says in a low voice. “Things have been kind of strained between him and Shannon ever since they split up.”
    “I heard they had an argument of some sort a couple of days before she died. Were you here when it happened?”
    “Oh, yeah,” Jackie says, rolling her eyes. “It was pretty intense. Shannon served Erik with separation papers and he didn’t take it too well.”
    “Do you remember what they said?”
    Jackie cocks her head to one side and looks up at the ceiling for a moment, giving me time to eat another spoonful of ice cream. “Well, I remember Erik telling Shannon he didn’t want a divorce. He told her he wanted to try to work things out. But Shannon was pretty adamant about going ahead with it. Erik got mad, called her a bitch, and threw the papers at her. Then Shannon yelled at him to leave.”
    “Did he?”
    Jackie nods. “He stormed out, got in his car, and peeled rubber out of the parking lot.”
    “What did Shannon do or say after that?”
    “Well, she was pretty upset, crying and all. It was the end of her shift so she went into the back room for a bit to try to collect herself. Then she came out, ordered a bunch of food to go, and as soon as it was ready, she left.”
    “Did you see Erik again after that?”
    Jackie shakes her head. “Nope, but he never did come around much. He’s lactose intolerant so there isn’t much here he can eat.”
    “Who else was working that day?”
    “It was me and Shannon up front here. Mom was working in back.”
    “Did your mom witness the argument between Shannon and Erik?”
    She nods. “Mom spent some time afterward trying to calm Shannon down.”
    “Is your mom here today?” I doubt it since I haven’t seen her, and Jackie confirms my guess with a shake of her head.
    “Dad’s here today. Mom had a doctor’s appointment.” She takes out her order pad, scribbles something on a blank page, rips it out, and hands it to me. “Here’s our home phone number,” she says. “Give her a call if you want.”
    I take the paper and slip it into my purse. “Thanks. I will. If you can think of anything else about Shannon that might be significant, let me know. You can reach me at the ME’s office.” I give her the number, she writes it on another blank