Free Dead Girl in a Green Dress by Loucinda McGary Page A

information that may be important."
    "Let’s get on board first," he insisted. He handed her the paper ticket and ditched what remained of his coffee in the nearest trash can.
    As they walked briskly down the pier toward the waiting vessel, Byrony , with her usual impatience, started talking. "I called my step-mother last night, and she told me she found a key in Jessica’s jewelry case, a house key. I asked her to overnight it to me."
    Tate waited until they were on the ferry and seated inside before he responded. "You think this might be the key to her boyfriend’s place? The boyfriend you didn’t believe she had?"
    Her eagerness melted with his sardonic second question. "Okay, I’ve reconsidered my original opinion, especially after I heard about this key. If we can find out whose door it fits."
    "That’s a pretty big if, Sunshine." As much as he hated to burst her bubble of excitement, Tate also wanted her to be realistic. "First, we need some clue as to who she might have been seeing. I don’t suppose your step-mother had any ideas about that?"
    Tight lipped, Byrony shook her head. She waited until the ferry had pulled away from the pier before she spoke again. "Even if we go with your theory about someone who shouldn’t be involved with a seasonal, that still leaves a lot of possibilities."
    "Afraid so," Tate acknowledged. "Though it could prove out, but I’m still thinking Prince is our best bet."
    He watched the conflicting emotions chase across her face, and frustration tinged her voice. "Will the Mac City police agree? Prince is a big-shot, while we’re a couple of nobodies from Chicago."
    "Couldn’t have summed it up any better myself. Guess we’ll find out soon enough."
    From the ferry terminal, Tate hailed a taxi for them to take the short ride to the Mackinaw City Administrative Building. He’d called Jim Shaffer before they got in the cab, and the burly detective waited for them in the lobby. After brief introductions, Tate and Byrony signed in at the front desk, clipped on their visitor badges, and followed Shaffer through a maze of corridors to a small meeting room. A fat folder full of crime scene photos lay in the middle of the conference table, with a second, slim folder next to it.
    "Those are the shots of the cataloged evidence you asked for." Shaffer nodded at the smaller folder.
    "Appreciate it." Tate knew he couldn’t examine the actual evidence, but maybe the photos would suffice. He shifted his gaze to Byrony , who stood stiffly, complexion pale and jaw tightly clenched. "You sure you’re up to looking at all this?"
    "I’ll be fine," she insisted, and he knew better than to argue. Instead he pulled out the nearest chair for her. Then he sat in the chair next to her and opened the bigger folder.
    "Anybody else want coffee?" Shaffer asked, and when both Tate and Byrony said yes, he shuffled out the door.
    Drawing the smaller folder in front of her, Byrony asked, "What are we looking for?"
    "Nothing in particular." Tate noticed that for all her bravado, her hand trembled a little as she opened the folder. "Just anything that might seem out of place, or not right somehow. Mention anything that strikes you as off."
    Her chest rose and fell as she took a fortifying breath. "I can do that." And she started to sift through the photos, which he could see were mostly of the dress her sister Jessica had been wearing.
    Opening the larger folder, Tate saw that in addition to the crime scene, there were pictures of Jessica’s body. Quickly, he sorted those out and stuck them face down behind the others. Byrony seemed to be on the edge of losing control, no point in giving her a shove.
    Shaffer came back a few minutes later, juggling three steaming mugs. Tate accepted his with a nod of thanks, but Byrony , lines furrowing between her eyebrows, ignored her cup and continued to pick up and closely study photos. Then she held up the inventory list of evidence. "So this is everything? I mean, didn’t