Free Whisper of Evil by Kay Hooper

attracted the interest of my boss, the leader of the unit I belong to. He's a profiler, instinctive as well as trained. When I gave him all the information Casey had passed along to me, he was able to develop a tentative profile of the sort of person likely to be the killer."
    "And?"
    Nell looked at the mayor, who said, "And we immediately had a problem. According to Agent Bishop's profile, the killer was likely to be a cop."
    Max whistled softly. "Which might explain why the murders are going unsolved."
    "Which might explain why." Casey sighed. "Worse, what it meant was that I couldn't trust the local police—any of the police. They were all suspect, from Sheriff Cole down to his deputies, and even those not directly suspected are likely to have loyalties that could color their thinking. So I could hardly go to any of them with the information that our killer might well be a cop." She shook her head. "We needed help from investigators outside the town, outside the parish, and we had to keep it quiet because we certainly couldn't let it be known that our own sheriff's department was under suspicion."
    "But the Bureau is very picky about sending in agents if the local authorities haven't asked for our help," Nell continued. "States' rights, various jurisdictions—it can get tangled and ugly in a hurry if we aren't very, very careful how we handle things. Still, Casey was in a position to ask for our help in a unique situation and to authorize us to begin investigating, so the decision was made."
    "To send you in?" Max was still trying to wrap his mind around the idea that Nell—the half-wild, fey girl he remembered so vividly—was now a federal cop.
    "To launch an undercover investigation," she corrected. "No agents wandering around in town flashing their badges or muscling in on the local cops. Since we knew we'd have to investigate those local cops while also working to solve this series of murders, we could hardly operate openly.
    "Something much quieter and a lot more subtle was needed. Obviously. And an agent who wouldn't stand out like a sore thumb. I was chosen partly because I have a nice, innocent—and authentic—reason to be here. Settling my father's estate." She spoke without emotion. "Even the most suspicious person would be unlikely to figure me for anything other than a reluctant daughter returning home because there were things I had to take care of here. So I was perfect for the job."
    Max shook his head. "They didn't send you down here alone, surely?"
    "No."
    He stared at her for a moment, then looked at Casey.
    "Nell is my contact," she said. "I don't know the other agent—or agents—involved."
    "Which is the way it stays," Nell said, looking steadily at Max. "Undercover means under cover. The safety of an agent often depends on how secure the cover is; what you don't know, you can't betray, consciously or unconsciously. If you hadn't presented a potential problem by—rather obviously—following me around today, there wouldn't have been any need to tell you this much."
    "Thanks a lot," he muttered.
    "Don't mention it."
    Casey smiled slightly, but said, "If anybody else noticed you following Nell, Max, they'll probably chalk it up to… renewed interest, shall we say? Old gossip can have its uses. Since there was always a… mystery… concerning you two, people will tend to focus on that."
    "Great," Max said without looking at Nell. "It's always been my ambition to look like a lovelorn jerk."
    "Better than looking like a stalker or a murderer," Casey reminded him matter-of-factly.
    "We all know I'm already suspected of the latter." He kept his gaze on her. "Which makes me wonder why you two decided to bring me in on this. It can't be only because I was following Nell all day. Aren't you taking quite a chance? I could be the killer, you know."
    "You aren't a cop," Casey reminded him.
    "No, but that profile could be wrong."
    "It isn't," Neil said. "Certainly not on the major points. Bishop is very