Free Frozen Stiff by Annelise Ryan Page B

Harold Minniver’s death and the lawsuit he had against Hurley. Is it merely coincidence that two people who were close to Hurley are now dead? I debate how much information to share with Hurley and what to tell Izzy and Bob Richmond. I want to give Hurley a chance, but what if I’m protecting a dirty cop, a clever killer disguised as a gorgeous, tightassed hunk of man-meat?
    The next morning I take Hoover outside to do his thing before taking my shower. As I watch him make yellow snow I’m reminded of Bob Richmond and wonder how diligent the man is going to be in his investigation. I’ve gotten kind of used to Hurley’s way of doing things and despite the fact that I sometimes overstep my bounds when it comes to investigating things, Hurley has been not only tolerant but supportive. I suspect Richmond isn’t going to be quite as accommodating, which will make doing my own investigation for Hurley much more difficult.
    Hoover and I head back inside, and after stripping off my flannel jammies, I’m standing naked waiting for the shower water to heat up when my cell phone rings. Thinking it’s Izzy with a death call, I groan. But when I look at the caller ID I see it’s Hurley. The idea of talking to Hurley while I’m stark raving naked makes me start to sweat despite the frigid temps outside.
    I grab the phone, flip it open, and utter a cheery “Good morning!”
    “Hardly,” Hurley snaps. “Did you know about Minniver?”
    This isn’t the greeting I was expecting and I’m struck dumb for a moment. That’s enough for Hurley to figure things out.
    “You did, didn’t you?”
    “He was the case I was called out on last night when I was at your house,” I admit. “I didn’t know he was your neighbor until after I got to the hospital.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me about him? Why is there crime scene tape at his house? And why am I finding all this out from my neighbors instead of you?”
    “Whoa, slow down, would you?”
    “I can’t slow down, Mattie. People around me are turning up dead with frightening frequency lately and it’s making me a tad anxious.”
    “Understandable,” I say slowly.
    Hurley lets forth with a weighty sigh. “You’re not starting to have doubts about me, are you? Because I’m counting on you, and if you’re withholding information from me, I’m thinking we’ve got a problem.”
    “Minniver was more than just your neighbor, wasn’t he?”
    He doesn’t answer right away and while I’m waiting, I reach over and turn off the shower.
    “We had some disagreements recently,” Hurley says finally. “He didn’t like where I put my fence, claiming it encroached on his property. He has . . . had some old survey map from twenty years ago that shows a different property line than what my survey shows. So he’s suing me.”
    “Not anymore,” I toss out.
    Hurley groans. “What did he die of?”
    “I don’t know,” I say honestly. “My first thought was that he had a heart attack but after reviewing his medical record I think that’s unlikely. Right now I have no idea what killed him. We’re going to post him this morning.”
    “Do you suspect something other than natural causes?”
    “Not necessarily. While it’s unlikely that his heart was the cause, he could have had a stroke, or thrown a blood clot, or blown an aneurysm. There are a ton of natural causes in a man his age that are plausible. Hopefully we’ll be able to narrow it down once we’ve done the autopsy.”
    “I want to be there when you do it.”
    My heart skips a beat. There is nothing I like more than having Hurley around, even when it occurs over a dead body. But . . .
    “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say. “Clearly you’ve got some connections to this man other than the typical neighborly one. Given the other . . . situation, I think it might be wiser if you distanced yourself from the investigation.”
    “But that just makes me look guilty.”
    “Are you?”
    This time the