Free Murder in Death's Door County by Elizabeth Rose Page A

on
me.”
    “Yeah. Wait, what?” I put my head in my
hands. When I looked up again, Officer Michaels, was looking at me warily. He
rubbed his left hand over the side of face.
    “What? Why are you looking at me like
that, officer? What’s wrong?”
    To his credit, the very fair-skinned officer
blushed straight up to his hairline. He said, “I’m sorry, Annie. It’s just
standard procedure, but when you are the person who discovers a body… We, ah,
well, we have to take you in for questioning.”
    Kitty looked as stunned as I felt.
    My voice rose with alarm, “What? Why on
earth would you think I killed my editor? I have a vested interested to NOT
kill my editor.”
    “I’d better advise you of your rights.”
    “I’m being arrested?”
    “No, but you are making quite a
commotion. You might implicate yourself by accident. You need to get a hold of
yourself and calm down. This is just standard procedure.”
    “Implicate myself by accident?” I stood
up just to stomp my feet in frustration. Of all the asinine things I’d ever
heard.
    In the most melodramatic fashion I
could, I held out my wrists with a bit of a flourish and said in dramatic, accented
tones, “Very well, take me in.”
    “Seriously, Johnny. Why do you need to
take Annie in? Can’t you tell she’s not the murdering type?” Kitty asked, quite
reasonably in my somewhat biased opinion.
    “Miss, put your wrists down. You are
NOT, I repeat NOT, being arrested. And Kitty, with all due respect, I have
orders to bring in the person who found the body. We do need you to come in and
make a statement. Here’s my card. We’ll need to see you before the end of the
day.”
    “Oh.” My voice sounded small as I
realized the enormity of everything.
    “Thank you for your cooperation, Kitty,”
said Officer Michaels as he left. “We’ll be in touch. Sorry your regulars will
have to miss your Packer Sunday football party.”
    “Sure. Don’t mention it,” Kitty said as
she waved to him. She didn’t look that upset about closing down the bar and
restaurant for a couple of days. Considering that she was typically open seven
days a week, I figured she was glad for some time off, even if it was because
of Harry’s murder. Plus, she still had a few other paying guests in the inn.
    A few minutes later, the paramedics
finally came. They prepped the body for transport. One of the guys asked Kitty
if I needed a mild sedative.
    “I’m not sure. Let me see if I can find
something downstairs first. I’ll be right back,” and with that, Kitty left the
room.
    Which left me alone with Harry, the
EMTs, and my shock. My shock wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. I sank back to
the floor and started to rock back and forth, hugging myself. In a pinched
voice, I heard myself ask, “How come there isn’t that much blood around?”
    The paramedic explained that most of the
blood went down the drain, which didn’t help my shock at all.
    When Donovan came back into the
bathroom, he took one look at my pale face and dragged me downstairs. Well,
based on how I felt, I can only assume that my face was pale. All I know is
this, when he looked at me, he blanched a little himself.
    “Where are we going?”
    “The bar.”
    “The bar? It’s only ten in the morning!”
    “Pretend it’s brunch and I’m making you
a variation on a Bloody Mary, okay?” He added, “I think you need something a
little stronger than soda. Do you think Kitty has any brandy at the bar?”
    Still pulling me, we got to the empty
bar. As a result, you could hear a pin drop.
    Being away from Harry’s lifeless body
helped me a lot. I even cracked a little smile as we looked over Kitty's
enormous liquor collection behind the bar, “I'm guessing she does. I think what
she doesn’t have would make a shorter list.”
    Donovan turned and smiled at me, “It
seems your shock is fading. How’s your head?”
    “It’s been better.”
    “Ah! Here it is!” Donovan grabbed a
bottle and moved expertly