Free Dizzy Spells by Morgana Best Page A

sarcastically. “A doppelganger?”
    I stared at the photos. “Okay, it does look
like me, but the photographs must have been faked or
something.”
    “Faked?” the second cop chimed in. He shook
his head, clearly not believing a word I said. “They look pretty
convincing to me.”
    “Haven’t you ever heard of Photoshop?” I
shot back.
    Harrison glared at me. “So, now you’re
saying someone is framing you for this? First, a body shows up at
your front door and you claim he’s a complete stranger. Secondly,
we receive photos in the mail that show you and the victim
together. So why don’t you tell us why someone would go through all
that trouble?”
    I sighed. They didn’t believe me at all, and
part of me didn’t blame them. I probably wouldn’t believe my story
either if I were one of them. “I know it sounds crazy, but I’ve
never met that man before in my life. My only explanation is that
someone’s trying to frame me. I bet those photos were sent to you
anonymously.”
    The two cops exchanged a look, and then
Harrison handed the file to Sassafras. He stood up abruptly and
walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
    “Do you have diabetes?” Harrison asked.
    “No!” I said. I knew where this was going.
Word was that insulin had killed Hale.
    “Do you know anyone with diabetes?”
    “No, not a soul,” I said truthfully.
    “All right, this is what’s going to happen,”
Harrison said. “Those photographs will be submitted to the
Forensics Imaging team for analysis. If they determine that they
were indeed doctored, then you’ll be dropped as a person of
interest and we’ll be one step closer to finding the real
killer.”
    Relief finally washed over me. “So, does
that mean I can go now?”
    The cop opened the door and turned back to
me. “Yes,” he said, nodding. “But you had better not be lying to
us.”
     
     

Chapter 13

    “Come into the back room. I think I’m in some
serious hot water,” I said to Thyme as soon as I got back to the
shop. Luckily, there were no customers at the time.
    Thyme’s face was filled with anxiety. “What
happened with the police? I’ve been worried sick since I saw your
note.”
    “I’m completely spooked, to be honest,” I
said. “They had a whole bunch of photos which showed me with the
victim.”
    Thyme gasped. “With Thomas Hale?”
    I nodded. “The police got some photos in the
mail that show me with Thomas Hale—when he was alive, obviously. I
don’t mean with me finding his body. Anyway, as you know, I’ve
never seen the guy before. The day I found him lying on my front
porch was the first day I had ever seen him.”
    “I wonder why someone would do that? First,
the body turned up where it had no place to be, and now you’re
showing up in photos where you have no place to be. It’s rather
peculiar.”
    I agreed. “It sure is. The good news is that
the police sent the photos to the forensic lab to be examined.
Obviously, they’ll find out that they’re photoshopped or
something.”
    “Then you have nothing to worry about,”
Thyme said.
    I chewed one fingernail. “That’s not what
I’m worried about,” I said. “It would be pretty bad if the police
forensics lab couldn’t tell when images are photoshopped. What’s
really worrying me is that someone’s trying to frame me!” My voice
rose to a high pitch.
    “Alder Vervain,” Thyme said at once.
    I shook my head. “No, I don’t think it’s
him.” I hope it’s not him , I added silently.
    “Well, who then?” Thyme asked. “It fits with
the pattern of what his family always did.”
    “Maybe it’s the person who paid him to
follow me. Maybe that person is the murderer, and they paid him to
take photos of me so they could Photoshop them onto the victim’s
photos,” I said. I thought that was clever of me, but Thyme looked
skeptical.
    “That’s a bit of a stretch, isn’t it? And we
really don’t know if anyone has employed him to watch you, or
whether