"As far as I know, the boys went to that pub, and the girls went shopping." She patted her purse. "I got this. You have a great shop on Vine Street. That’s where I picked this up."

Sam knew the shop, though he’d only been in there once with his daughters. "Fern’s, right?"

"Yeah, I think that’s what it is."

"And Lynn went to the antiques store right at the end of Main Street, right?" Jo nodded out the window toward the main street of town.

Tara fidgeted in her seat, the chair pitching forward slightly as she followed Jo’s gaze. "Is that what the others said?"

"Some of them. But some others think she might have had an appointment." Jo leaned toward her. "Would you happen to know anything about that?"

Tara’s eyes flashed. "An appointment? I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to talk about Lynn now that she’s… she’s… well, you know."

Sam pushed up from his seat and came around the desk, leaning his hip on the edge so he could look down at her. "Tara. This is important. We’re investigating a murder. I don’t think Lynn is going to mind you talking about her if it helps us find her killer."

"Fine." Tara sighed. "I’m not sure if Lynn went to the antiques store. And I don’t think she had an appointment. Not like you mean. Because I saw her meeting with someone. And that explains why she wanted to borrow my bra."

"Your bra?" Jo asked.

Sam’s eyes flicked from Tara’s lacey cleavage to the photos of Lynn’s belongings spread across his desk. Now he knew what had bugged him about that. The bra found in her clothing pile in the woods was a fancy red lacey number, but the bras in her duffel bag were utilitarian. White cotton with a little tiny pink bow in the center. Plain Jane style, in fact, was the name of the maker.

"We borrowed each other’s clothes sometimes. We were the same size." Tara’s eyes filled up. "When she asked to borrow a fancy bra, I just figured she was hoping to get lucky later that night. I never suspected what she was really doing."

"What was she really doing?" Jo asked.

"Lynn might have had an appointment like you said, but it wasn’t a business appointment." Tara’s eyes drifted out the window. "That afternoon, I saw her meeting someone in that secluded alley near the Irish pub."

"In the alley?" Sam said. "Why would she be meeting someone there?"

Tara’s eyes came back from the window to look straight at Sam. "Because she didn’t want to be seen. She was meeting Noah. A real friendly meeting. And I don’t think they were discussing business, if you get my drift."

Chapter Twenty-Six

After Tara left, Sam settled back behind his desk. Jo got up to pace the room. Lucy paced behind her.

"So Lynn had an amorous meeting with Noah in the alley," Sam said.

"But Noah was in the bar." Jo stood at the window looking out over the street. O’Malley’s was two doors down from the alley where Tara had indicated she’d seen the romantic meeting between Lynn and Noah. "Then again, Derek and Josh said he was in the bar. They were playing pool, not watching Noah. He could’ve slipped out and met Lynn in the alley."

"But why go to all that trouble? Why the subterfuge? Why wouldn’t Noah just break up with Amber and get back together with Lynn?" Sam asked.

Jo turned and paced back to Sam’s desk, Lucy at her heels. "I have no idea. People do strange things. Maybe it has something to do with her will. Maybe he was trying to be nice to get her to change it. Or maybe they had just realized they still had feelings for each other now. That could explain what Derek saw. Maybe it was Noah sneaking out to meet with Lynn."

"Or Amber sneaking out to kill her so Noah couldn’t meet with her."

"Either way, there’s something off about this," Jo said. "At least that settles the whole business of the appointment."

"Maybe. I’d still like to find out what’s on her cell phone. There could be texts or phone calls that would give us a clue about something."

"Those are always interesting." Jo patted Lucy’s head. "And I think we better have another talk with Noah. He forgot to tell us about his alley meeting with Lynn. But right now, I think we need to take Lucy out to do some business. And get some lunch."

Sam pushed up from his desk and walked to the door with Jo and Lucy. "Maybe we should get a leash for her."

"Why? She seems to stay right with us."

"She does, but it just seems like we should have one just in case." Sam opened the door and gestured for Jo and Lucy to proceed out into the squad room area.

Reese was at her desk. She looked up and smiled at them. Then her eyes drifted out of the window and widened in alarm. "Oh shit! Dupont’s coming."

Jo spun around. Dupont was walking up the street, clutching a manila envelope.

Jo’s first inclination was to shove Lucy back into Sam’s office. But what if Dupont wanted to talk to Sam privately in there? There was an entrance on the other side they never used. It opened to a small parking lot where the mail trucks used to park in back. She rushed over to the door and shoved Lucy outside just as Dupont came in the front.

"Mr. Dupont, how nice to see you." Reese’s voice was light.

Dupont scowled at her. "What’s going on?"

Reese smiled, all wide-eyed and innocent. "Nothing."

Dupont cleared his throat and looked at Sam. "Thank you for visiting the Palmers. It meant a lot to them."

"Of course," Sam said.

"We still need to get this solved right away. The townsfolk don’t like to think of a murderer running around." Dupont’s tone turned hard. "And you need to think about hiring someone. Being shorthanded has impacted this investigation."

"Not really," Sam said. "We’ve been working extra hours, and Kevin has been filling in for the full-time hours to take up the slack."

"And will he be taking the full-time position?"

"No, but I think it’s premature to—"

Dupont shoved the manila envelope into Sam’s hand. "Here are the applicants for the job. I don’t want the townspeople complaining the streets aren’t safe. That could reflect badly on me in the election polls next year. So I expect to be fully staffed by the end of the month." Dupont turned toward the door and shot over his shoulder, "And don’t forget to keep me updated on the Palmer case."

"Man, what a jerk. He couldn’t give a crap if we are understaffed or if there’s crime in town—he just cares about getting reelected." Jo watched him walk away, making sure he wasn’t going to come back before opening the side door to let Lucy in.

Lucy wasn’t sitting on the step as Jo had expected. She looked further, in the shrubs and out into the parking lot, but Lucy was nowhere to be found. She was gone.

The station felt empty without Lucy. They had looked all around the building and into the town but didn’t find her.

They were seated at Jo’s desk, and Sam was eating a pastrami on rye. Jo was moving the chunks of her beef stew around in her bowl, a white bag with one last jelly donut sitting beside her. Reese munched on a salad at her own desk across the lobby. The room was filled with the smell of beef and cheese, but it was mostly silent except for their chewing. An air of sadness had descended upon them.

Kevin had come and gone. It was late afternoon, and nothing else was going on. He seemed eager to leave, so Sam had let him go home. Kevin wasn’t exactly what you’d call a go-getter.