Nate said, “I’d bet good money any qualified psychiatrist would diagnose her with something requiring a prescription.”
“Nate.” I tossed him a quelling look. “She’s my friend.”
“Friends don’t usually speak to one another in the tone she was addressing you last night.”
“He makes a good point,” Colleen said. “I would’ve thought Olivia would’ve outgrown her mean streak.”
“She was overwrought,” I said. “She’s not usually like that. She lashes out when she feels like she’s under attack. Her impulse control hasn’t fully developed.”
“If she verbally attacks you again, we’re dropping this case and Robert can figure this out for himself. He’s an attorney.”
“Come on now—”
“What? You think I should just sit there while she spews venom at you?”
“I think we should take into account that she’s under a great deal of stress.”
“And you’re not? With our wedding coming up in four days? Aren’t brides always stressed?”
“Yes, and I have some knots in my neck maybe you wouldn’t mind rubbing after I shower.”
“Do you now?” His voice dropped an octave.
I gave him a slow grin and took off running towards the house.
“Really?” Colleen called after us. “Y’all don’t have time for that stuff this morning.”
But we made time for a long soapy shower, with lots of rubbing on each other’s tense spots.
Later, after breakfast, we settled into the office to figure out the best approach to our new case. I was at my desk, Nate in a leather chair across from me.
At seven fifteen, Mamma called. “Liz, Nicolette has been trying to reach you. Is everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine, Mamma. We’re just busy wrapping up a couple cases.”
She sighed.
“You’ve taken on entirely too much.”
I was hard-pressed to argue with her. “What did Nicolette need? Do you know?” She’d left me a voicemail, but with all the drama, I’d forgotten to call her back.
“She needs the final count for the caterer for the reception.”
“Unless Daddy has invited any more random folks from the flea market, we’re at three hundred and four.”
Nate looked up from his laptop, his face frozen in stunned panic.
I flashed him my best Oh please look. This was not news to him.
“There are always a few folks who can’t come last minute,” Mamma said. “And the caterer always plans for a few extra. I think we should tell her an even three hundred.”
“Whatever you think, Mamma.”
She said she’d call Nicolette back, gave me a litany of admonishments, most of which didn’t register, and we said our goodbyes.
“Have you finished with the research you were doing on the Savage case?” Nate asked.
“All done. I emailed you everything I found.”
He nodded. “Thanks. All I need to do now is pull the report together and get it to them. But that doesn’t have to be done today.”
“As for the Pearsons,” I said, “the first thing we need to do is determine if there was a body in that house last night. If there was, and we don’t report it, we have an exposure.”
“But you didn’t see a body. All you could report is hearsay, and you had evidence it was unreliable—there was no body when you arrived.”
“True. And I took photos of the room. The date, time, and location is part of the files.” I weighed that for a moment. “I think I’ll call Sonny.” Sonny Ravenel was an old friend—my brother, Blake’s, best friend. He was also a detective with Charleston PD.
“And tell him what?”
“Who said I was going to tell him anything?” I grinned as I tapped Sonny’s name in my favorites list.
“Ravenel.” He answered on the second ring, sounding distracted.
“Sonny, it’s Liz.”
“I’m in the middle of something.”
“I’m so sorry to interrupt. I just have a quick question. Any missing person reports in the last twenty-four hours?”
“Only one. An eighty-nine-year-old white female missing from the dementia unit at Ashley River Plantation. Look, I can’t talk right now. Someone killed Thurston Middleton and left him propped straight up on a park bench at White Point Gardens. Has a newspaper in his lap, like maybe he just finished it. Damnedest thing I’ve seen in a while.”
The back of my neck tingled. “Killed him how?”
Nate frowned.
“Blunt force trauma to the back of the head. Gotta go.”