Split Second (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell 1)

“Did you check out the widow, question her?”

He looked at her skeptically. “What, give an old woman the third degree with her husband lying in a coffin five feet away? We looked in her purse, but I didn’t think a body cavity search was really appropriate.” He added, “We had two minutes to do it. You tell me anyone who could have done a proper job in two minutes.”

Michelle stiffened as the meaning of the man’s words became clear. Everyone would be looking to cover his butt and federal pension over this one. Stupid now when you looked at it: giving them only two minutes. She checked the doorknob. It had been rigged to lock when closed.

A coffin five feet away? She looked over at the copper-colored box. The funeral director was called for. He was paler now than even a mortician should be. Michelle asked him if the body was indeed that of Bill Martin. Yes, the man said.

“And you’re sure the woman in here was Martin’s widow.”

“What woman would that be?” he asked.

“There was a woman dressed all in black, with a veil, sitting in this room.”

“I don’t know if it was Mrs. Martin or not. I didn’t see her come in.”

“I’ll need Mrs. Martin’s phone number. And nobody who works here can leave—not until the FBI has arrived and completed its investigation. Understood?”

If possible, the man grew even paler. “The FBI?”

Michelle dismissed him, and then her gaze fell on the coffin and the floor in front of it. She bent down to pick up some rose petals that had fallen there. As she did so, she was eye level with the skirting that ran around the coffin. She reached over the flowers and carefully drew aside the fabric, exposing wood paneling. Michelle tapped on the wood. It was hollow. Using gloves, she and another agent lifted out one of the wood sections, revealing a space that could easily have concealed someone. Michelle could only shake her head. She’d blown this all around.

One of her men came up to her with a device in a plastic bag. “Some sort of digital recorder,” he reported.

“That’s how they generated Bruno’s voice?” she said.

“Must have gotten a snippet of him from somewhere and used it to keep us at bay while they made their getaway. They must have thought the phrase ‘Just a minute’ would handle most queries from us. You tripped them up with your remark about Bruno’s kids. There must be a wireless bug around here somewhere too.”

Michelle read his thoughts. “Because they’d have to be able to hear us to make the recorded voice answer when I called out.”

“Right.” He pointed at the far wall where a section of the upholstered wall covering had been pulled back. “There’s a door there. A passageway runs behind that wall.”

“So there’s their exit.” She handed him the plastic bag. “Put it back exactly where you got it. I don’t need a lesson from the FBI on maintaining the integrity of a crime scene.”

“There must have been a struggle. I’m surprised we didn’t hear anything,” said the agent.

“How could we, with that death music bellowing everywhere?” she snapped.

She and the agent went down the passageway. The empty coffin on a rolling table had been left at a doorway here that opened onto the back of the building. They returned to the viewing room, and the funeral home director was called back in and shown the hidden doorway.

He looked perplexed. “I didn’t even know that was there.”

“What?” Michelle said incredulously.

“We’ve only been operating this business for a couple of years. That’s when the only funeral home in the area went out of business. We couldn’t use that building because it had been condemned. This place was a lot of things before it was a funeral home. The current owners did minimal improvements. In fact, these viewing rooms went fairly unchanged. I had no idea there was a door or passageway there.”

“Well, somebody certainly did,” she said bluntly. “There’s a door at the end of that hall that opens to the rear of the building. Are you telling me you didn’t know about that either?”

He said, “That part of the facility is used for storage and is accessed by entrances inside the building.”

“Did you see any vehicle parked out there earlier?”

“No, but then I don’t go around there.”

“Anybody else see anything?”

“I’ll have to check.”

“No, I’ll check.”