Perfect Night (Mason Creek)

“Jack found him. I was first on the scene.”

“Jack?” I asked.

“Jack Riddle, he’s the manager of the bar.”

“I thought Doug, Emma’s dad ran the place himself.”

“True enough. But if Doug wasn’t around, Jack was in charge.”

“What happened?” I asked. I wanted his unvarnished opinion, so I kept Emma’s request for my help to myself.

“It appears he had a heart attack and when he fell over, he hit his head on the ground.”

“No signs of struggle? Nothing taken?” I asked.

“No sign of struggle. Nothing of value was taken, including a small amount of cash in the registers and the money in the office safe. But… Emma believes the security disk was missing.”

“Believes?”

“Jack said Doug often changed them. It’s possible he removed it and didn’t put in another for whatever reason.”

“If he did, wouldn’t you find the disk in the office somewhere?”

“We found a set.”

“And?” I prodded.

“And where are you going with this? The man had a heart attack. We buried him yesterday. Let sleeping dogs lie, Aiden.”

“Okay,” I agreed only because I didn’t think he was going to give me much more. “Did you check the other disk?”

“We did.”

“Was the day in question on one of them?”

“No. But who would want to harm Doug? We don’t have murders here every day. Not even every week or month. We may see a manslaughter from a car accident every blue moon. There was just no reason for someone to kill him.”

The sheriff had made up his mind and I wasn’t going to change it. But a missing security disk was reason enough to call Emma’s father’s death suspicious. I would need to tread lightly. The sheriff was well liked. Most people in town would know me or my parents, but I hadn’t been around for several years. They knew the kid version of me.

I tipped my hat. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Eight o’clock.”

I couldn’t remember the last time I started work at eight. “Sure.” Bright and early was my routine when I joined the detective division, sometimes as late as seven, but usually a lot earlier unless we caught a late case.

After checking my watch, it was too early on a Sunday to do anything but go home. I wasn’t ready for that. Soon, the town churchgoers would be heading for services. As for now, the streets were silent. I strolled around the town square and familiarized myself with the businesses. Some were old and some were new. There were a couple of places I could grab lunch or dinner outside of the diner.

I’d rounded the corner and had passed in front of Town Hall when in the distance a tiny figure emerged from the covered bridge. The bouncing blond ponytail gave me pause. I leaned on the stone foundation that flanked the stairs up to the only public offices in town and waited.

My instincts were good. It was Emma and she jogged up to me.

“Hey, stranger,” I teased. “Didn’t know you were a jogger.”

“I’m not actually. I spend too much time in front of a computer and need to get outside from time to time. I would walk, but walking means talking. Someone will want to chat if they see me. When I jog, most people leave me alone.”

“Oh, sorry. Get back to jogging.”

She laughed. “No, it’s fine. You don’t bother me.”

“Glad to hear it. Do you have a second?”

“Yeah, what’s up? You look all official.” She touched the brim of my cowboy hat.

I grinned, hating the idea of bringing up her father’s passing. “I spoke to Sheriff Moon this morning.” When her face registered alarm, I added, “I didn’t tell him you asked for my help.” Her relief was obvious as she sagged some. “It came up and there’s one thing he told me that you didn’t.”

“What’s that?” She looked weary.

“He said you thought the security disk from that day was missing.”

“Oh, yeah. Dad was religious about changing them. I wanted him to change it to a cloud-based system, but he didn’t want to spend the money.” She stopped, and I hated the sadness that crept into her expression. “Anyway, he had seven. He didn’t think he would need to keep more than a week’s worth at any given time. The one labeled for that Sunday was missing.”

“Okay. I’ll probably come in to the bar sometime this week and see how much I can get out of Jack without him knowing what I’m up to.” Without an official case, I couldn’t interview Jack.

“Thanks again. I know this might put you in an awkward position.”

“You don’t have to thank me. It’s my job.”

“It’s the sheriff’s job too.”

“It is. And I’d like to think he thought he was doing you a kindness and not being derelict in his duty. Anyway, I don’t want to hold you up. Evan is probably waiting.” I smiled, though I silently prayed she’d say they’d broken up.