Page 30 of Chosen Path
And Hope did.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
Officer Booth insisted on giving Bodhi a lift back to Molly’s. The offer was part kindness, part convenience. The doctor’s place was on her way to the mortuary.
Booth and Perth had decided between them that she would interview Hope and then fetch the mortician while he stayed with the body. Perth had found a measuring tape in Corrine’s shed and had begun measuring the doorways before Booth and Bodhi had even left.
“The real estate agent said a lot of these older homes have narrow doorways, and she likes to warn homeowners up front if their king mattresses won’t fit,” Booth explained as they walked to the patrol car.
Bodhi was saved from having to come up with a response by a letter carrier, who called out and jogged over to them from across the street.
“Hiya, Frank,” Booth said.
“How’s it going, Jenny? Everything okay with Corrine?” He craned his neck in an effort to see past them into the house.
Booth gave him a stern look. “You know better than that. I’m not going to blab about an active police matter. Especially not to you.” She turned to Bodhi. “Frank here is the town crier.”
“Hey,” the mail carrier protested.
“It’s true. In the old days, you’d be standing in the village square wearing a funny wig and a pair of tights as you delivered all the latest proclamations and news to the people.”
Frank laughed at the image. “I guess that’s fair. Well, today, all I’m delivering is mail and packages.” He snapped his fingers and looked at Bodhi. “You’re the doctor staying at Molly Hart’s place, right?”
“How did—? Nevermind. Yes, this is Doctor King,” Booth answered for Bodhi.
Frank dug into his mail bag and pulled out a padded envelope. “Can you give this to Doctor Hart for me? There’s a sticker on here that says this medicine is supposed to be refrigerated. I don’t just want to leave it on Corrine’s porch. Unless Officer Perth is still inside? I could give it to him.”
“And take a peek inside? Nice try. Doctor King will take it.”
“Worth a shot.” Frank was unruffled by the rebuff.
Bodhi took the envelope and glanced down at the warning. Sure enough, it instructed the recipient to refrigerate the contents immediately upon receipt. The package was addressed to Corrine, and the return address was a mail-order pharmacy.
“I’ll make sure it’s refrigerated as soon as I get back to Doctor Hart’s office,” Bodhi promised even though it would make no difference to Corrine if the contents inside were ruined.
He wondered idly what medication she was taking that would require refrigeration. Molly hadn’t mentioned anything. He tucked the envelope into his backpack.
Frank nodded his thanks, hefted his bag over his shoulder, and continued along his route. “Bye, Jenny,” he called, giving her a wave over his shoulder.
She shook her head as she and Bodhi got into the car. “He’s a pain in the rear. But he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, and he’s helped us close a few investigations. He sees everything, and he talks to everyone.”
The man sounded like a valuable ally to Bodhi. “Is that why you didn’t tell him Corrine is dead? You want to control the flow of information until you can inform her next of kin?”
“Yes. I just hope like heck Doctor Hart knows who her next of kin is. Because I sure don’t.”
They made the short drive to Molly’s place without speaking. Bodhi was used to, and comfortable with, quiet. Officer Booth seemed to share his affinity for it.
She passed by the medical office and made two quick right turns, then broke the silence. “Figure I’ll park in the back alley. Slow down the flow of gossip as best I can.”
“May I ask why it matters?”
She brought the car to a stop on a cracked concrete parking pad behind Molly’s tall, skinny Victorian and stared at him. “We just talked about this. Mrs. Wolf’s next of kin hasn’t been notified.”
“I understand that. But, whoever that person is, they clearly don’t live in Scandia Bluff. So it seems highly unlikely that they’ll hear about her demise through the local grapevine. So, why the secrecy—especially when you’ve already said there won’t be an investigation into her death?”
She killed the engine and stared at him, then huffed out an irritated breath. “You might be a bigger pain in the rear than Frank, you know that? Look, between us, I don’t agree with the blanket policy that all deaths in this town are chalked up to natural causes. I think it’s dangerous.”
He wasn’t sure what he’d expected her to say—improper, poor optics, a dereliction of their public health duty, something along those lines—butdangeroushadn’t crossed his mind. “Dangerous how?”
