Page 54 of Dead & Breakfast
“Yes, murder is rather bothersome, isn’t it?”
“No, not that—although, yes, also that.” Arthur shook his head to clear it, but it was like a thick fog had settled in his brain. “It’s just…Who would want Brody dead?”
“Besides us, you mean?”
“Sal!” Arthur’s brows shot up and he put his finger against his lips. The truth was, until all the funny business with the mayor’s murder, Arthur would hardly have known Brody from any other teenager in Trident Falls. Even now that the evidence pointed toward Brody being at fault for their current predicament, he couldn’t bring himself to wish ill on Brody. Well, not of the violent sort, anyway. Whispering, he said, “I mean, yes, I can imagine that would be the sheriff’s line of thinking, but you don’t have tosayit aloud.”
“Shall I mime it?”
“No!”
“Pity. I so rarely get the opportunity to utilize the skills I learned at clown school.”
Arthur put his head in his hands and heaved a sigh. “What I mean to say is that we should work backward—what do we know about Brody?”
“He’s a teenager, his father’s a dentist, he’s a bit of a vandal…”
“That’s it!” Arthur grabbed hold of Sal’s lacy shirtsleeve and tugged.
“Careful!” Sal brushed Arthur off, cradling the fabric of his shirt.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to wrinkle your—what do you call them? Vintage threads?”
“Actually, I got this at Hot Topic, but there isn’t one of those for miles around here. Could be centuries before I step inside another mall.”
Arthur blinked. “Right…well…back to Brody. You don’t suppose someone might have wanted to hurt him because of the graffiti?” Suspicion crept into Arthur’s mind, a prowling, predatory wolf.
“Like…one of the downtown business owners?”
“Exactly, a downtown business owner whose shop had been tagged recently, who knew Brody was here tonight.”
“I know that look.” Salvatore’s eyes widened. “Don’t let your prejudice cloud your judgment now. Theo wouldn’t do something like this.”
“Think about it. He’s the one who told us Brody’s truck was in the area. What if he came upon him painting graffiti and lost his temper?” The more Arthur thought about it, the more sense it made. Theodore had been awfully eager to let them sit in the coffee shop to talk to McMartin, perhaps because he wanted to know what they said. And, of course, he’d been reserved the whole time, not offering up any aid when the sheriff was jumping down their throats. Helping Salvatore before might have been just another way of getting closer to the investigation. Perhaps he’d had it in for Brody this whole time.
“I suppose we could look into him, if it will make you feel better.” Salvatore glanced at the sky, clouds crossing in front of a vibrant gibbous moon. “Maybe in the morning—”
“We should go now.” Arthur hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep in the last few days, but he felt alert and energized. They were nocturnal, after all, and Theodore wasn’t. The coffee shop opened bright andearly each morning, so he would have to go to sleep soon. “I bet there’s physical evidence on his clothes. He was wearing a jacket—”
“Because it’s cold at night.”
“Or because he was covering up a bloodstain.” Arthur nodded to himself. This grew more compelling by the moment. “If we go now, we can look around his house, make sure to find his clothes before he can destroy the evidence.”
“Breaking and entering?” Sal perked up. “I like the sound of that. Arthur, I had no idea you were a bad boy.”
“Sal, this is serious. It’s Saturday night, and the FPI is still coming on Monday. McMartin will try to pin all this on us. Now he has Dr.Young on his side, too.”
“Well, woe is us—suppose we’ll have to find a new dentist.”
“I hardly think that will be the most pressing issue if we aren’t able to find the real culprit.”
“Have a little fun, Arthur. If there’s one thing immortality has taught me, it’s that there’s always time to be serious later.”
Arthur jogged asquietly as he could alongside a hovering Salvatore. Keeping a safe distance, they dogged Theodore’s steps. With any luck, Theodore would toss his bloody clothes into the trash outside and save them a lot of trouble. Breaking and entering, after all, was difficult for a vampire to do without express invitation.
From the cover of some nearby bushes, Arthur and Salvatore watched as Theodore strolled up the sidewalk to a modest cottage with a—Arthur was loath to admit—flourishing garden.
“Well, what now?” Sal asked as Theodore disappeared behind his front door.
