Page 15 of Lost Hours
Mina exited the escape room, closed the door, and stopped by her deputy. “I don’t want anyone else in here without my approval. You got that?”
Her deputy gave a sharp nod. “Roger that, boss.”
She approached Nolan and looked up at him. “Any luck with that phone call?”
“I got a hold of my friend, and he’ll get the ball rolling with Veritas. I’ll let you know as soon as we hear anything from them.”
“Sounds good.” She started to walk away, then stopped. “I didn’t ask you. Any ideas on who might want to kill Mayor Sutton?”
Nolan shook his head. “I didn’t know him very well. We worked together on some of the issues regarding refurbishing the inn and applying for a tax break, but other than that, I didn’t have any dealings with him. And we’ve all been far too busy getting the business up and going to socialize and catch any gossip about him.”
She frowned. “Then why would someone want to try to connect this murder to you? And connected it is, considering the personal nature of the escape room. That’s what I’m having the hardest time with.”
“You’re having a hard time! Think about our confusion when we don’t have any connection. Maybe it’s just someone who wanted to pin the murder on the new guys in town because no one knows much about us. Maybe making it easier to do.”
She eyed him, fire burning in her gaze. “You mean because they don’t think I have enough experience to handle investigating your backgrounds to find a connection?”
“Not you particularly, but yeah, something like that.” He regretted upsetting her, but he had to tell the truth. “I know that’s not true. I know that you’re very skilled in law enforcement, and I have no doubt that you’ll solve this murder with or without our help.”
She studied him carefully, her gaze boring into him but suddenly softening. “I honestly don’t believe anyone on your team is behind the murder. However, you know that whoever finds a body is an automatic suspect until proven otherwise. And in this situation, with everything in the murder scene related to you and your team, that further implicates you in this investigation.”
“I understand, I do, and I think you’re about to tell me that we can’t work together on this investigation until our names are cleared.”
“Yes.” She planted her feet, a stubborn stance she’d always taken when she’d felt threatened. “I hope you understand this isn’t anything personal.”
“I do, and I hope you understand there’s no way the team and I can leave this alone. We’ll be investigating this murder one way or another. Either with you or alone.”
She gritted her teeth. “I can’t allow you to get in the way of my investigation.”
“Then maybe you need to reconsider us working together. After all, if we did join forces, you would know everything we were involved in.”
“Sure, during the time you’re with me, but when we’re apart, I would have no idea what you were up to.”
“Then you’ll just have to trust me.”
“Hah!” She scoffed. “It’s going to take far more than this conversation for me to trust you ever again.”
He knew she was angry at him, but this obviously went deeper than that. She didn’t trust him, and he had no idea if or how he could get past it.
“Well, then.” He made eye contact with her. “The only other option is for you to spend all of your time with us.”
She continued to meet his gaze but suddenly jerked it toward a gray-haired man walking down the hall. He was dressed in a white Tyvek suit and carrying a medical bag. Had to be the county medical examiner.
“Dr. Osborne.” She held out her hand and smiled. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”
“When you told me it was Mayor Sutton, I could do no less than get over here as fast as I could. My assistant is right behind me with our gurney.” He shook hands, but he released hers before shoving it out to Nolan, giving him the once-over. “Lawrence Osborne. GP in Seaside Harbor and county medical examiner.”
“Nolan Orr.” Nolan shook the doctor’s firm grasp.
“Nolan’s the leader of the team who found Mayor Sutton’s body,” Mina said.
His eyes narrowed. “Must’ve been quite a shock to discover him in that locker.”
“That’s putting it mildly.” Nolan released the man’s grip. “So Osborne. Any relation to the former owners of the inn?”
“My family.” He fished gloves out of his pocket. “Glad you bought the place. I hated to see it stand vacant so long and worried it would fall into disrepair.”
“No disrespect,” Nolan said, “but it was already in need of major repairs when I bought it.”
