Checkmate (Caitlin Calloway Mystery Book 2) by Mavis Applewater

illegal.”
    “I need to protect myself.”
    “Shooting your husband with a taser gun is considered assault, not self-defense.”
    “Bastard deserved it.”
    “Shooting him twice and refusing to stop is, again, assault and then there is resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. You struck my partner when she tried to put the handcuffs on you.”
    “You people broke into my home and put me in handcuffs like I’m some sort of criminal. The nerve of you people!”
    “We entered your residence because you were tasering your husband.” CC was stunned by the woman’s insolence. “You could have killed him.”
    “Serves him right, the lying, cheating, son of a bitch.”
    “Who do you think he was having an affair with?”
    “That British slut,” she bellowed, as if it was obvious.
    “Where is she?”
    CC leaned forward when Mrs. Stern parted her lips. She was going to say it. CC could feel it in her bones. Then just as suddenly, Natalie Stern said, “I’d like to speak to my attorney” and turned mute.
    “Okay.” CC shrugged. “Have it your way. There will be an officer by to take you to booking. I hope you enjoy waiting for your attorney while sitting in a jail cell. Oh and I hope you know a good lawyer. Somehow I don’t think your tax guy is going to be up for this.”
    Natalie Stern didn’t even flinch. She still possessed the same annoyed look of boredom she had displayed since CC placed her in the back of a squad car. Unable to resist the urge to irk the woman, CC made a production out of snapping shut the folder in front of her and storming out of the room. She unclipped her cell phone from her belt and dialed the familiar number.
    “Dr. Jameson, please.” She rolled her shoulders in an effort to relieve the tension that had been building. “Hey, honey, I’m going to be late. Oh you did, did you?” She laughed when Jamie explained how she already met Mr. Stern. “I’ve got another call. I’ll see you when I get in tonight. Love you.”
    “Love you, too. Stay safe,” Jamie said and ended the call.
    “Calloway,” CC said to her other caller. She patiently listened as Mulligan explained the situation. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” CC disconnected the call. She wanted to burst back into the interrogation room and throttle Natalie Stern. Instead, she entered the room adjacent to the one Mrs. Stern now occupied.
    “Dennis, stop the tape. She asked for a lawyer,” she told the tech who had been watching and taping the interview.
    “Enjoying the show?” she asked Max, who was lurking in the corner.
    “She didn’t even blink.” Max grunted. “The only thing she’s done since you left is yawn.”
    “What can I say? She’s a douche bag,” CC said with a snarl. “Mulligan’s on her way to the park. They found a body in the woods. I’m going there. Would you mind printing and booking Mrs. Stern?”
    “I’ll enjoy it.”
    “Are you interested now?”
    “Now we have a body. That makes it homicide. Want me to sit on the Queen Mother while she waits for her lawyer? Or shall I just shove her into the disgusting, most crowded cell we have available? You know, the one where we park the working girls and junkies.”
    “It’s like you read my mind.”

     
     
     
    Chapter 8
    CC felt her stomach churn when she approached Mulligan, who was standing over the body. The woman was smaller than CC thought she would be. CC fought to keep her mind on the clinical.
    “Female, late teens, early twenties,” Marissa Vergas, the medical examiner, explained. “You taking over, Calloway?”
    “We’re sharing with missing persons.”
    “You know how to share?”
    “Time of death?” CC ignored the jab. Marissa was an excellent medical examiner and a sore loser. A dozen or so years ago, they had dated. It had been brief. CC had moved on and mistakenly assumed that Marissa had done the same.
    “The decomp has progressed, but the cold snap we’ve had the last couple of weeks makes it