Grace Sees Red by Julie Hyzy

Birdcage Room kitchen. I think we can find someone willing to bring us a carafe and a couple of pastries.”
    She pursed her lips but didn’t argue.
    I picked up the phone. Remembering that the staff in the Birdcage Room probably wasn’t at full force for the day yet, I made a quick last-minute decision and opted to call Theo, Bennett’s butler, instead. We spoke for less than a minute and he promised he’d be down with my request shortly.
    In that brief space of time, we settled ourselves in our usual positions: me behind the desk, Rodriguez across to my left, Flynn across to my right, and Frances to my far right, perched on the small sofa against the north wall. She sat with herample arms folded across her chest, looking ready to head-butt the first person who spoke.
    â€œWhat do you know?” I asked the detectives. “What did the other police department tell you?”
    Flynn jerked his thumb toward Frances. “They wanted to know if we were acquainted with Suzy Sunshine over there.”
    â€œLet me handle this, amigo.” Rodriguez repositioned his chair to be able to address both me and Frances at the same time. He wiggled his hand, silently directing Flynn to scoot back out of his sight line. Once that was complete, Rodriguez laced his fingers across his midsection. Although he no longer possessed a triple-extra-large body, he still shifted slowly, as though he hadn’t yet become accustomed to his trimmer frame.
    â€œThat’s better,” he said.
    â€œWhat
I’d
like to know is what they told you about the actual crime,” I said. “And how soon they think Frances can be cleared.”
    â€œDoesn’t work that way.” Rodriguez shook his head. “They were looking for information from us. We didn’t get much from them. Other than learning that our friend here is a person of interest in their homicide investigation, that is.”
    â€œShe didn’t do it, you know.”
    â€œKnowing something and proving it are two different animals.”
    â€œWhatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?”
    â€œDon’t get all worked up yet, Miz Wheaton,” Rodriguez said. “We told Rosette’s officers that we knew Miz Sliwa very well and that she’d even assisted us in several of our investigations.”
    â€œAssisted.” Frances snorted. “Did your jobs for you, you should have said.”
    Flynn about flew off his seat. “We vouched for your character, lady. We can take it back. How do we really know you didn’t have anything to do with this homicide? Maybe you saw your chance and took it. Maybe you thought that because you’ve been up close and personal with so many of
our
investigations that you could outsmart their police department and get off scot-free. Is that it?”
    Frances had a wide, wobbly neck. I’d never seen veins stand out in it before now.
    â€œCut it out, Flynn. That’s no way to talk to one of our friends,” Rodriguez said. Addressing Frances, he added, “We know you’re innocent, but we’re officers of the law and our job is to follow where the evidence takes us. We plan to ask you a few questions, check out a few leads, and then report our findings to the guys in Rosette.”
    â€œGuys?” Frances asked. “For your information, the homicide detectives there are female.”
    Rodriguez drew in a sharp breath. “Yes, we’ve spoken with one of them. I assure you, I meant no disrespect. We often use ‘guys’ without specifying gender. But thank you for the clarification.” Continuing smoothly, he went on, “We would appreciate your full cooperation, Miz Sliwa.”
    She squared her shoulders. “If they told you what happened yesterday, then you already know everything.”
    â€œYeah, right.” Flynn edged forward in his seat. “We didn’t even know you were married. Thanks a lot for that. Made us look