Mercy & Mayhem: A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery by Ava Mallory

again. This time, her eyes didn't light up. She meant business.
     
    My throat went dry. By the looks of it, she wasn't in my corner either, otherwise she wouldn't have needed her two cohorts to assist in convincing me to speak with her privately. My day had just officially gotten worse. I worried that a recovery would not come soon enough.
     
    *
                  Carol didn't hesitate to jump right into her questions. “So, how did your interview with Charlie go?”
     
    “Charlie?” I asked.
     
    “The Sheriff? You met with him, didn't you? How did it go?” Carol sat down in her leather club chair, but didn't offer me a seat.
     
    I looked around nervously, not knowing whether I should grab a chair or remain standing.
     
    She grinned, taking pleasure in my dilemma. “You are allowed to sit down, dear.”
     
    Great! She was one of those with the fake terms of endearment. If I didn't have my back up against the wall, I'd spend an evening researching whether or not that was just the Nebraska way. Maybe, it's just how they spoke.
     
    I tried to deflect by asking her a question. “Are the snowstorms always this bad around here? Kathy told me that I might have to stay over tonight.”
     
    She sniffled. I got the feeling it was to allow herself a moment to think about how to respond and not because she had a cold.
     
    After a moment, she leaned forward on her desk, clasping her hands in front of her face. “Mercedes, you didn't answer my question. How did your interview go?”
     
    I shrugged, not knowing how one was supposed to answer that question. I say that anytime you've been asked to speak to the police isn't a time to reflect on whether or not it went well. I'd call that a pretty bad day, whichever side of the law you were on.
     
    “Fine. He just had some follow up questions. Did you know that the autopsy came back?” I asked, figuring, given her familiarity with the Sheriff, she knew long before I arrived for work today.
     
    She grimaced as if the words hurt to hear. “Yes, such a shame that someone would infiltrate our safe community and do such a thing. Rowdy may not have been the nicest man, but he was still a fine, upstanding member of our community.”
     
    That was the second time someone had mentioned that Rowdy wasn't an all around kind man.
     
    Who was the first one to say that? I couldn't remember.
     
    “Why do you think it was someone from out of town? I'm sure other crimes occurred here before, haven't they?” I asked, feeling like she was trying to insinuate something by making that statement.
     
    Her thin painted on eyebrows quirked up, almost touching her thinning hairline. “Gering is a safe community, filled with hard-working, humble people from good stock. Crime sprees aren't something we're used to.”
     
    Crime sprees? Interesting choice of words there.
     
    “I'd hardly call one murder a crime spree and I'm sure that Gering is a safe community. My question was why are you so quick to believe that some stranger just showed up in town to specifically poison an elderly farmer? Why would that happen? I'm no expert, but I think you can easily see that this must have been done by someone close to him, don't you think so?” I wasn't trying to start an argument, but her stranger theory didn't make any sense.
     
    She stood up, indicating our little chat had come to an end. “Where are you from, Mercedes?”
     
    I swallowed, knowing where this line of conversation was going. “California. Just a small California community, pretty much like the one you have here, except we smile.”
     
    Her eyes narrowed.
     
    Why did I have to add that final jab? What was wrong with me?
     
    She stared at me, venom in her once friendly eyes. I waited a few moments, not wanting to be the one to cower and run, but a girl can only stand still for a few moments before her natural inclination is to say something. I didn't want to do that, so I turned to leave, biting my lip hard enough to