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task of packing up the household and then unpacking it all again somewhere else made her head throb just thinking about it. Right on cue, a headache thumped to life at the base of her skull. Just what she needed on top of the aching shin and leaky eyes.
    The doorbell chimed. Macy broke off the conversation with her daddy to do her rather impressive and seemingly accurate wailing banshee imitation. Carla dropped the broken dish parcel in the trash can and tried to mop up some of the tears with a napkin she had grabbed off the counter. Luckily, since she barely had enough free time to get dressed every day, she absolutely couldn't spare the minutes to apply mascara. It was a small consolation to know she didn't look like a raccoon.
    She sighed with relief when she opened the front door. It was Amy. Not some neighborhood child selling gift wrap for a school fundraiser. If it had been, the kid probably would've run away screaming. Her BFF, on the other hand, had watched her give birth after twelve hours of labor. A bit of walking dead funk wouldn't bother her much.
    "Are you alright?" Amy asked. Her nose wrinkled. Was the grimace because of concern, or did Carla smell like a bedpan during a flu outbreak? Amy held up a white paper bag. "Brownies and key lime bars from the café. Maybe they will help?"
    "I just whacked my leg on the open dishwasher door. That really hurt." Carla snatched the bag out of Amy's hand. Sugary baked goods were never a bad thing, especially when they came from Riverbend or Amy's kitchen. "Brownies will definitely help."
    In the living room, Macy screeched a greeting. Carla nodded toward the couch. "Why don't you go sit down? I'm going to grab some plates and forks so that we can all have a treat."
    Carla returned to find Amy sitting on the floor in front of Macy's bouncy seat instead of on the couch. "You can pick her up," she said as she arranged plates topped with the baked goods in between the baby toys stacked on the coffee table.
    Amy shook her head. "No…that's okay. I'm sure she's more comfortable where she is."
    Bruce peeked over the top of his laptop screen once Amy had turned her attention back to Macy. He raised an eyebrow. Carla shrugged. She had thought Amy's aversion to children might go away after she got used to being around Macy, but her apprehension seemed to still be in full effect.
    "So what brings you by?" Carla asked.
    Amy leaned forward so she could make eye contact with Bruce around his computer screen. "I'm worried. Do you think the fact that Phoebe was found at Quantum is significant? I just can't shake the feeling that it is, and it's freaking me out."
    He flipped down the screen and set the laptop on the coffee table. "It's too soon to tell. I'm sure Alex isn't involved, but there are a lot of employees in his business. You know as well as I do that some people are very good at hiding the truth. Unfortunately, Alex could have a killer on his payroll."
    Amy nodded. She had a gruesome knack for finding dead bodies. Then, because it was just her nature, she tried to figure out who had committed the murder—probably her twisted way to pay back the killers for putting her through the ordeal of finding a body. Misjudging character was an Achilles' heel that had almost landed her in the morgue several times over the past few years. Yet Amy still seemed to have no problems with poking around a murder investigation.
    Bruce continued. "I'm working on a new case, so I haven't had the time to check in with Lauren to see what she's found. The Dumpster enclosure could've just been the least visible spot to leave the body. That would be the optimal scenario."
    "But she wasn't murdered next to the Dumpster, right?" Amy handed Macy her favorite toy—a pink, plush bunny. "Her head was covered in blood, but I didn't see any splattered anywhere. The bag containing her body wasn't even in the Dumpster, where it would've been much less likely to be discovered so quickly. To me that points to a