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sure?”
    “It must be important, right? For them to page you while you’re on swing?”
    “You know I wouldn’t go if it weren’t.”
    “Can you tell me what it is?”
    Matt hesitated. “Steven Hill has been shot. His wife found the body and went screaming out into the street. Neighbors called it in so it’s not exactly a secret.”
    “Oh Matt, how sad. I didn’t know Steven, but I’ve met his parents. They seem like such nice people.”
    “Salt of the Earth. I’ll call you as soon as I get a free minute. If I get off early, do you want me to come back?”
    Kristy pulled him up off the sofa. She put her arms around him and rested her head on his chest. “Absolutely.”
     
    ***
     
    Matt’s was one of four police vehicles parked in front of Steven Hill’s home. Hill lived in one of Casper’s most desirable, established neighborhoods. The old-growth trees, manicured lawns and well-kept brick homes whispered money without needing to shout. Deer strolled down these streets, charming some residents and irritating others, who fought a futile battle to keep the deer out of their flowerbeds.
    Matt climbed the stone slab steps to the covered porch. He noticed Hill’s patio furniture had already been covered in anticipation of days too cold and windy for their use. The front door was standing open and he noted both the lock and the frame were intact. A slate stone entry area opened into what his grandmother would have called a parlor. Officer Luis Altrez was waiting for him there.
    “Body’s in the home office. Lab boys are going over it but I asked the Coroner to hold off until you got here. I told her you like to see the scene before anything’s been moved.”
    Matt followed Altrez down the hall to the back of the house. Virginia Parks had been elected County Coroner after Zeke Cartwright retired, and this was the first case Matt had worked with her. She was leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed, wearing shapeless white overalls and booties. A disposable bouffant cap covered her hair. Cartwright had always refused to wear the getup, telling Matt he was too old to look that ridiculous.
    He’d only met Parks in passing, when she was introduced at a police briefing shortly after she took office. No one had run against her, but she was more than qualified for the office. In her late 30s, she was a certified crime scene investigator with a Master’s Degree in Forensic Science. Matt had wondered if Casper was a commitment or a stepping stone for her.
    “Ms. Parks, I’m Detective Matt Joyner. I’ll be heading up the investigation.”
    “Officer Altrez suggested I wait for you. I like to let the lab techs get their pictures first, so we can go in together.” She handed Matt a set of gloves and booties, and waited for him to put them on, then went ahead of him into the room.
    The office was small, richly but sparsely furnished. An antique desk faced the door with two large windows behind it with a view of the back yard. A bookshelf stood against the wall next to the door and a closet door was standing open along the wall to his left. Matt took this in at a glance, then knelt beside Hill’s body, which was on the floor between the desk and the closet door.
    There was little doubt that Steven Hill had been murdered. He’d been shot twice in the back, at fairly close range, judging from the powder burns on his shirt. Blood was spattered across the area in front of the body and had pooled on the wood floor beneath where Hill lay.
    Parks put her hand gently on his shoulder. “If you’ve seen enough, Detective, you might want to get a little fresh air.”
    Chagrined, Matt nodded and got up to leave the room. Pulling off his booties and gloves, he dumped them into the haz-mat bag outside the door. Altrez was waiting for him. “What can you tell me, Luis?”
    The officer consulted his notes. “Wife saw him at breakfast. Everything seemed normal. Left mid-morning to go shopping and had lunch with a couple of