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copperhead,” Mom added. “You
cried like a baby. When you rescued Thor that day, you were like a mama hen.
Your concern was overwhelming. It almost made me cry.”
    “Forget it,” Billy said.
“Jesse will never admit to having a heart. She’s too stubborn to...”
    The doorbell rang before he
could finish his sentence. The sound echoed like a bell tower and seemed to
rattle the walls. I was so startled that I jumped up and knocked over my chair.
    “Oops,” I said. “I bet
that’s Sheriff Hudson. He said he’d come talk to us before he left. Maybe
they’re finished and he wants to apologize. I’ll try to be as nice as I can,
but considering who I’m dealing with, it might be a real chore. The police can
be such jerks.”
    “I sure hope you’ll behave
yourself, Jesse,” Mom said.
    “Let me answer it,” Billy
said. He stood and headed for the front door. “Minnie, why don’t you go to your
bedroom? Claire, you go upstairs. I’ll handle everything.” He looked at me with
a serious expression on his face. “Jesse, you stay with me.” He stood at the
door waiting for them to do as he said before he opened it.
    “Sheriff Hudson, please
come in,” Billy said, and then closed the door behind him.
    “Would you like a cup of
coffee?” I asked. “Mom made a fresh pot.”
    “Yes, thank you. That would
be nice. It’s freezing out there.”
    “How do you take yours?” 
    “Black is fine.” He looked
around the living room. “Nice place you have here, Miss Watson.”
    “Please, I told you to call
me Jesse,” I said as I took him a cup of coffee. Billy gave me a dirty look,
and as usual, I ignored him. “Actually, this is my Mom’s house.  She’s been
kind enough to let me stay here, but I’ll be moving out pretty soon.”
    “Has Mrs. Watson gone to
bed?” 
    “Yes,” Billy answered for
me. “This has been terribly upsetting for her. We thought it would be best if
she got some rest. I’m sure Jesse and I can answer any questions you might have
left.”
    “Do you mind if I sit
down?”
    “Oh, I’m sorry. Please have
a seat, sheriff,” I said, embarrassed by my poor manners.
    Sheriff Hudson sat in the
recliner sipping his coffee while Billy and I sat on the sofa and waited. I
couldn’t stand it any longer.
    “What’s going on out there?
Has the body been removed?”
    “Yes, it has. The M.E. is
going to start the autopsy first thing in the morning. The forensics team says they’ll
be done in about an hour, so we should be cleared out of here soon.”
    “What about the crime scene
tape? Can that come down?” I asked. “It’s almost Thanksgiving, and we have
family coming.”
    “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid
that’s going to have to stay up for a while longer. We will need to come back
in the morning and do a final sweep. I assure you that as soon as our
investigation is complete, my men will remove it.”
    “Can’t you just take down
the one out front? It’s a bit of overkill, don’t you think? All of our
neighbors are going to see it. I couldn’t care less about the tape, but I can
assure you my mother is not going to be happy. She’s from the old school, if
you know what I mean. Pride is everything to her. She’ll fret herself into a
tizzy worrying about what her neighbors will think. She won’t be able to sleep.
It will drive her nuts. Next thing you know, she will be on the phone
complaining to everyone that your department was bullying her.”
    “I’ve already done that. We
didn’t need that one up, but I wasn’t sure what we were dealing with in the
beginning. If you don’t mind, I just have a couple of questions I need to ask
before I go.”
    Billy and I answered the
sheriff’s questions for almost an hour. By the time he and his men left, we had
our own idea of what had happened. Even though her body hadn’t been officially
identified, it was only a matter of time. Roy would put a name to the face soon enough. It was
obvious that she had been murdered and