Death Indoors: Target Practice Mysteries 4 by Nikki Haverstock

years ago. She's been courted by a few college coaches, but she decided to stay local to work with Coach Ron... Oh, I mean that used to be the plan. Oh dear." She dabbed at her eyes as tears welled up.
    I tried to think of a coach or teacher that I'd had in high school that I liked so much I would have skipped the whole college experience to continue working with, but none came to mind. Perhaps Becky was just wired differently. "He seemed very devoted to her." That was the nicest way I could describe his coaching style.
    "He was. He paid attention to all his YAP archers, but he always said that Becky was special. He even set aside several times each week to work with her all alone so he could devote all this time to her. I'm sorry, I should go check on her. Thank you for your time."
    She gathered up her things and left the room. A few more people trickled into the room. Several archers were clutching white sheets of paper, but several of the kids and adults not signed up to talk to Liam and I were eating and casting glances our way.
    We had a few minutes before the next meeting. "Does it seem weird to you how distraught Becky was?"
    Liam quirked an eyebrow at me. "Not everyone handles murder as calmly as you."
    "I don't mean that part. Obviously she's upset about his death, but she seems convinced that she can't compete without him."
    Liam shrugged and fidgeted in his chair. "A lot of these young archers are dependent on their coaches."
    That was true, but something still felt off. "Could she be so upset because she accidentally killed Ron?"
    "You're the investigator, Miss Marple. I'm just here as eye candy." He winked at me.
    Perhaps we should ditch the rest of the meetings. I could lure him off somewhere private and see if we could redo last night.
    "What happened to you two?"
    I jerked my attention off Liam. Mouse stood on the opposite side of the table. "Huh?" Was our flirting so obvious?
    Mouse rolled her eyes. "Your eyes? Whatcha do, take up boxing?"
    "Oh, Moo hit Liam, and then we smacked heads."
    She looked at me then Liam then back to me. "Mmmhmm. Anyways, I'm finished printing out the resumes for the kids that needed help. Unless you need any more, I'll go open up the practice range."
    "Thanks, Mouse."
    She turned and addressed the room. "I'm heading over to the practice range; it'll be open in about ten minutes if anyone wants to warm up."
    As she stepped out of the room, an adult that I vaguely recognized from the day before inched toward our table. "Excuse me, uh, I heard that you were giving feedback on applying for sponsorships, and I was wondering if maybe--"
    She was cut off by a father who jumped out of his chair and raced over, lightly bumping into her. "Yeah, if you've got time then--"
    A few more people, adults and children, got up to stand behind them, adding their requests to meet with us.
    I looked at Liam, and he shrugged. This was beyond the intention of my original suggestion but it would be a nice way to make this event seem more positive.
    I held up a hand. "Hold on, let me see what I can figure out."
    The crowd surged in a step closer.
    I chuckled. "Go ahead and sit back down. This'll only take a second." That group started to settle in, but a few of the people that we had meetings scheduled with moved forward. "Don't worry, you still have your meetings. Just hang on."
    I turned to Liam. "Is there a way to do this?"
    "The first half of each meeting is your little speech. Why don't you give the speech to the room?"
    "Are you sure that I've got this little speech under control?"
    He patted me on the back. "Absolutely. It's not brain surgery. You might want to run the idea by the people you've got a meeting with, assure them that they'll get the same amount of one-on-one time as before."
    I nodded back to Liam then turned to address the gathering of parents and students that we had meetings set up with. I double-checked that everyone on our list of meetings was present. "Can you guys come over