Murder by Artifact (Five Star Mystery Series) by Barbara Graham

illuminated his plain face.
     
    Tony wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Calvin’s real smile before. Countless times he had witnessed the ceremonial stretching of his thin lips. This was a real smile, one that not only exposed Calvin’s big, square, horse teeth, but one that put a sparkle in his eyes.

    “Good morning, Sheriff.”

    “Mayor.” Tony tossed the carton that had assaulted him on top of the growing pile. “What are the boxes for?”

    “Just thought it would be a good time to pack up a few of Doreen’s things. Give ’em to charity, you know.”

    The mayor’s jovial attitude rendered Tony speechless. He was expecting, if not crippling grief, at least shock and numbness. Suspicion reared its ugly head.

    “I have to ask you not to do that. In fact, I don’t want you to touch any of her things. This is still a murder investigation, and Wade is on his way now with a warrant to search this house.”

    “Am I a suspect?” Calvin’s cornflower blue eyes widened and his shoulders drooped like a child denied a carnival treat.

    “You ought to know my job is to ask lots of questions in a case like this. It’s nothing personal.” He pulled out his notebook. “Would you mind answering a few questions for me now?”

    “Ask away.” Calvin’s expression looked like a smirk. “I have nothing to hide.”

    Wade arrived, search warrant in hand.
     
    “Excellent timing,” said Tony.

    Wade’s proud grin was tempered by the solemn occasion. “What are all these boxes for?”

    Irritation colored the mayor’s voice. “They are for you to stack up right there.” Calvin pointed out the designated area and dragged one more carton out of the hearse and added it to the collection.

    “Okay, Mayor.” Tony waved to the front door. “Why don’t we go inside? I have several questions in need of serious answers.”

    Calvin nodded and led the way into the formal parlor.

    Tony frowned at the mayor’s back. “You didn’t expect your wife to be home last night?”

    “No.” Calvin folded his long legs and more or less dropped into the chair, all signs of his previous enjoyment vanished. “She was supposed to be off on another of her buying trips. It’s really not very unusual for her to be on the road.”

    “And you were where last night?” Tony made a couple of entries in his notebook. “Starting at five.”

    “Why, here, of course.” Calvin turned his face toward Tony. He seemed very careful not to make eye contact. “Well, I got here at six. I was at the mortuary until then.”

    “And you were here all night?”

    Calvin nodded.

    Tony felt his stomach tighten. J.B. said he had been here at five-thirty in the morning, and Tony believed the deputy’s story. The mayor was lying.

    “So when I came by at six, seven and eight, where were you then?” Wade consulted his notes. “I rang the bell and dialed your telephone number each time.”

    “I must have been in the shower.” Calvin steepled his fingers and leaned forward. His eyes showed no emotion. “I love to take showers.”

    Accepting the blatant lie for the moment, Tony and Wade made a cursory check of the house. Tony saw nothing obviously out of place. He learned more than he wanted to know. The mayor and his wife shared the huge house, not the bedroom.

    Covering most of the second floor, Doreen’s bedroom suite was the size of a cottage. It consisted of a sitting room, a sleeping room, a bathroom most deluxe hotels would envy and a walk-in closet the size of a double garage.
     
    Nothing appeared to have been disturbed in the suite. If anything was missing, Calvin didn’t seem to know about it. Tony would bet that Pansy, who doubtless spent hours each week cleaning in here, would be a better source of information.

    She wasn’t.
     
    After their uninformative conversation with Pansy, Wade left.

    Tony confronted Calvin again, sensing the man would talk more one-to-one. “Out with it.”

    Calvin twitched but didn’t refute