The Haunted Bones (A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 3) by J A Whiting Page B

forthcoming.”
    “You know,” John held up his glass of sangria and swirled the liquid around absent-mindedly. “I’m thinking about suspects.”
    “What are you thinking?” Viv’s eyes met John’s.
    “I was giving the case some thought.” John put his glass down and rested his arms on the table. “Who would have chosen the backyard of the farmhouse and the cellar of that house I was showing to hide bones? There are probably other places with bones hidden, too, but thinking about these two places specifically made me realize something.”
    “Tell us.” Lin was eager to hear John’s idea.
    “The person would have to know that those two houses were unoccupied.” John looked at everyone.
    “A Realtor?” Lin’s eyebrows shot up. “A Realtor is hiding the bones?” Her mind raced with the possibility.
    “It doesn’t have to be a Realtor,” Jeff said. “But it has to be someone with access to that kind of information.”
    Viv leaned forward. “Someone who works for a lawn service would know that a house was empty.”
    “Someone who works at the post office would know, too.” Lin added to the list.
    “Or someone might hear about empty houses if he knowsa Realtor or a service provider.” Jeff leaned back in his chair. “The fact that a house is empty could come up in conversation. Someone hears about it and then uses the place to stash the bones.”
    John curled his lip. “I guess my idea isn’t so great after all. There are a lot of people who have access to the information.”
    “It is a good idea.” Lin nodded at John. “We can apply the idea to possible suspects. We’ll need to consider how the suspect might know about unoccupied homes.”
    “Who are viable suspects so far?” Jeff asked.
    “Jonas Bradley could be one,” Viv suggested. “Olive thinks he’s weird, Lin thinks he’s weird. He had access to the farmhouse backyard.”
    “But did he know about the empty house on North Ave?” Lin wondered.
    “He might have a friend with access to that information.” Jeff opened a bottle of beer,
    “Jonas doesn’t strike me as someone who would have any friends.” Lin made a face thinking about her interaction with the man.
    “What about Lloyd?” Viv asked. “He seems odd from what Lin says and he was skulking around in the backyard. Why would he be over there? It’s rude to be in someone else’s yard, especially at night.”
    “And Jonas seems to suspect Lloyd of something,” John noted.
    Lin said, “The car we saw. At the cemetery. We should try to see what these men drive. Viv and I thought the car at the cemetery looked big, like an old Lincoln or something like that.”
    “It looked dark, too.” Viv narrowed her eyes. “We need to spy on these guys and see what kind of car they’re driving around in.”
    John thought of something. “What does Lloyd do for a living?”
    Lin looked at John with a blank expression. “Why haven’t I asked that question?”
    “Let’s see if we can find out.” Viv got her phone out of her bag and tapped at the screen. “We’ll look him up.” After a minute, she said, “Here it is. He’s a retired professor, writes books, lectures all over the world.” Viv moved her face closer to the screen. “I bet he looks a lot better in this photo than he does in real life.”
    Lin leaned close to Viv to look over her shoulder. “He does. Maybe that’s an old photo taken when he was younger.” She squinted to try to read the words on Viv’s phone screen. “What does it say? What’s he a professor of?”
    Viv read aloud. “He’s actually a medical doctor who also has a Ph.D. His area is forensic pathology.”
    “What does that mean exactly?” John asked.
    Lin said, “It’s figuring out the cause of death by examination of a corpse.”
    “Like a medical examiner,” Jeff said. “Interesting.”
    Lin nodded. “Does his profile say anything else?”
    “Oh.” Viv’s head snapped up. Her eyes were like saucers. “He’s an expert in