for fresh air. Sometimes theyâll leave it ajar because they know theyâll be making another trip out to the Dumpster soon, or someone is out for a smoke and leaves it open. Right now I donât really care what the reason is. Someone is to blame and that person is going to get fired.â
I was glad I wasnât in Rafeâs shoes. Whether he was directly responsible or not, heâd screwed up yet again. âIs there an alarm you can put on the door that will sound an alert when itâs left open longer than a minute?â
âSince I canât seem to count on my brother to monitor it, I guess Iâll have to look into it.â With a heavy sigh he said, âWhat do I tell the coroner when he comes to collect the bones?â
I wanted to reply,
That he should have collected them as soon as they were discovered so they werenât our problem,
but I knew that in Marcoâs present mood, the comment would only stir his wrath. Instead, I tried to channel his thoughts away from the angry side.
âHow is it possible to get a skeleton out of the basement without being seen?â
âThe bones arenât connected. They were probably thrown in a bag and carried out like a load of laundry.â
âStill, any of the staff could have come upon the thief leaving the basement,â I said. âWho would take that risk?â
âA desperate person, Abby. Do you understand now why I didnât want that newspaper article to come out yet? And why I want the police to handle the investigation? I could choke MacKay for bringing us into it.â
Well,
that
diversion didnât work.
âWe can forget a DNA analysis now.â Marco pulled out his cell phone and handed it to me. âWould you call Sean and ask him if heâs free to meet me at the bar in about half an hour?â
I gave him a look that said,
Seriously? Me?
âNever mind,â Marco said. âHow about dialing for me?â
I found Reilly in his contacts and hit the CALL button, then handed the phone back.
âHey, Sean, itâs Marco. Whatâs happening?â He listened a few moments, then said, âIf youâre free, would you meet me at the bar this evening? I need your advice on something. Great. Sure. I just have to drop Abby off at home, so give me about thirty minutes.â
I tapped Marcoâs arm. âYouâre not leaving me out of this, Salvare.â
âMake that fifteen, Sean,â Marco amended. âThanks, man.â
â¢Â   â¢Â   â¢
With one beer apiece for Sean Reilly and Marco, and a fresh Shiraz for me, we sat at the second to the last booth at Down the Hatch and exchanged several minutes of pleasantries, mostly about our honeymoon.
âSo this advice you needââReilly took a swig of beerââdoes it have anything to do with those bones in the basement?â
âIs the news all over the police station?â I asked.
âNah. I saw the article in the
New Chapel News
.â Leaning toward Marco, Reilly said in a low voice, âSeveral of the guys down at the station have a bet going that youâll run your own investigation.â
I was about to say,
Put your money on us, Reilly,
but decided to let Marco do the talking. As usual, he cut right to the chase. âSomeone removed the bones, Sean,â he said quietly.
Reillyâs eyes grew wide. âWhen?â
âBetween six and seven thirty this evening, while Abby and I were out.â
âThatâs a busy time here,â Reilly said. âDamn, that was ballsy.â
âTell me about it,â Marco said.
âHave you called it in?â Reilly asked.
âI have now,â Marco said.
Reilly grinned as he pulled a small notepad and pen from his chest pocket and got ready to take notes. âProceed.â
âMy brother discovered the theft when he noticed muddy shoe prints leading from the back door to the
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