Will You Marry Me? (Sam Darling Mystery Book 4) by Jerilyn Dufresne

his "oh, shit" was louder.
    I knew the guy wasn't Jim Bob, because I thought he was still with George, but was relieved anyway to find out it was a little dude who had nerd written all over him. I finally was able to get my chicken head off and once our faces were exposed he shrank back into his normal persona, and immediately apologized for what he'd done.
    For some reason, I went into my social worker mode and didn't scream at him. Instead, no longer scared, I calmly stated I was going to report this attempted rape to the authorities, forgot about my chicken head, and walked out. I stopped and turned back however when he said, "You know it's against the rules for a non-member to wear a chicken suit. You're gonna be in trouble!"
    "Not as much as you, Bub."
    It felt good to have the last word with the offensive rooster, but I wanted to find George as soon as I could. I slowly walked down the dark hallway to ask Chip if he knew where George was, but he wasn't there. Someone was supposed to be guarding the carpet so the evidence wasn't ruined. Where was Chip?
    I heard him before I saw him. A low moan emanated from a doorway and I saw a pair of feet sticking out onto the hall carpet. The feet began to move a little. I waddled over to help, figuring it must be Chip. As I got closer to the body to determine if he was conscious or just moaning while still out of it, I realized that it wasn't Chip. It was Jim Bob.  
    Jim Bob? What in the world was he doing being hit? I had him pegged as a possible bad guy. Maybe he was a bad guy and a good guy clocked him. Yeah, that was it. Or maybe he really was a good guy, just strange.
    While this monologue was going on in my head, Jim Bob continued to moan, but now was holding his head and his eyes were open.
    "What...what happened?" He asked in a groggy, kind of other-worldly voice.
    "I don't know. I just got here. Did someone hit you?" I tried to sit him up as we spoke.
    "I don't know either. One minute I was talking to Chip and then I was talking to you and my head hurts. Ow...," he moaned as he held his head.
    "Where's Chip? Where's George?" I knew Jim Bob didn't know where Chip was, but was thinking out loud. "Where's George?" I repeated.
    "He tried to force us to be interviewed without our suits on, and I refused." Jim Bob tried to stand. "There's probably a constitutional right being violated there. Not sure, but I think so. Anyway he said something about a warrant and took off."
    I helped him all the way to his feet. He seemed unsteady for a moment, but soon stood on his own. He kept rubbing his head though.
    "I wonder what happened to Chip," I said aloud.
    "He's probably the one who hit me."
    "C'mon," I said. "Why in the world would Chip want to hit you?"
    "Maybe he's the murderer." Jim Bob said it in such a way that sounded like even he didn't believe himself.
    I wanted to find George to report what the nerd chicken had done to me. But I thought I'd ask Jim Bob about the sexual practices first. It took me a moment to muster my courage, and before I could talk, he did.
    "Why are you wearing a chicken suit?" His energy seemed to be back and I felt the full force of his accusation.
    "Because. That's why." I could tell by his face that it wasn't enough, so I added, "I was working undercover. It's a common practice for the police."
    "Yeah, but you're not a cop."
    I couldn't argue with that and thought I'd ask Jeremiah to deputize me too. I knew I should have thought of that before. For the first time I'd be an official cop.
    Jim Bob brought me back to the present. "What were you trying to do anyway? Trap someone into confessing? Do you honestly think one of the chickens is a criminal?"
    "Well, given how many of you there are, there's a good chance someone is a criminal, although I'm not sure about a murderer." I realized that Jim Bob was the last person in the world I wanted to talk to about the case.
    "Are you okay enough to walk?" I asked.
    He nodded.
    "We've got to get some help. I