Excerpt: No Remorse

She went back to checking out the computer and saw Henry had over fifty messages he hadn’t read. If the cops were checking his account, wouldn’t it be a red flag if she started opening his unread mail? She clicked on his sent box instead, and decided to start there.
All in all, he’d written sixteen different women in the last two months. Grace had no idea how many of these ladies were coworkers, friends, or girl friends, so she wrote down all the names.
She heard a click that sounded like the front door, and started clearing a place for her burger and fries. She opened one of the drawers to put the loose paperwork in and nearly jumped out of her skin when a man in a police uniform came into the office.
“Jesus!” she said, “You almost gave me a heart attack.” Her hand rested on her chest.
“Can I help you,” said the officer.
“Uh, no,” said Grace as she put on what she hoped was a good poker face. “Can I help you?”
They both heard a noise outside the office door, like a floor board creaking.
“I’m back here, Detective Fuller,” said the cop. “There’s a lady back here, but she seems kind of harmless.”
“Kind of harmless?” asked Detective Fuller as he entered the office.
“Darren?” asked Grace.
“Grace, what are you doing in here?” Darren asked.
“Uh, trying to get the funeral information,” she said. She saw him take in the purple, latex, dish washing gloves she wore. “Uh, what are you doing here?”
“I’m trying to conduct an investigation,” said Darren.
“But it’s Sunday,” said Grace.
“Yes, it is,” he agreed. He crossed his hands over his chest.
Ever the lady with perfect timing, Paula walked in with there to-go order. “Uh oh,” she said. “I, uh, only brought back food for the two of us.”
“Hello, Paula,” said Darren. “Care to explain what brought you two here this morning? Does Norm know you’re here?”
“Uh, no,” said Paula. Grace caught her what-do-we-do-now look.