Deep in Death: A Shelby Nichols Adventure Read Online Free Page B

time at the drinks machine. Right now I didn’t want to worry that I’d just lied to Dimples, or that I’d say something stupid and give away my secret. More than a little flustered, I mostly wished he’d quit thinking so hard about me and concentrate on the case.
    By the time I got back to the office, the husband had already arrived and I found Dimples waiting for me outside the interrogation room. To my chagrin, word had spread that I was going to question him. Bates and a few others had already gathered to listen in on the other side of the two-way mirror. If that wasn’t enough, the police chief joined them. My stomach churned. Now, besides trying solve the murder, I’d also have to make it look like I wasn’t reading the man’s mind or Dimples would figure it out. Talk about pressure!
    I picked up that Bates was glad he’d been keeping tabs on me. Finding out the husband was coming in so I could question him was the perfect excuse to tell everyone to come and watch the show. He was hoping I’d fail miserably and get kicked out of my so-called ‘consulting’ job. When the chief joined them, he glanced at me with a triumphant grin, and my face flushed with anger.
    As Dimples opened the door, I took a quick breath and tried to block my nasty thoughts of kicking that man where it hurt the most, and turned my attention to the husband. If this was going to have a happy ending, I needed to calm down and concentrate.
    “Spencer,” Dimples said. “I’d like to introduce you to Shelby Nichols. She’s helping us out on the case.”
    Spencer stood and shook my hand with a friendly smile, quickly sizing me up. He was of average height and nice looking with thinning brown hair and an easy smile. He came to the conclusion that I was harmless, mostly because I looked too darn nice to be a threat. But why was I there? Did it have something to do with what the police had found? “Are you a detective?” he asked.
    “I have my own consulting agency, and I help the police from time to time,” I replied, mostly for Bates’ benefit.
    Spencer’s lips turned down, and he wondered what a consulting agency had to do with a murder investigation. Something seemed a little off, and nervous sweat popped out on his upper lip.
    My spidey-senses tingled. He was definitely hiding something. Of course, his face only showed mild curiosity, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think he was a nice, easy-going guy.
    “Thanks for coming in so quickly,” Dimples said. He could tell Spencer was a little confused by my presence, and he didn’t want him to close up before I could question him. “We just need to clarify a few things so we can build the case against our suspect.”
    “You have a suspect? Wow, that’s great,” he said. Right after the words left his mouth, he realized that he might have sounded a little too happy about that, and tried to convey a more somber mood with his next words. “This has been a nightmare for me. I miss Stacy every minute of the day. Whoever did this needs to be caught. What I’ve gone through is… horrible… I’d hate for someone else to go through what I have.”
    Dimples nodded. “Let’s go over the events of the day. It will help us know if our suspect could have been there at the right time to actually commit the murder.”
    “Of course,” he responded. He relaxed just a little, thinking we didn’t know anything.
    “Maybe you could fill Shelby in? Just tell her what happened from the time you got home from work until the time you left your house later that night.”
    Spencer took a deep breath and began his carefully rehearsed story. He told it with such passion that he was starting to believe it himself, although he still couldn’t keep the image of placing Stacy’s bloody, lifeless body in the freezer. He’d left shortly after that and checked into a hotel, making sure he was seen at the bar. In the early morning hours, he’d snuck back home and put her partially frozen body