Murder on the Rocks (29 page)

“I don’t think I’d make a very good investigator,” I tell him, hoping to divert his
attention away from my insult.

“Sure you would. You’re a natural. You’re nosy as hell.”

“At least give it a try,” he says with a sigh.

“But I don’t know the first thing about crime scene investigation. Hell, I’ve only
been doing this for two days.”

“You’ll learn. Just like you’re learning here. Just like you learned when you started
working in the OR. I’ll send you to some seminars and training programs. You’ll catch
on.”

I think about what he’s suggesting. We live in Sorenson, a small town in Wisconsin
where the crime rate is low, longevity is high, and the obits frequently tell of octogenarians
who die “unexpectedly.” Even with what might come in from the surrounding areas, which
is mostly villages and farmland, I can’t imagine us getting
that
much business. After all, this is Wisconsin, the land of cheese, brown-eyed cows,
apple-cheeked people, and old-fashioned values. The only reason we have a medical
examiner in Sorenson is because Izzy happens to live here and we are the biggest city
within a hundred-mile radius, which isn’t saying much, given that our population is
only eleven thousand. So how often is a “suspicious” death going to occur? Still .
. .

I’m about to argue the point one more time when Izzy says, “Please? Will you just
give it a try? For me?”

Damn.
His pleading face reminds me of what a good friend he’s been to me, especially lately.
I owe him.

“Okay, you win. I’ll give it a shot.”

“Excellent!” he says. “Though perhaps a bad choice of words for our line of business.”
He wiggles his eyebrows at me and I have to stifle a laugh, though not at his corny
joke. At fifty-something, Izzy suffers from that wooly caterpillar thing that strikes
so many men as they age. The hairs in his eyebrows are longer than many of those on
his head, though there are a few in his ears and nose that look like they might catch
up.

Moments later, my humor is forgotten as I place Ingrid Swenson’s brain on my scale.

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Copyright © 2013 by Beth Amos

Excerpt from
Working Stiff
copyright © 2009 Beth Amos

 

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ISBN: 978-0-7582-8015-2

eISBN-13: 978-0-7582-8016-9
eISBN-10: 0-7582-8016-5
First Kensington Electronic Edition: August 2013