"Because if he didn't do it, then his life is ruined."
"A lot of people have fey blood in them, Anita."
"Tell that to the college student last year whose fiance beat her to death when he found out he was about to marry a fairie. He protested in court that he hadn't meant to kill her. The fey were supposed to be hard to kill, weren't they?"
"Not everyone is like that, Anita."
"Not everyone, but enough."
"I'll try, Anita, but I can't promise."
"Fair enough," I said. "Where's the new victim?"
"Monkey's Eyebrow," he said.
"What?"
"That's the name of the town."
"Jesus. Monkey's Eyebrow, Missouri. Let me guess. It's a small town."
"Big enough to have a sheriff and a murder."
"Sorry. Do you have directions?" I fished my small, spiral-bound notebook out of the pocket of the black jacket.
He gave me directions. "Sheriff St. John is holding the body for you. He called us first. Since Freemont wants to go it alone, we'll let her."
"You're not going to tell her?"
"No."
"I don't suppose Monkey's Eyebrow has a crime scene unit, Dolph. If we don't have Freemont come in with her people, we're going to need somebody. Can you guys come down yet?"
"We're still working our own murder. But since Sheriff St. John called us in for his murder, we'll be in the area as soon as we can get there. Not tonight, but tomorrow."
"Freemont's supposed to send over crime-scene photos from the first couple that was killed. I bet if I asked she might send over photos from the second scene, too. Show-and-tell tomorrow when you get here."
"Freemont may be suspicious about you asking for more pictures," Dolph said.
"I'll tell her I want them for comparison. She may be trying to hog the case for herself, but she wants it solved. She just wants to solve it herself."
"She's a glory hound," Dolph said.
"Looks that way."
"I don't know if I'll be able to keep Freemont out of the second case or not, but I'll try to give you some lead time, so you can look around without her breathing down your neck."
"Much appreciated."
"She said you had your assistant with you at the crime scene. Had to be Larry Kirkland, right?"
"Right."
"What are you doing bringing him to crime scenes?"
"He'll have a degree in preternatural biology this spring. He's an animator and a vampire slayer. I can't be everywhere, Dolph. If I think he can handle it, I thought it might be nice to have two monster experts."
"It might. Freemont said Larry lost his lunch all over the crime scene."